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Retirement has different meanings for different people. Retirement represents a significant transitional period in the life cycle of an individual. The aim of the study was to explore and describe the experiences and coping resources of retirees. The researcher applied an exploratory, descriptive research design employing the mixed methods of quantitative and qualitative research to gain an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon. A non-probability purposive sampling method was used to identify participants who retired from a specific vehicle manufacturing company in Port Elizabeth. Semi-structured interviewing techniques and a questionnaire called the Coping Resources Inventory were used for data collection. The rationale for using a mixed method approach was to increase the validity of the research findings. Descriptive statistics and the framework provided by Tesch (in Creswell, 2003) were used in data analysis of quantitative and qualitative data respectively. The results of the Coping Resources Inventory indicated that the participants perceived themselves as having an average level of coping resources. The results from the semi-structured interviews reflected that participants’ retirement experiences are mainly influenced by the following three factors: (a) economic resources, (b) social relationships and (c) personal resources. Recommendations were made for future research and intervention regarding retirement planning. The researcher included suggestions for the implementation of a retirement preparation programme. Lastly the limitations and the value of the study were outlined.

The paper is focused on the analysis of mandatory expenditures and mainly on disability pensins. There is also described pension system of the Czech republic. I specify the conditions for granting disability pensions and their amount and progress. I include the employment of disabled persons.

Thesis (LLM.) -- University of Limpopo, 2015 / This mini-dissertation discusses the retirement reforms laws. It analysis the comparative study between South Africa and Chile. South Africa had undergone the retirement reforms processes since 1992 when Mouton Commission of Inquiry was established and in 2002. Since then lot of discussion papers were finalised which mooted retirement reforms ranging from retirement reforms and social security, a safer financial sector to serve South Africa better, strengthening retirement savings, costs of retirement benefits. Chile is a country which is already ahead in their retirement reforms processes. This study seeks to evaluate the lessons which South Africa can learn from Chile so that they can fast-track their retirement reforms and re-write the new Pension Funds Act which incorporate both public and private sectors.

Diploma thesis "Impacts of demographic development on the system of continuous financing of pensions" deals with the situation in the area of pension financing in the Czech Republic. The aim of the thesis is to identify the current issues, find their causes and try to propose possible solutions to improve the situation. In its first part, the thesis is focused on theoretical aspects and concepts of social politics as well as on economic theories on which programs of political parties are based. The methods used in the thesis are presented as well. The analytical part of the work is concerned with demographic development, legislative framework of social security, main actors of social politics and modifications proposed by political parties. The last part concludes all results of the research and presents possible solution to the problem.

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This study had two basic objectives. The first was to determine the stock market reactions to the pension policy deliberations. The second was to further our understanding of the significance of the FASB's due process. The author selected 13 critical events that preceded passage of SFAS No. 87 and designed a quasi experiment to examine the stock market reaction around the above events. Two portfolios were constructed to test the hypotheses. The first portfolio consisted of firms in the experimental group (firms sponsoring a defined benefit pension plan) and the second portfolio consisted of firms in the control group (firms sponsoring a defined contribution pension plan). The two portfolios were matched on the basis of SIC code, debt to equity ratio and assets.

In this dissertation, I develop theoretical models and an empirical study of the role of social interactions, the evolution of social norms, and their impact on individual behavior. Although my models are consistent with individual utility maximization, they generally emphasize social factors that channel individual decisions and/or shape individuals' preferences. I apply this approach to three different issues: labor supply, fertility decisions, and intergenerational transfers, generating predictions that are more consistent with observed empirical patterns of behavior than standard neoclassical approaches that assume independent preferences, perfect information, and efficient markets. In the first essay, I explain the long-run evolution of working hours during the 20th century in developed countries: the substantial decline for the first three quarters of the 20th century and the deceleration or even reversal of the fall in working hours in the last quarter. I develop a model of the determination of working hours and how this process is affected by both the conflict between employers and employees and the employees' desire to emulate the consumption standards of the rich reference group. The model also explores the effects of direct and indirect policies to limit hours advocated by political representations of workers such as trade unions or leftist parties. In the second essay, I study the coevolution of gender norms and fertility regimes. Since the 1990s, a new pattern of positive correlation between fertility rates and female labor force participation emerged in developed countries. This recent trend seems inconsistent with conventional economic approaches that explain fertility decline as a result of the increasing opportunity costs of childrearing, predicting a negative correlation between fertility and women's labor force participation. To address this puzzle, I develop a model of the evolution of gender norms and fertility in various economic environments influenced by the level of women's wages. Randomly matched spouses make choices related to fertility - labor supply and the division of household labor - based on their preferences shaped by gender norms. In the model, norm updating is influenced by both within-family payoffs and conformism payoffs from social interactions among the same sex. The model shows how changes in economic environments and the degree of conformism toward norms can alter fertility outcomes. The results suggest that the asymmetric evolution of gender norms between men and women could contribute to very low fertility, explaining the positive correlation between fertility and women's labor force participation. Finally, I estimate the effect of exogenously introduced public pensions for the elderly on the amount of private transfers they receive. There has been a long debate whether public transfers crowd out private transfers. Previous empirical studies on this issue suffer from the endogeneity of income that contaminates estimates. I use an exogenously introduced public transfer, the Basic Old Age Pension in Korea, to test the crowding out hypothesis. A considerable proportion of the elderly population, especially women living without a spouse, do not experience the crowding out effect and moreover, among those who do, the size of the effect is relatively small. The results support the redistribution effect of the Basic Old Age Pension targeting the poor elderly in Korea.

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The purpose of this survey was to identify and compare the specific factors relating to merit pay that teachers, principals, and superintendents in Central Florida would accept in the development and implementation of a merit pay plan. A questionnaire, based on an instrument that was used in a previous study on merit pay factors in 1970, was developed that consisted of 38 factors. A five-point ordinal scale was used to measure the educators' degree of acceptance for each factor. There were 14 Central Florida school districts that participated in the survey including 433 teachers, 211 principals, and 12 superintendents. The response rate was 62.6 percent. The chi square test was the primary test used for the statistical analysis. The test was utilized to compare group responses on a factor-by-factor basis. Some conclusions made based upon the analysis of data were: 1. Agreement existed by the educators in Central Florida on a majority of 38 factors. 2. Teachers and principals rejected the following factors: a. Set a quota on the number of teachers eligible for merit pay each year. b. Teacher evaluation should include summer work experiences which relate to teacher's field. c. Teacher evaluation should include as a criteria an advanced degree or certificate. d. Teacher evaluation should include college/university training beyond a degree or certificate. e. Teacher evaluation should include conference and convention participation. f. Teacher evaluation should include scores achieved on standardized tests. 3. Teachers rejected having the principal-be the primary evaluator, whereas principals and superintendents were in general agreement with this factor. 4. Teachers showed a difference on more factors when divided on the basis of experiential level (1 to 10 years versus 11 years and over). In summary, although there were statistically significant differences identified, the comparisons were more alike than different with the majority being differences in degree only.