P Pre-retirees’ Preparation for Retirement Dannii Y. Yeung and Sherry O. K. Chong Psychology Laboratories – Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China Synonyms Preparatory behaviors for retirement; Retirement planning; Retirement preparation Definition Retirement planning refers to an individual’ s long-term efforts in making plans for his or her retirement life. It covers preparatory activities in financial, health, social life, and psychological domains (Law et al. 2006). Financial planning, which is the cornerstone of retirement planning, includes the estimation of living cost after retire- ment, saving or investment, and consultation with financial advisors. Health planning concerns health maintenance, regular medical checkup, and health insurance. Social life planning focuses on post-retirement social and leisure activities, such as participation in social clubs or learning new hobbies. Psychological planning, which is relatively underexamined (Yeung 2013), focuses on the psychological preparation for adjustment to potential changes in late adulthood, for instance, participation in workshops or seminars on retire- ment, and discussion of retirement issues with family members or professionals. Retirement adjustment is defined as the adaptation to post- retirement life, and it is considered essential to the psychological well-being and life satisfaction of retirees (Reitzes and Mutran 2004; van Solinge and Henkens 2008). Overview According to the United Nations (2017), the global life expectancy raised from 48 years in 1950 to 72 years in 2016. With an increased life expectancy, the life after retirement is prolonged. Retirement is increasingly recognized as a pro- cess, instead of a one-off event, due to changes in the withdrawal patterns of labor force (Thang 2019). The retirement age in most Eastern and Western countries is in the 60s. Retirees expe- rience substantial changes in personal resources in multiple domains, including financial, physical, cognitive, social, motivational, and emotional aspects, during the retirement transition (Wang et al. 2011). For example, retirees lose their social identity, self-worth, and regular income after retir- ing from a full-time employment (Wong and Earl 2009). They also face a number of uncertainties, such as adaptation to a new family role, and chal- lenges of spending spare time meaningfully (Nuttman-Shwartz 2004). Thus, the smooth © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 D. Gu, M. E. Dupre (eds.), Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_735-1