LGBTQ Retirement Planning Study

Overview:
The study has two aims: (1) examine how LGBTQ people plan their retirement; (2) examine what challenges they face in carrying out the plans. 

Existing studies show that LGBTQ older adults tend to have poorer post-retirement outcomes including social, psychological, and financial well-being, compared to their cisgender, straight counterpart. Retirement planning is one determinant of post-retirement outcomes, and some scholars attribute LGBTQ retirees’ poorer adjustment to challenges they face in retirement planning. However, little is known about how LGBTQ people plan their retirement.  Further, existing literature provides limited knowledge about to what extent people are able to carry out their retirement plans, and no study has examined this question for LGBTQ people.

The proposed study will add to the existing literature by creating knowledge about how LGBTQ people plan their retirement and what challenges they face in carrying out the plans.  The study will achieve these goals by using a longitudinal qualitative design. The study will directly ask LGBTQ people about their ongoing planning process before their retirement, and the study will follow up on the participants after their retirement to assess to what extent they were able to carry out their plans and what challenges they faced during the transition. The longitudinal design will minimize retrospective bias.

The proposed study is significant for two reasons. First, the study will describe challenges that LGBTQ people face in planning their retirement and carrying out the plans, and these challenges may reflect structural constraints that society impose on LGBTQ people. Therefore, the study will help increase understanding about how social inequality operates in late life stages.  econd, planning is a key determinant of post-retirement well-being, and understanding LGBTQ people’s retirement planning process will help make policy recommendations about how to improve their post-retirement well-being by reducing barriers to their planning.

Study Type:
Qualitative

IRB Approved:
Yes

Target Audience:
LGBTQ people in the US who are age between 60 and 75 and have not retired previously.

Target Sample:
60

How to Apply:
Fill out an online form: https://fsu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7NGc09tYLabn27A

Study Contact:
Koji Ueno
kueno@fsu.edu