Predicting Employees' Retirement Intentions in New Zealand: the Contribution of Personal, Job-Related and Non-work Factors

Abstract

Given the trend of global aging, understanding why people decide to retire is a key issue in the 21st century for organizations, individual well-being and New Zealand society. This study examined a theoretical model of the retirement process that included personal, work, non-work and retirement context factors as predictors of anticipated retirement age. The research on which this model was based is chiefy North American; the present study provided an opportunity to test the generalizability of this research to the New Zealand context. A sample of 230 New Zealand workers aged 50 years old or over was surveyed. Results supported the major propositions of the study, suggesting that work, non-work and retirement context factors explained retirement intentions above and beyond personal factors. Some differences between the present New Zealand fndings and those from previous North American research are discussed, along with practical implications of our fndings.