%0 Journal Article %A Anek Belbase %A Geoffrey T. Sanzenbacher %A Christopher M. Gillis %T Beyond Blue and White Collar: Age-Related Decline, Occupation, and Retirement Timing %D 2017 %R 10.3905/jor.2017.5.2.026 %J The Journal of Retirement %P 26-41 %V 5 %N 2 %X Retirement timing research has accounted for age-related decline in ability to work by classifying occupations as blue or white collar, but this rough categorization may throw out information. Instead, this article presents a susceptibility index that measures how susceptible the abilities required by an occupation are to early decline. The results suggest that (1) considerable variance exists, especially within white-collar occupations, in the importance of abilities that are known to show early decline; (2) this variance, as captured by the index, is predictive of early retirement; and (3) this variance captures more information than the common white- and blue-collar distinction.TOPICS: Retirement, legal/regulatory/public policy, statistical methods %U https://jor.pm-research.com/content/iijretire/5/2/26.full.pdf