Understanding perceptions of economic status among centenarians

Centenarians are often concerned with outliving their accumulated resources. Yet, research consistently finds that older adults, despite low incomes, are more financially satisfied than younger adults. This "satisfaction paradox" has been attributed to psychological accommodation to poor financial circumstances and lower expectations. As a result, scholars differentiate between objective levels of need and subjective perceptions. Missing is an understanding of whether feeling economically secure is associated with physical, mental, and/or psychological well-being and whether it varies by institutionalization status. This study examined data from 152 centenarians who participated in the first wave of the Iowa Centenarian Study. Analyses examined six perceived economic status variables (sufficiency of financial resources, ability to meet expenses, finances compared to others, meeting needs, ability to purchase extras, and having enough money for the future) and measures derived from activities of daily living, the Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (Pfeiffer, 1975) and the Geriatric Depression Scale (Yesavage, Brink, Rose, Lum, Huang, Adey, et al., 1983). Findings indicated that most centenarians do not feel able to handle their finances, yet believe that they are doing relatively well financially. Perceived economic status was positively associated with ability to complete daily living activities, cognitive ability, and psychological well-being with results differing by institutional status. In the end, we agree with other scholars that these relationships are rarely simple and require future exploration.