Retirement reason versus retirement process: examining the reasons for retirement typology

Studies have often used reason for retirement as an indicator of the pathway leading to retirement. We discuss the conceptual basis for the retirement-reason typology and evaluate the distinctiveness of various reasons for labor force exit by predicting them in a standard model-based analysis. Data are from the 1982 Social Security New Beneficiary Study, and the analysis is limited to men. A number of factors in the model-based analysis have distinctive effects on exit for particular retirement reasons, but health limits increase the likelihood of all types of retirement. We conclude that reasons for retirement only partially capture distinctive retirement processes.