Study

Publication
Author(s)	Calvo, E.; Haverstick, K.; Sass, S.
Title	What Makes Retirees Happier: A Gradual or 'Cold Turkey' Retirement?
Source	MPRA Paper No. 5607, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, 2007, USA
URL	HTTP://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/5607/
Investigation
Public	Eldery, United States, followed through retirement 1992-2004
	Born between 1931 and 1941, 2 assessments between 1992 and 2004. Aged 51-61 in 1992; 63-73 in 2004, 12 year interval.
Last assesment	2004
	1992-2004. T1: last wave individual is fully employed between 1992 and 2004. T2: first wave individual is fully retired between 1992 and 2004.
Survey name	Not available
	Health and Retirement Study (HRS, nationally representative, biennial, panel survey of older Americans and their spouses)
Sample	Selection from general population sample
	The initial cohort of this panel study was composed of 9760 age-eligible individuals born between 1931-1941, This study is based on a subsample of 2389 paricipants, who made a full transition from being fully employed to being fully retired, and who have submitted sufficient valid information.
Respondents N =	2389
	1733 'Cold Turkey' retirement s (73%), 656 Gradual retirements (27%)
Non Response	25%; from 3022 (fully retired in 2004) to 2389.
	5744 fully employed in 1992, 3022 fully retired in 2004. Difference also by drop-outs.between1992 and 2004.
Assesment	Questionnaire: paper
Happiness measure(s) used

Full text	Selfreport on 5 questions: Now think about the past week and the feelings you have experienced. Please tell me if each of the following was true for you much of the time past week. Much of the time .. A You were happy B You enjoyed life C Yoy felt lonely D You felt depressed E You felt sad Rated: 1 yes 0 no Computation of state: latent variable
Classification	A-AB-cw-mq-v-2-b
Author's label	Latent affect
Page in publication	6,7
Remarks	Score: A/2+B/2-C/3-D/3-E/3. Maximum: +1; Minimum: -1. CHANGE in Happiness: Measurement of CHANGE in happiness (affect) between last assessment during full-time employment and first assessment during full-time retirement. Per item: no change is 0; a postive change is +1 and a negative change is -1. Theoretical individual range for this change is -5- to +5.
Finding used in nation ranks	Yes

Author's label	Subject Code Finding	Subject description
Blue-Collar	S09ab01	'Objective' socio-economic status
Gender (male vs female)	G01aa	Sex (male vs female)
Improved health	H14aa02	Change in physical health
More than high school	E01ab02	Level of school-education
Prompt retirement (vs gradual)	R14ae01	Sudden retirement (vs gradual)
Retirement	R14aa02	Change in retirement status
Retirement wanted	R14ag	Attitudes to retirement
Retirement wanted	R14aa01a	Earlier attitudes to retirement, also classified as above ↑
Spouse death	L06ab02a	Death of an intimate
Spouse death	M01aa02b	Ever widowed, also classified as above ↑
Spouse death	L05ab02	Specific life-changes, also classified as above ↑
Summed effects	S15ab05	Socio-demographic + life-events
Unemployed	E02ab03	Unemployed involuntary
Wealth	P12ab01	Total wealth
White Non-Hispanic	E04ab03t	Ethnic status in the USA
Years since last employment	R14aa02a	Time since retirement