Proximity to retirement and anticipatory involvement: findings from the Normative Aging Study

This study investigated the level of workers' informal retirement-oriented behavior in the years preceding retirement. Two research questions were addressed: (a) What is the relationship between retirement proximity and preretirement involvement behaviors, and (b) How might retirement involvement levels be further affected by attitude toward retirement, job characteristics, and personal resources? Data were collected from 816 male workers participating in a long-term panel study of aging who anticipated retiring within the next 15 years. Results indicated that preretirement involvement increased with retirement proximity and that the association held even among men who dreaded retirement or were satisfied with their jobs. These findings suggest that a process of anticipating retirement is underway well in advance of withdrawal from work and that a gathering involvement in retirement is normative as the event approaches.