Putting off tomorrow to do what you want today: Planning for retirement.

TLDR

More people will retire for longer periods, yet many are unprepared for this life stage. The article reviews retirement preparation literature and proposes key questions and suggestions for research and practice. The review is organized around four core questions: what to do, how to afford it, where to live, and who to share it with. Psychology has begun to address retirement preparation, but significant opportunities remain for further research and practice.

Abstract

In this article we note that in the coming years, a larger number of people will be experiencing retirement for a longer period of time than ever before and that despite this fact, many will find themselves unprepared for this stage of their lives. We review the literature on retirement preparation, structuring our review around the key questions that need to be addressed when planning for retirement: (a) What will I do? (b) How will I afford it? (c) Where will I live? and (d) Who will I share it with? We make a number of suggestions for research and practice. We conclude that although psychology has begun to play a role in understanding and addressing retirement preparation, there are considerable opportunities for psychologists to engage with this issue in their research and applied work.