Planning and expectations of the retirement experience

Research suggests that retirement planning can benefit individuals in a number of ways. In this study, two types of informal retirement planning and participation in a retirement planning seminar were used to predict retirement expectations and self-efficacy, or subjects' confidence in their ability to make the retirement transition. Results suggested that informal leisure planning had a positive impact on expectations and self-efficacy, whereas effects of participating in the planning seminar were limited to retirement expectations. Suggestions for designing planning seminars are discussed in view of these findings.