This document, examining transition to retirement from a sociological perspective, consists of four sections and a 14-item bibliography. The first section traces the evolution of West German retirement from what was considered a new phenomenon into what is now commonly assumed to be a normal or even natural life stage. The second section discusses the recent changes (earlier eligibility for pensions, a shortage of jobs and concomitant increase in disability pensions, and new preretirement programs aimed at bridging the gap between early exit from work and entry into the pension system) that have moved the time of exit from the work force to an earlier and earlier age for many West Germans. The third section examines the preretirement program. The fourth section examines the consequences of these changing retirement patterns in West Germany. Among those consequences are that the age of retirement cannot continue to come earlier and earlier; retirement becomes less and less associated with the concept of "old age"; financial and other planning must become more individualized as people retire earlier; and in the year 2030, contributions to the West German pension system as currently set up would require about 35 percent of personal incomes. (CML)