Despite many employers' opinions that incentive programs for early retirement are humane and desirable, such programs have several undesirable aspects for the retirees and the U.S. economy. The programs are actually termination programs because they function as a way employers can reduce their work force. (In fact, it was the 1973-75 and 1981-82 economic recessions that stimulated the programs' development, as did industrial structural changes and corporate mergers, deregulation, government agency budget cuts, and growing foreign competition.) Also contributing to the programs' termination-like nature are the facts that early retirees rarely have much choice about whether to retire early and that they often suffer economic losses because of early retirement. The national economy suffers because the programs result in less tax revenue and reduced consumer demand. To help overcome these undesirable aspects of the programs, participants should be entitled to the same access to job placement and other services provided to laid-off employees by employers and the community. Employers should include career planning and job search information in corporate preretirement programs. (The document includes a 40-item reference list.) (CML)