Joint Retirement Expectations of Dual-Worker Couples

Jeong Hwa Ho, University of Wisconsin at Madison
James Raymo, University of Wisconsin at Madison

This study addresses two research questions: Do older men and women expect to retire jointly with their spouses? If so, what are the underlying mechanisms of joint retirement expectations? Using data from the first wave of the Health and Retirement Study Analysis we address these questions at both the individual and the couple level. Results indicate strong preference for joint retirement. Correlates of joint retirement expectations are similar to those documented in previous studies of joint retirement experience: age similarity of spouses, good health, household wealth, and marital quality. In the individual level models, expectations of joint retirement are more strongly related to respondents’ own characteristics than to spouse’s characteristics. In the couple level models, however, husbands’ characteristics are strong predictors of agreement about joint retirement expectations.