ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the in uences on retirement behavior among older workers who were surveyed by the Health and Retirement Study (1992-2004). It is found that increases in all categories of wealth (pension, housing equity, and other nancial wealth) raise the probability of retiring, while good earning prospects induce continued employment. Retirement plan types have signi cant impacts: workers covered by de ned bene t (DB) plans are more likely to retire, while the de ned contribution (DC) plan coverage delays retirement. e probability and thus the timing of retirement for DC plan participants are susceptible to the in uence of business cycles through retirement plan income ow uctuations that are due to investment performance and interest rate changes. Health insurance (HI), if conditional on employment, strongly defers retirement, while alternative sources of insurance, such as employer-sponsored retiree HI, spouse’s HI, public HI, or COBRA coverage, encourage labor force exit. e increases in the full retirement age for social security act to encourage younger cohorts to work longer.
