Retirement preparation programs: differentials in opportunity and use

Two issues rarely addressed in the retirement planning field are (a) the proportion of older workers who participate, or have the opportunity to participate, in retirement preparation programs; and (b) socioeconomic differentials in access to such programs. Data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of older men were used to investigate these two issues. The data indicate that fewer than 4% of this sample of men aged 60 to 74 in 1981 had participated in a retirement preparation program. Logistic multiple regression analysis indicated that level of education, occupational status, government employment, and private pension coverage were positively related to the likelihood of participation as well as the likelihood of opportunity to participate. Conclusions from this analysis are (a) very few older men are ever exposed to retirement preparation programs and (b) those who would seem to benefit most from preparation programs, low status and low income workers, are the least likely to have access to these programs.