Retirement preparation and enrichment: A practical program

Life expectancy is increasing, but not everyone who reaches old age achieves happiness or ego-integrity (Erikson 1963). Drawing on correlates of life satisfaction previously identified by one of the present authors, a retirement preparation and enrichment program of six two-hour sessions was developed and presented to more than 100 volunteers. The contents comprise a mixture of practical advice from expert speakers, including health, financial and legal considerations, along with psychological aspects such as myths of old age, phases of retirement, gains in the later years and life review. A personal action plan is compiled by each subject, to commit them to taking all steps that are needed to enhance life satisfaction in the later years. Questionnaires completed by 61 participants indicated a high degree of satisfaction with the program as presented, and cited finances, health, legal matters and psychological aspects as being the most interesting topics covered. It is believed that the program has certain advantages over previous retirement courses, and that it has the potential to be adapted to meet the needs of different groups.