Abstract
The accumulation of a solid financial foundation is necessary but not sufficient for retirement security in the broadest sense, i.e. to continue to belong and to be a contributing member of society. Too little attention has been paid to creating a path to a rewarding later life. We define engagement in terms of the experience of connecting on a deep and meaningful level with productive activities and test whether there is a differential effect of engagement level (no involvement, low, moderate, and high engagement) on health and well-being in later life. Findings suggest that just staying “busy” in and of itself may not be the key to health and well-being in later life and retirement security; instead the quality of one’s experience (i.e., engagement) with paid work, volunteering, caregiving, and informal helping plays an important role in the extent to which involvement leads to positive outcomes.