Is pre-retirement planning always good? An exploratory study of retirement adjustment among Hong Kong Chinese retirees

The impacts of four types of pre-retirement planning activities (financial, health, social life, and psychological planning) on retirement adjustment were investigated in a sample of Chinese retirees residing in Hong Kong. This study consisted of two phases of data collection, pre-retirement and post-retirement phases. Pre-retirement planning behaviors and psychological health (including attitudes toward retirement, adjustment to retirement, anxiety toward retirement, psychological well-being (PWB), and psychological distress) six months before and after retirement were measured. The final sample consisted of 90 Hong Kong Chinese retirees. Compared with the pre-retirement phase, retirees exhibited more positive attitudes toward retirement and better adjustment after they had actually retired, whereas their level of anxiety and psychological distress remained low over time. Pre-retirement planning was found to be predictive of changes in psychological health, though its impact was not always positive depending on the type of planning activities. In particular, greater psychological planning was associated with positive attitudes toward retirement and better PWB, whereas more social life planning activities were associated with greater psychological distress. In addition to financial and health planning, psychological planning activities should also be prompted to facilitate a smooth adjustment to retirement.