| | Waves 3-11 | Waves 15-19 | Wave 23+ |
| Became eligible for the age pension | | 1 | 1 |
| Became eligible for the old age pension | 1 | | |
| Pressure from employer or others at work | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Own ill health | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| Ill health of spouse / partner | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Ill health of other family member | 13 | 13 | 13 |
| COVID-19 | | | 14 |
| Partner had just retired or was about to retire | 14 | 14 | |
| Partner had just retired or was about to retire | | | 15 |
| Spouse / partner wanted me to retire | 15 | 15 | |
| Spouse / partner wanted me to retire | | | 16 |
| To spend more time with spouse / partner | 16 | 16 | |
| To spend more time with other family members | 17 | 17 | |
| To spend more time with spouse / partner | | | 17 |
| To have more personal / leisure time | 18 | 18 | |
| To spend more time with other family members | | | 18 |
| To have children/ start family/ to care for children | 19 | 19 | |
| To have more personal / leisure time | | | 19 |
| Offered reasonable financial terms to retire early or accept a voluntary redundancy | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| To have children/ start family/ to care for children | | | 20 |
| Superannuation rules made it financially advantageous to retire at that time | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Could afford to retire / Had enough income | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Spouses / partners income enabled me to retire | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Made redundant / Dismissed / Had no choice | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Reached compulsory retirement age | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Could not find another job | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Fed up with working / work stresses, demands | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| NEI to classify | 95 | 95 | 95 |
| Other | 98 | 98 | 98 |
| None of these | 997 | 997 | 997 |