Preparing for the future, feeling better now: Old-age financial preparation and psychological well-being in pre-old-age Korean adults

OBJECTIVES: Population aging has made old-age financial preparation increasingly consequential, yet it is typically indexed by a single measure that does not distinguish among the forms it takes. Drawing on Conservation of Resources theory and the institutional and normative structure of retirement in Korea, we examined associations between within-person changes in financial preparation and two distinct dimensions of subjective well-being among pre-old-age Korean adults. METHODS: Using seven biennial waves (2011-2023) of the Korean Retirement and Income Study (9,887 person-waves; 2,389 individuals), we estimated individual fixed-effects regressions examining associations between old-age financial preparation and depressive symptoms, measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and life satisfaction, adjusting for key time-varying covariates. RESULTS: Within-person transitions into preparation were associated with a 1.02-point lower CES-D score and a 0.11-point higher life-satisfaction score on a 5-point scale (both p < .001). Adequate preparation showed stronger associations with well-being than inadequate preparation (CES-D: β = -1.24 vs. -0.90; life satisfaction: β = 0.16 vs. 0.09); associations were comparable across primary preparation methods. A dose-response asymmetry emerged: associations with depressive symptoms plateaued beyond one preparation method, whereas life satisfaction increased additively with diversification (β difference = 0.077, p < .01). DISCUSSION: Old-age financial preparation appears to function as a within-person psychosocial resource related to both evaluative and affective dimensions of well-being. These divergent patterns suggest that the scope and adequacy of preparation matter differently for depressive symptoms and global life evaluations, potentially informing pension policy and financial-planning interventions in aging societies.