A study examined existing literature on retirement practices and policy. Demographic change and the gradual development of pension benefits have led to the phenomenon of early retirement. There are three groups of early retirees. The voluntary retiree is in relatively good health, with adequate financial resources, can take full advantage of early…

The new financial environment for retirement emerging in the 1980s is marked by increased individual responsibility for financial well-being, a changed workforce, and the need to contain costs. The trend will be away from the group approach and toward cafeteria-style benefit programs, providing greater freedom of benefit choice. (MSE)

Intended for persons in their 50s and 60s who are seriously thinking about retirement and younger people who want to learn about aging and retirement, this book was developed as a companion piece to the training program offered to business and nonprofit organizations by the University of Southern Maine retirement planning team. Most of the…

Old-age policy in France has evolved historically in three critical dimensions that also correspond generally to post-World War II developments in France: the right to retirement (pensions); improved living conditions (e.g., autonomy, housing); and continued participation in the labor force. The last focus is currently a controversial one, given…

Japan's rapidly aging population has become a top policy issue, especially as the increasing costs of pensions and medical care are debated. With the highest life expectancy on earth, the Japanese potentially face long periods of retirement, as well as the possibility of long periods of disability. Although family support of the elderly is thought…

Recent trends toward earlier retirement have exacerbated the financial problems facing the Social Security system and many other public and private pension plans. The massive commitment of public and private funds to Social Security and pension funds is partly responsible for the trend to early retirement. This, in fact, was one of the early goals…

A model for examining the two basic approaches of encouraging later retirement is presented in which the coercive approach relies primarily on negative incentives such as benefit reductions, and the voluntary approach encourages continued employment through positive incentives and increased employment opportunities. The degree to which these…

Raising the age of mandatory retirement will retard the rate of promotional prospects only slightly in the economy. Larger delays will occur for top positions. Individual firms may experience greater delays depending on their rate of growth, previous retirement age, and willingness of older workers to remain on the job. (Author)

Higher salaries and improved working conditions have combined to make teaching a more attractive profession and to reduce teacher turnover rates. At the same time, however, the teaching work force has aged and faces problems in retirement programs. All levels of government should work with interested groups to find solutions to six major problems…

The popular conviction that Canadian universities will experience a serious faculty shortage in the 1990s is examined through statistics on faculty aging and replacement demand, retirement conditions, faculty renewal incentives, and the supply of doctoral recipients. It is concluded that there will be a surplus well into the 1990s. (MSE)

Older women, who comprise two-thirds of the retired U.S. population, share substantially less of the $1.3 trillion worth of over 800,000 private and public pension plans by every way of measurement. Of the one-in-five women receiving pension income, some obtain it from their own paid work history, while others are widows and divorced women who…

Until the beginning of 1994, federal law permitted mandatory retirement of tenured faculty at age 70. The Committee on Mandatory Retirement in Higher Education, formed by the National Research Council, was charged by Congress to examine potential effects on colleges, universities, and faculty members of ending the exemption for tenured faculty…

Employee ownership through employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) was first mentioned in federal legislation in the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973. Since then, at least 19 pieces of federal legislation have been enacted that deal with employee ownership in some way, including the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and tax…

Focusing on the classroom teacher as the key component in the educational process, this yearbook reviews recent school reform upheavals and their effects on teacher compensation, availability and quality of teachers, teacher retirement systems and related issues. After introductory observations on teachers' economic subsidies by Kern Alexander,…

This paper reports on significant developments in the meaning and function of emeritus rank in college faculties and discusses related issues in college planning affected by these changes. History and use of the term "emeritus," concepts on aging, and faculty views on emeritus status are examined; and the development of emeritus status…