This article presents an analysis of the factors that were associated with preferences for ‘early retirement’ or ‘late exit’ from paid work in Sweden. It draws upon special questions that were added to the country's Labour Force Survey of 2001 and were put to a sample of more than 1,000 people aged 55–64 years who were (self-) employed. Separate models of the factors influencing women's and men's preferred retirement age were calibrated, using variables that described current working conditions, whether the respondents perceived themselves as being appreciated as employees, and their attitudes to work and to private or home life. Among the findings, a positive attitude towards work motivated both women and men to stay in work beyond the normal retirement age, while positive attitudes towards private life promoted an early exit. Poor working conditions generated negative attitudes towards work (and vice versa). The strengths of various push and pull factors were gender-specific: for women, a trying job tended to push them out of the labour market; for men, a socially-rewarding job tended to keep them in the labour force. The more that men worked mainly for pecuniary reasons, the stronger their wish for an early exit. Men who felt that they were unappreciated at work preferred early retirement: in some of these cases, the ‘push’ factor was related to ageism. As people approach retirement age, many appear to reconceptualise more positively their life outside the work place.