How Do Social Relationships Affect Later Life Planning?

Relatively little is known about how social relationships affect later life planning. Our study focuses on an underexamined aspect of social relationships, frequency of contact - not only with family members but also with friends. Using data from a survey of Floridians aged 50 and older conducted between December 2020 and April 2021 (n = 3,832), we examine the association between frequency of contact and five planning types: finances, health care, living arrangements, driving retirement, and end-of-life. We found that more frequent contact was associated with greater likelihood of planning, and this result was largely consistent across types of relationships and types of planning. Our findings suggest that contact with family members and friends may encourage more planning, which could reduce the stress that can accompany later life transitions. Our study offers further evidence of social relationships' centrality to later life well-being and points to the many benefits of enhancing them.

Aches and Pains: How Do They Affect Transitions From Driving?

Background and Objectives: Chronic pain, which affects more than 1 in 4 middle-aged and older adults, can have profound implications for everyday behaviors like driving. The literature examining it, however, is relatively small and is limited by its reliance on patient populations and its lack of attention to some driving-related behaviors and self-assessments that may signal the start of a transition from driving. Research Design and Methods: We address these issues using data from an online survey of Floridians aged 50 and older that was conducted between December 2020 and April 2021 and funded by the Florida Department of Transportation (n = 3,832). We ran multivariate regression analyses to examine the association between pain's interference with driving and 5 driving-related outcomes: self-rated driving ability, driving frequency, self-regulated driving, perceived nearness of driving retirement, and planning for driving retirement. Results: Results indicate that experiencing more pain that interferes with driving is associated with worse self-rated driving ability, more frequent self-regulated driving, and greater planning for driving retirement. It is not associated with driving frequency or with anticipating that driving retirement will occur in the next 5 years. Discussion and Implications: These findings indicate that greater pain may hasten the transition from driving, along with planning for it. These patterns suggest that pain may increase people's risk of isolation and other negative outcomes that can follow driving retirement; however, pain's effect on planning may reduce these risks. By focusing on transitioning from driving, our study reveals a largely overlooked benefit of reducing pain-It could extend people's years behind the wheel.