Three essays examining financial well-being of older Americans

Abstract

This dissertation explored the subjective and objective financial well-being of older Americans using the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). The first essay examines the impact of retirement on financial satisfaction. This study finds that retiring (a change from active work life to retirement) is negatively associated with financial satisfaction. However, results show that going back to the workforce from 2008 to 2012 is negatively related to being financially satisfied. The second essay uses 2008, 2012, and 2016 waves of the HRS through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to investigate if financial self-efficacy mediates the relationship between emotions and financial satisfaction and if this differs for retirees and pre-retirees. Results show that negative emotions predict financial satisfaction negatively through financial self-efficacy for retirees. However, for the pre-retirees, no statistically significant mediation relationship is found. Finally, the third essay explores the role of personality traits in explaining the disparity between perception and reality of the financial situation. Findings from this study show that conscientious and extroverted individuals perceive their financial situation o be higher than it is objectively. Conversely, individuals who exhibit traits relating to neuroticism, openness to experience, and agreeableness think their financial situation is worse than it is objectively. These findings have implications for individuals, households, and financial professionals while working with clients.

Embargo status: Restricted until 06/2172. To request the author grant access, click on the PDF link to the left.