{"id":6518,"date":"2017-09-10T07:10:47","date_gmt":"2017-09-10T11:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=6518"},"modified":"2017-09-10T07:21:25","modified_gmt":"2017-09-10T11:21:25","slug":"what-does-job-satisfaction-have-to-do-with-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=6518","title":{"rendered":"What Does Job Satisfaction Have to Do With Retirement?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/a>As workers reach their 50s and 60s, they often grapple with two big issues: work\/life balance and job satisfaction. Two new studies, presented at the 2017 Retirement Research Consortium\u00a0Meeting<\/a>\u00a0I recently attended in Washington, D.C., offer some fascinating insights on them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When Work\/Life Balance Issues Are Too Much<\/h3>\n

In their\u00a0paper,<\/a>\u00a0Work-Life Balance and Labor Force Attachment at Older Ages,\u00a0<\/em>economists Marco Angrisani and Erik Meijer of the University of Southern California and Maria Casanova of California State University, Fullerton, looked into when work\/life balance issues cause people age 51 to 79 to stop, or cut back on, working.<\/p>\n

The researchers found a strong correlation for stepping out of the workforce by women working full-time and part-time when their spouse had a health shock. (The Employee Benefit Research Institute\u2019s 2017 Retirement Confidence\u00a0Survey<\/a>\u00a0noted that 14 percent of people who retired earlier than planned cited having to care for a spouse or another family member.)<\/p>\n

Read column on PBS Next Avenue.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the spouse gets sick, that means you may want to reprioritize. It makes it harder to hang on to that job. Life is interfering with work,\u201d Matthew Rutledge, a research economist at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, told attendees following the paper\u2019s presentation.<\/p>\n

Men, however, did not follow the same pattern when their wives had health shocks, according to the researchers. I suspect that\u2019s because women tend to take on caregiving roles and men are apt to outsource.<\/p>\n

When it concerns a spousal health status, \u201cwomen adjust more,\u201d Rutledge observed. That\u2019s particularly true when they get to retirement age.<\/p>\n

\u201cWomen are bearing a lot of the responsibility when life intervenes around retirement,\u201d said Rutledge. \u201cThey are more sensitive to work-life balance and the decision to transition to part-time work or retire.\u201d<\/p>\n

A related finding from this report: A lack of work\/life balance is \u201cmore likely to induce females than males to actually retire.\u201d<\/p>\n

The researchers also discovered that men whose spouse is working are 3 to 4 percentage points less likely to retire and significantly more likely to keep working part-time. By contrast, women\u2019s decision to keep working was less influenced by whether their spouse was still employed.<\/p>\n

One strong incentive older women have for staying on the job full-time, the economists noted, employer-provided health insurance. This was described as \u201ca critical pull factor\u201d for women.<\/p>\n

Being covered by an employer\u2019s health plan increased women\u2019s probability of continuing to work full-time by 8.5 percentage points and decreased the chance of working part-time (presumably without health benefits) by 5.7 percentage points and the chance of retiring by 2.7 percentage points.<\/p>\n

Key Job Factors for Older Workers<\/h3>\n

The second paper that caught my attention studied a colossal stumbling block for continuing to work at older ages: a palpable frustration with pay.<\/p>\n

Often, it not only takes workers over 50 longer to land a job than younger people, but the jobs they\u2019re offered tend to be for less pay than they made in their previous positions. That stings.<\/p>\n

Employers tend to push back on this concern saying that older workers have unrealistic pay expectations or are \u201coverqualified.\u201d<\/p>\n

But what if you really thought about how much pay you\u2019d be willing to accept for more appealing working conditions than you now have? That\u2019s where the findings of the research\u00a0report<\/a>,\u00a0The Value of Working Conditions in the United States,\u00a0<\/em>come into play.<\/em>\u00a0The researchers surveyed 1,818 individuals on their job preferences.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe focused on how important are working conditions to people in thinking about the jobs they want to do and whether or not they want to continue working,\u201d said Kathleen J. Mullen, a senior economist at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation and one of the paper\u2019s five authors. The other: four: Nicole Maestas, of Harvard University\u2019s Medical School; Till von Wachter, of University of California, Los Angeles and RAND\u2019s David Powell and Jeffrey B. Wenger.<\/p>\n

Aside from pay and benefits, some older workers desire other elements of job satisfaction such as\u00a0work flexibility<\/a>, meaningful work, opportunities to gain transferable skills and for advancement and a supportive work environment, the researchers noted. Staying on the job longer depends on these types of job attributes that transcend money, the researchers concluded.<\/p>\n

For example, a switch from a physically demanding job to one requiring only moderate physical activity is equivalent to a 20 percent wage increase, overall, according to the researchers. But switching from a job that involves mostly sitting to one requiring heavy physical activity is the equivalent of a 24.1 percent wage decrease for people 62 and older.<\/p>\n

And schedule flexibility is the equivalent of a 9 percent wage increase, according to the report.<\/p>\n

The researchers\u2019 bottom line: \u201cIndividuals may \u2018purchase\u2019 better job amenities by accepting jobs with lower wages that have their desired characteristics.\u201d<\/p>\n

When amenities like flexible schedules are included, people age 50 and over earn 12 percent\u00a0more<\/em>than their prime-age counterparts (ages 35-49), according to this new research \u2014 an interesting way to spin the wage angst issue for older workers.<\/p>\n

My Advice for People Hoping to Keep Working<\/h3>\n

My final thoughts on the two papers: If you\u2019re over 50 and want to extend your working years, balance potential pay vs. having some autonomy and a more relaxed schedule. Also, look for educational and professional development training opportunities, so you\u2019ll have the right skills to let you bargain for more job satisfaction.<\/p>\n

Working beyond your mid-60s can allow you to\u00a0delay claiming Social Security benefits<\/a>; they\u2019ll grow roughly 8 percent annually until you reach 70. Continuing to work could also let you keep funding your employer\u2019s retirement account and earn money on it. Best of all, it can keep you healthier mentally and physically, provide the social benefits of human interaction and make you feel relevant.<\/p>\n

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By\u00a0Kerry Hannon<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Kerry Hannon has covered personal finance for Forbes, Money, U.S. News & World Report and USA Today for nearly three decades. She is the author of\u00a0Love Your Job: The New Rules for Career Happiness<\/a><\/em>;\u00a0What’s Next? Follow Your Passion and Find Your Dream Job<\/a>;\u00a0Great Jobs for Everyone 50+<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Suddenly Single: Money Skills for Divorcees and Widows<\/em><\/a>. Her website is\u00a0kerryhannon.com<\/a>. Follow her on Twitter\u00a0@kerryhannon<\/a>.@kerryhannon<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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