Less than one-fourth of SIPP retirees made the transition from full-time work and no benefit receipt to benefit receipt and no work during the 32 months of the 1984 SIPP panel, and these full retirees appear to differ economically from those who had not fully retired during the 32 months. Income declined to 60 percent of preretirement levels for those who received Social Security benefits and employer pensions, and to 46 percent for those who received only one type of benefit after ceasing full-time work. Family income cushioned the decline. About one-third of retirees had larger changes in income shortly before or after observed retirement transitions than right at the retirement transitions. Larger changes in income were associated with changing one's work effort. Asset income was quite variable across the entire panel. A monthly view of persons in various stages of retirement has brought into sharper focus than has previously been recognized the many paths into retirement, often over an extended period of time, during which status may change back and forth. A one-time or occasional extension of the SIPP to perhaps a 5-year period for the near-retirement-age population would increase the proportion of retirees for whom the full process is observed in such great detail. Alternatively, information on the timing of changes in labor-force and pension status may be collected in a proposed new Retirement History Study that calls for interviewing persons at 2-year intervals over a 10-year period for a more accurate picture of the retirement process.
在1984年的收入与项目参与情况调查（SIPP）面板数据的32个月中，不到四分之一的SIPP退休人员从全职工作且无福利领取状态转变为领取福利且不再工作，而且这些完全退休人员在经济状况上似乎与那些在这32个月中未完全退休的人员有所不同。对于领取社会保障福利和雇主养老金的人来说，收入降至退休前水平的60%，而对于在停止全职工作后仅领取一种福利的人来说，收入降至46%。家庭收入缓冲了收入下降的幅度。大约三分之一的退休人员在观察到的退休转变之前或之后不久，收入变化比退休转变时更大。收入的较大变化与工作努力程度的改变有关。整个面板中的资产收入变化很大。对处于不同退休阶段的人员进行月度观察，比以往认识到的更清晰地聚焦了进入退休的多种途径，通常这一过程会持续很长时间，在此期间状态可能会反复变化。将SIPP一次性或偶尔延长至接近退休年龄人群的5年时间，将增加能够如此详细观察到整个退休过程的退休人员比例。或者，可以在拟议的新退休历史研究中收集劳动力和养老金状况变化时间的信息，该研究要求在10年时间内每隔2年对人员进行访谈，以更准确地了解退休过程。
