Reasons for retirement and retirement satisfaction

Abstract

This study aims to verify the validity of the retirement satisfaction inventory (RSI) for Brazilians and its invariance with regard to gender, age, education, marital status, income and region of the country, and to investigate whether the reasons for retirement influence a person's retirement satisfaction. At total of 1,002 retirees participated in the study, including both men and women ranging in age from 44 to 88. The analyses indicated RSI being subdivided into two scales: i) the scale of satisfaction with retirement, and (ii) the reasons for retirement with good psychometric characteristics. The latter was found to be a predictor of the former. The instruments were structured differently than in other countries, but they were shown to be applicable in the Brazilian context, especially with regard to assessing interventions such as retirement preparation programs.