Financial well-being of older adults: theoretical and methodological aspects and assessment issues

The tasks to promote active ageing and a prosperous old age, laid down in Russia’s program and strategic documents (federal project “The Older Generation”, “Strategy of Actions in the Interests of Citizens of the Older Generation in the Russian Federation until 2025”, etc.), can be addressed effectively only if financial well-being has been achieved. The aim of the study is to reveal theoretical and methodological foundations of the financial well-being of older adults, reflected in foreign and domestic scientific discourse. The article presents a theoretical and methodological framework for the financial well-being of older adults, and provides its preliminary assessment in the case of older adults in the conditions of Russian reality. As a result of a critical analysis of the scientific literature, we show that the concept “financial well-being” is commonly used in foreign scientific discourse, but it is not widespread in Russian research. We highlight general aspects of financial well-being: good current financial situation; financial stability in relation to shocks; confidence in the security of the future. We put forward a set of indicators to assess the financial well-being of older adults based on data from the All-Russian Survey of Consumer Finance - 2022 (a survey conducted by the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation and the Bank of Russia). We apply sociological analysis methods (descriptive analysis, frequency distribution analysis using combination tables). It is revealed that older adults feel more prepared for possible financial shocks, which is facilitated by the orientation toward savings practices and low credit activity. We identify the following sore spots: older adults are more concerned about the likelihood of money shortage, and they also do not feel confident in the sufficient financial security of their future. At the end of the article, we outline promising areas for research.