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 108Richard J. Hodes, M.D. Director National Institute on Aging National Institutes of Health Alan L. Gustman, Department of Economics, Dartmouth College; John Haaga, NIA Behavioral and Social Research Program; John C. Henretta, Department of Sociology, University of Florida; F. Thomas Juster, Survey Research Center, University of Michigan and Director Emeritus of the HRS; David Laibson, Department of Economics, Harvard University; Kenneth M. Langa, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan; Rose M. Li, Rose Li & Associates, Inc.; Olivia S. Mitchell, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; Beth J. Soldo, Population Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania; Robert B. Wallace, Department of Epidemiology, University of Iowa; and David R. Weir and Robert J. Willis of the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan. We also thank Susan R. Farrer, JBS International, Inc., for her overall editing of this report. Vicky Cahan, director of the NIA Office of Communications and Public Liaison, also contributed her editing skills, and she and Freddi Karp, NIA’s publications director, were instrumental in the publication process. Cathy Liebowitz, HRS project associate at the University of Michigan, and Rose M. Li, Rose Li & Associates, Inc., rendered invaluable contracting and information management services. Jennie Jariel, Kerry McCutcheon, and John Vance, Levine & Associates, Inc., developed the graphics and layout. Most importantly, we thank the HRS’s most valuable asset—the thousands of HRS participants who, for more than a decade, have graciously given their time and have sustained their interest in this study. We salute their contributions, which are, indeed, without measure. Richard Suzman, Ph.D. Director, Behavioral and Social Research Program, and HRS Program Officer National Institute on Aging National Institutes of Health  What all of the people involved in the HRS have created is one of the largest and most ambitious national surveys ever under- taken. The study’s combination of data on health, retirement, disability, wealth, and family circumstances offers unprecedented opportunities to analyze and gain insight into our aging selves. This publication is designed to introduce these opportunities to a wider audience of researchers, policymakers, and the public to help maximize the use of this incredible research resource. We invite you to explore in these pages just a sample of what the HRS has already told us and to examine its potential to teach us even more.