{"title":"Considering Financial Assets When Promoting Sense of Purpose in Older Adulthood.","authors":"Gabrielle N Pfund, Patrick L Hill","doi":"10.1080/08959420.2022.2029271","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Sense of purpose, a consistent promoter of successful aging across the lifespan, has been shown in previous research to decline during older adulthood. As such, research is needed to understand how to inform policies around promoting a sense of purpose for older adults, and which adults may need more assistance on this front. One potential mechanism for lower purpose in older adulthood could be due to the more limited financial assets many face following retirement. As such, the current study investigated the cross-sectional associations between different kinds of financial assets and sense of purpose among older adults from the 2006 and 2008 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (<i>n</i> = 9,380). Sense of purpose as well as four financial assets were assessed: physical assets, retirement account assets, investment account assets, and debts. Findings indicated that greater physical assets and retirement account assets predicted a higher sense of purpose, while debt and investment account assets did not. Furthermore, there were no moderating effects of different grouping variables, such as retirement status, race, marital status, subjective health, or wave, on the associations between total net worth and sense of purpose. Findings are discussed regarding why net worth matters for all, and why certain assets may be more important than others when promoting a sense of purpose.</p>","PeriodicalId":47121,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Aging & Social Policy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Aging & Social Policy","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/08959420.2022.2029271","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2022/2/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"GERONTOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Sense of purpose, a consistent promoter of successful aging across the lifespan, has been shown in previous research to decline during older adulthood. As such, research is needed to understand how to inform policies around promoting a sense of purpose for older adults, and which adults may need more assistance on this front. One potential mechanism for lower purpose in older adulthood could be due to the more limited financial assets many face following retirement. As such, the current study investigated the cross-sectional associations between different kinds of financial assets and sense of purpose among older adults from the 2006 and 2008 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (n = 9,380). Sense of purpose as well as four financial assets were assessed: physical assets, retirement account assets, investment account assets, and debts. Findings indicated that greater physical assets and retirement account assets predicted a higher sense of purpose, while debt and investment account assets did not. Furthermore, there were no moderating effects of different grouping variables, such as retirement status, race, marital status, subjective health, or wave, on the associations between total net worth and sense of purpose. Findings are discussed regarding why net worth matters for all, and why certain assets may be more important than others when promoting a sense of purpose.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Aging & Social Policy offers a platform for insightful contributions from an international and interdisciplinary group of policy analysts and scholars. It provides an in-depth examination and analysis of critical phenomena that impact aging and the development and implementation of programs for the elderly from a global perspective, with a broad scope that encompasses not only the United States but also regions including Europe, the Middle East, Australia, Latin America, Asia, and the Asia-Pacific rim.
The journal regularly addresses a wide array of issues such as long-term services and supports, home- and community-based care, nursing-home care, assisted living, long-term care financing, financial security, employment and training, public and private pension coverage, housing, transportation, health care access, financing, and quality, family dynamics, and retirement. These topics are of significant importance to the field of aging and social policy, reflecting the journal's commitment to presenting a comprehensive view of the challenges and solutions related to aging populations around the world.