Employment and retirement impacts on health and wellbeing among a sample of rural Australians.

While retirement is a significant life transition that may affect multiple facets of an individual's life, the direction and magnitude of these effects vary depending on the retirement context, namely the pre-retirement and concurrent circumstances within which an individual is retiring. Personal perceptions of status changes may also contribute to an individual's wellbeing more so than objective factors such as income. Policies that promote rural work/retirement opportunities and diversity and address rural disadvantage are needed.