Unexpected retirement from full time work after age 62: consequences for life satisfaction in older Americans

Recent policy shifts in the United States have resulted in an increase in the number of older workers remaining in the labor
force. Increases in the retirement age for receiving full Social Security benefits coupled with declining pension funds and
the erosion of employer retiree health benefits, mean that current cohorts of older workers may fully expect to work longer
than previous generations. Yet, working longer may not always be possible due to health problems, outdated skills, economic
insecurity, and competing obligations. We examine the consequences of unmet expectations for full time work after age 62 for
life satisfaction in a nationally representative sample of older Americans. With longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement
Study (1998–2008), this paper uses repeated measures of expectations for later life work among a cohort of Americans (N = 1684) gathered prospectively over an 8-year period, and examines the effects of unfulfilled expectations on subsequent
life satisfaction. Using generalized growth mixture modeling three latent classes of individuals were identified with distinct
trajectories of later life work expectations (low expectations, high expectations, and neutral expectations for full time
work after age 62). A majority of men had generally high expectations to work full time past age 62, whereas the majority
of women reported a low probability of working full time after age 62. When comparing expectations to actual full time work
past age 62, we found no effects of unmet expectations for women. However, men with less job stability (reflected by shorter
job tenure and lower incomes) generally had high expectations to work longer, and their life satisfaction scores were significantly
lower when these expectations were not realized. The hazards of missed expectations for later life work have consequences
for subjective well-being in older adults.