Employees who plan for retirement can contribute meaningfully towards building a sustained quality of life during retirement. The lack of pre-retirement planning and education, however, “weakens” an individual’s life satisfaction. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the impact retirement planning and education has on retiree’s UFE satisfaction and to determine overall individual quality of life. This research firstly discusses retirement, or the prospect of giving up work. The research study points to the fact that an overwhelming amount of research shows that retirement, as a social phenomenon cannot be understood except in the context of work, because the meaning of retirement is largely an outgrowth of the meaning of work. The study further suggests that the transition from work to retirement can be eased through planning. Beginning to plan for retirement several years before retirement is anticipated is helpful. The study points to quality of life as a multi-dimensional concept that refers to an individual’s overall life satisfaction and total well-being. The findings discussed in Chapter Five indicate a reasonable level of retirement planning and education amongst retiree’s who participated in the survey. Recommendations from the study indicated a need for individual counseling during retirement planning and education workshops.

Retirement is a matter that seems to be underestimated by the majority of South Africans; as a result, they underestimate planning financially for it. Three phases, namely pre-retirement, close-to-retirement and post-retirement, were identified for the purposes of this study, together with the five different steps in the practical retirement planning process that merge into three core areas. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD’s) first international pilot study on financial literacy resulted in the South African Financial Services Board (FSB) performing a national baseline survey during 2011 to determine South Africans’ financial literacy levels. The questions selected from the national baseline survey dealing with some of the elements within the three core areas of the practical retirement planning process were statistically analysed for a comparison across the three retirement phases. Differences that could influence individuals’ ability and financial decisions when planning for retirement were found across the three retirement phases. / Financial Accounting / M. Acc. Sc.