Abstracto

Motivational Factors That Influence Retirement Contentment

Mary Greer Landon, John M. Ritz

Retirement is a stage of life where people withdraw from a position of active employment. According to retirement no longer focuses entirely on an event that occurs when one ends their primary working career, but it is now a stage of life and stage of human development that can extend beyond full-time work to part-time employment and the stoppage of work for pay. This research focuses on the withdrawal from full-time work and the factors that contribute to retireesa well-being in retirement. Retirement models, for the most part, have focused on financial resources such as income and personal assets. However there are other factors that shape retirement beyond finance and health benefits. The literature supports the need to amplify the focus of research to include more of what impacts peoples decisions to retire and their happiness after they retire. Researchers found what they called the happiness factor. They defined this factor as (a) the sense of control an individual has, (b) their social relationships, and (c) their financial status. Quality of life is another way to define the happiness factor, also called contentment. Happiness is realized quality of life: income, wealth, social status, or health measures of potential quality of life.