TY - JOUR
T1 - Retirement Transitions among Baby Boomers
T2 - Findings from an Online Qualitative Study
AU - Genoe, M. Rebecca
AU - Liechty, Toni
AU - Marston, Hannah R.
N1 - Funding Information:
Genoe M. Rebecca 1 † Liechty Toni 2 Marston Hannah R. 3 1 Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies , University of Regina , Saskatchewan , Canada 2 Department of Recreation , Sport and Tourism, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Illinois , United States 3 School of Health , Wellbeing and Social Care, Faculty of Wellbeing , Education & Language Studies , The Open University , Buckinghamshire , United Kingdom * Funding: This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. La correspondance et les demandes de tirés-à-part doivent être adressées à : / Correspondence and requests for offprints should be sent to: Rebecca Genoe, Ph.D. Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies University of Regina 3737 Wascana Parkway Regina, SK, S4S 0A2 < † rebecca.genoe@uregina.ca > 30 08 2018 12 2018 37 4 450 463 19 05 2017 07 03 2018 Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2018 2018 Canadian Association on Gerontology
Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright Canadian Association on Gerontology 2018.
PY - 2018/12/1
Y1 - 2018/12/1
N2 - Canadian baby boomers began turning 65 - traditional retirement age - in 2011. How this generation perceives and experiences retirement may differ from preceding generations. In this online, grounded-theory study, 25 baby boomers who were approaching retirement or had recently retired participated in a multi-author blog about their retirement experiences and processes. We collected additional data via subsequent focus groups and participant interviews. Participants retired in several ways, including ceasing work, adopting casual or part-time work, and adopting new types of work. Findings highlighted three phases of the retirement transition: pre-retirement, characterized by both apprehension about retirement and idealization of the perfect retirement; the initial transition, which participants compared to an extended vacation, but in which they also struggled to adjust to increased amounts of free time; and mid-transition, when participants learned to balance structure and flexibility. Findings suggest that despite retirement transition challenges, many people have positive experiences with this transition.
AB - Canadian baby boomers began turning 65 - traditional retirement age - in 2011. How this generation perceives and experiences retirement may differ from preceding generations. In this online, grounded-theory study, 25 baby boomers who were approaching retirement or had recently retired participated in a multi-author blog about their retirement experiences and processes. We collected additional data via subsequent focus groups and participant interviews. Participants retired in several ways, including ceasing work, adopting casual or part-time work, and adopting new types of work. Findings highlighted three phases of the retirement transition: pre-retirement, characterized by both apprehension about retirement and idealization of the perfect retirement; the initial transition, which participants compared to an extended vacation, but in which they also struggled to adjust to increased amounts of free time; and mid-transition, when participants learned to balance structure and flexibility. Findings suggest that despite retirement transition challenges, many people have positive experiences with this transition.
KW - aging
KW - baby boomers
KW - grounded-theory
KW - online data collection
KW - retirement
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U2 - 10.1017/S0714980818000314
DO - 10.1017/S0714980818000314
M3 - Article
C2 - 30157974
AN - SCOPUS:85053010866
VL - 37
SP - 450
EP - 463
JO - Canadian Journal on Aging
JF - Canadian Journal on Aging
SN - 0714-9808
IS - 4
ER -