Abstract
Gender differences in adaptation to early retirement are examined, focusing on the relative influences of health & financial situation. Data were gathered through face-to-face structured interviews conducted during a longitudinal survey of a sample drawn from the membership of a health maintenance organization in a midwestern, industrial SMSA (N = 521 Rs, aged 60-64). Analysis of data from 181 Rs who were retired at the time of the interview indicates that Fs & Ms do not differ in their overall adaptations to early retirement; both genders describe their experiences in positive terms. Also, both Ms & Fs are in equally good health. The only retirement outcome on which Rs differ is financial situation, with Fs' benefits only about 60% as large as Ms'; however, both genders evaluate their finances positively. For Fs, objective measures of health & finance are unrelated to overall adaptation; for Ms, objective health status is a good predictor of adaptation, while objective financial status is not. Fs' subjective assessments of their health & financial status do predict their overall perceptions of their retirements. While the perception of finances is related to retirement adaptation for Ms, perception of health is not. Finally, race is relevant for retirement adaptation for Ms but not for Fs. It is clear that although Ms & Fs adapt to early retirement equally positively, they are adapting to different financial situations through different processes.