Preparation for Retirement
Most of those who work up to the last possible day, then face the problem of no longer being employed, feel the retirement impact. Some organizations now have planned programs of preretirement counseling, seminars, and easing-up practices in which the person gradually gets used to doing less. Such job decompression programs are helpful for some people.
Social attitudes toward old age are generally unfavorable, causing some people to delay, even resist, preparation for approaching old age, except for building up financial reserve in pensions. There is realization of the chance of having physical handicaps, but usually less attention is given to the psychological aspects of a feeling of uselessness, inactivity, loneliness, and boredom. One elderly woman in England reported that she was sorry when it was no longer necessary to queue up for buying groceries because "I had someone to talk to."
It is possible to predict in middle age, even sooner in some people, what kind of adjustment the person will make in old age. For those who have sought change, or at least showed only token resistance to it, and who have health, financial security, and companionchip, old age can be a time of happiness. For some it is a time for enjoying the results of one's labors. It is a time of independence, when the person is no longer driven by ambition and regulated by work. It is a time to enjoy the prestige of wisdom, the loyalty and devotion of family. In a community where leisure is a status symbol of success, the elderly have priority. But, one may ask, what are the chances that these favorable factors will fall my way?
Individuals who are psychologically tough and resilient have learned patterns of adjustment that are useful in their declining years. They are, by and large, people who see themselves as active agents in their own progress, who are not willing to leave their futur, in the hands of others. These are the people who prepare for retirA. ment psychologically as well as physically and economically. They the individuals who see that preparation during middle age can lessen the impact of retirement. They are the people who understand that in some settings the older person can be hit by a "youthquake" and sortm survive.
Preparation for retirement involves a measure of prethlnkin about the questions one should consider months in advance of actu retirement. Many questions center on physical health and financial problems. Social Security offices across the countrf have written material, kept up to date, dealing with a wide variety of questions an answers in these areas. Here we wish to consider three factors and add some questions that may help persons think ahead on problems. psychological adjustment to retirement.
