Thursday, March 9, 2017

Application: Retirement

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Learning Resources

Please read and view (where applicable) the following Learning Resources before you complete this week's assignments.

Readings

  • Course Text: Experiencing the Lifespan

    • Chapter 11, "Relationships and Roles" (pp. 351 - 360 only)

    • Chapter 13, "Later Life: Cognitive and Socioemotional Development" (pp. 409 - 414 only)





Web Sites

This is a four-page report that summarizes employer policies that promote productivity. The Families and Work Institute (www.familiesandwork.org) was cofounded by Ellen Galinsky and Dana Freidman in 1989 in order to study work and family. The institute provides current research about the role of employers in family life, and provides information about employers who are able to maintain a stable and productive workforce while encouraging positive family roles.

This program can be viewed in its entirety online and describes the issues that individuals should consider early in adulthood in order to prepare for a positive retirement.

Optional Resources


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Application: Retirement

Retirement is a modern concept. In many parts of the world, retirement is not a part of the life course. In Western cultures such as Germany and Hong Kong, most people can expect to retire comfortably.

Thirty years ago, the majority of workers in the United States were enrolled in retirement plans. Those retirement plans provided a set amount of money for the rest of a person's life. Today, less than 25% of the workforce can expect to retire with such a plan. In fact, half of all workers have no job-related retirement plans at all, and can expect to rely only on Social Security and on the amount of money they save.

In this Application, you will compare and contrast retirement opportunities between two cultures. You will choose either Germany or Hong Kong, and compare and contrast the culture of that country to the culture of the United States. Then you will propose at least two government policies that might promote positive retirement outcomes for all Americans based on the Learning Resources or other resources you have developed.

To prepare for this assignment:

  • Review the assigned pages from Chapter 13 in the course text, Experiencing the Lifespan.

  • Review the program "Can You Afford to Retire?" on the PBS Web site, listed in the Learning Resources.

  • Review the article "Is There an American Way of Aging? Income Dynamics of the Elderly in the United States and Germany," in the Learning Resources.

  • Select either Germany or Hong Kong. Compare retirement opportunities in that culture to those in the United States.

  • Think about retirement issues in the United States and in the culture you selected.

  • Think about what it would be like to retire from a middle-class job in the United States and from the same type of job in the culture you selected.

  • Review policy discussions from the Learning Resources.


The assignment (1–2 pages):

  • Describe the potential positive and negative outcomes that are predictable in Germany or Hong Kong and in the United States. Describe what individuals might do in each culture to protect themselves from falling into poverty. Conclude your Application with at least two suggestions for policies (taken from the Learning Resources or other resources you find) that would help to keep most Americans out of poverty during retirement.


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