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. 2025 Nov 10;65(12):gnaf266.
doi: 10.1093/geront/gnaf266.

Differences in retirement knowledge and financial preparedness between Hispanic and non-Hispanic White older adults in the United States

Luisa R Blanco  1 , Anna Choi  2 , Ron D Hays  3
Affiliations

Differences in retirement knowledge and financial preparedness between Hispanic and non-Hispanic White older adults in the United States

Luisa R Blanco et al. Gerontologist. .

Abstract

Background and objectives: We assess differences in retirement knowledge between older Hispanic and non-Hispanic White adults, and the extent to which individual, household, and neighborhood characteristics account for these differences. We also evaluate whether the relationships of retirement knowledge with financial outcomes (i.e., wealth) and health differ between Hispanic and non-Hispanic White older adults.

Research design and methods: We analyzed the Retirement Knowledge Scale (RKS) included in the 2020 Health and Retirement Study (N = 1,350). We use a regression approach with a Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition analysis.

Results: The average RKS was significantly lower among Hispanic than among White older adults. The top three factors explaining differences in retirement knowledge between Hispanic and White older adults were educational attainment, financial literacy, and neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics. RKS was significantly (p < .05) and positively associated with financial account balances and the likelihood of reporting very good or excellent health. We find that the association of RKS with wealth is of smaller magnitude for Hispanic than for White older adults. However, the relationship between retirement knowledge and health did not differ across racial/ethnic groups. Finally, differences between Hispanic and White older adults on the RKS were larger for men than for women.

Discussion and implications: The results suggest that reducing gaps in financial literacy and education, and acknowledging the role of neighborhood characteristics, can be helpful channels for reducing differences in retirement preparedness among Hispanic and White older adults. It is also significant that retirement knowledge is more strongly linked to wealth among White older adults.

Keywords: Health; Older adults; Retirement knowledge; Retirement preparedness.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

References

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