The researchers identified key contributors to maintaining well-being at an older age:
Positive relationships
Autonomy
Active community engagement and
Keeping a clear sense of purpose - whether retired or still in the workforce.
Being married or in some other strong personal relationship also helped.
Professor Grant Schofield, who led the research, said yesterday that the main condition for happiness among older people was retaining good health.
"They all say the same thing - life gets better.
"The only proviso to that is if you're not healthy. But if you keep your health, it's awesome."
The finding about older Kiwis is better than an earlier report from the 2015 Sovereign Wellbeing Index, which ranked New Zealand at 21 against 29 countries in a European survey.
Dr Schofield believed the more general finding, covering New Zealanders of all ages from 18, was a reflection of a low level of social connections maintained in cities.
"We're pretty social with our own families, but if you ask people who live in the major cities how well they know their neighbour, we're terrible."
"Southland and Northland do okay but with social connections, especially in cities, we could do better."
He believed that was where older New Zealanders held the edge, saying they were the best at keeping up community connections.
He could not think of another time in history when a generation had enjoyed such favourable circumstances.
"There hasn't been a war, economic collapses that affected people that much, 50 million people dying of the Spanish flu," he said.
"The generation coming through now has had a good run and long may it continue."
But Dr Schofield acknowledged more challenging times for younger people such as those trying to get a foot in the property market.
He was intrigued by a finding that 49 per cent of those still working at ages 65 to 74 fell into the highest well-being bracket, compared with just 39 per cent of those in that age group who had retired earlier.
"That's a really interesting finding that we want to explore further."
He supposed financial security would have a large bearing on that.
But the report also highlighted the importance of voluntary unpaid work for the mental health of older people.
It found that although those aged 65 to 74 tended to have more physical health problems than those aged 55 to 64, they had lower rates of psychological conditions such as depression.
Sovereign chief executive Symon Brewis-Weston said he hoped that by identifying what made some people thrive, especially in their later years, his company and the researchers could find ways to improve the health of all Kiwis.
Happiness is being social
Anne Martin believes the secret of happiness in her golden years is maintaining social relationships and keeping an active interest in current issues.
The 74-year-old from Warkworth stepped down just last month as president of New Zealand First, only to fall back into a previous role as the party's secretary.
"I'm fortunate that my children live in New Zealand and my grandchildren are all within an hour's drive of me," she said.
She had looked forward to retiring after a full career teaching primary-aged children, she said. However, she believed being able to work part-time for several years after turning 65 helped her to adjust to new circumstances while maintaining contacts with colleagues.
Although her husband passed away seven years ago, she has found new love and interests with Grey Power regional director Bill Rayner, 74, and agrees companionship helps to keep older people up the happiness scale.
6 Tips for old age
1 Healthy nutrition
2 Good sleep
3 Remain active
4 Limit TV-watching and time on computers
5 Increase "daily dose of positive emotions" - coffee with friends, visiting a gym or listening to music
6 Surround yourself "with healthy, upbeat people"
Source: AUT University
