Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108WORK & RETIREMEN T 50 FIG. 2-10 Change in educational attainment of successive cohorts in the hrs (Average years of schooling by birth year) Birth Year Years of Schooling 1910 10 12 13 1920 1930 1940 1950 Early Boomer AHEAD CODA Original HRS War Baby Note: See page 16 for a description of the cohort labels. they go to work elsewhere or retire altogether after accepting such offers. In 1992, HRS participants were asked if they had ever been offered an early retirement window, and during re-interviews conducted every 2 years, they were asked if they had received such an offer since the last interview. The surveys show that 15 percent of Americans ages 51 to 61 who were working in 1992 had received early retirement offers from their employers by the year 2000 (Brown 2002). The frequency of such offers appeared to peak in the mid-1990s. Just under 5 percent of workers ages 55 to 59 in 1992-1996, compared with less than 2 percent of workers in that age group in 1990 and in 2000, were offered “early-outs.” Only about one-third of early retirement offers received were accepted, and about three-fourths of those who accepted the offers said they would not have retired at that time without the special, time-limited inducements. Slightly more than half of the offers accepted included cash bonuses, and the median amount of the bonuses (in 1992 dollars) was $23,800—about $1,000 more than in rejected offers. Improved pension benefits were included in 36 percent of the accepted offers, but only in about a quarter of the rejected offers. In general, workers who received early-out offers were better paid, were almost always covered by pension plans, and had been with their employers longer than workers who did not receive such offers. About two-thirds of workers who received an early-out offer were male, and about 40 percent were college graduates. Those receiving early- retirement offers were 12 percent less likely to be employed in 2000 than those who did not receive such offers, with the effect of reducing the 2000 employment rate of this age group by about 2 percent, according to researcher estimates. However, nearly one-third of those levels are generally seen among those who have attended or graduated from college. Figure 2-10 demonstrates the rise in level of educational attainment across successive cohorts of older Americans. Increased education is associated with higher lifetime earnings and wealth, longer work lives, better health, and greater cognitive capacity to deal with complexity. The upward trend in Figure 2-10 will continue, and combined with the expectations drawn in Figure 2-9, may result in a very different older workforce fabric than that seen today. Early Retirement Incentives Early retirement offers influence some workers’ decisions to leave the workforce before the typical retirement age of 65. However, information about the prevalence and impact of early-retirement opportunities is not generally available in national household surveys, and most of what is known to date comes from case studies of individual em- ployers and client surveys conducted by compen- sation consultants. The HRS not only provides the first national data on trends in early retirement offers, but also follows workers to learn whether