PREPARING THE PUBLIC-EMPLOYEE FOR RETIREMENT

This study of more than 725 federal, state and local governmental agencies reports on availability of preretirement planning programs for public employees. Current agency participation rates in preretirement counseling and projections for future programs were established along with content, administration, design, participation and other program characteristics. Results are profiled and compared with several similar studies of organizations within the private sector. The public sector's lag in both participation rates and innovation is documented. Most programs treat retirement as a point in time and fail to recognize it as a complex process and to design programs accordingly. Areas where existing programs need improvement are discussed along with agency perceptions of direct and indirect program benefits. Implications of these findings for future manpower planning strategies are presented.