Prepared for retirement? Think again: a systematic review and future research agenda

Retirement planning has taken the world center stage today due to population aging. Globally, nations are turning ‘grey', which makes retirement planning crucial not only with respect to time but also with respect to post-retirement well-being. Though extant literature has identified and discussed retirement planning, as established by previous reviews, there exists a lack of clear definition and understanding of the concept, leading to absence of conceptual clarity. Thus, the meaning of retirement planning remains scattered in the studies, with papers focusing on various aspects of the construct and evaluating other independent variables. In light of the above, we present a systematic review by synthesizing existing research and defining retirement planning. We have identified and examined 169 articles published between 2007 and 2023 that have generated a three-phase structured definition of retirement planning. We also draw the defined construct's antecedents (including mediators and moderators). Drawing on the Theory, Context, Characteristics, Methodology (TCCM) framework, the study's findings highlight the significant gaps in retirement planning literature and present a pathway for further research.