Applied research was utilised in order to identify the challenges experienced by employees of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality regarding preparation for retirement. The purpose of the study was to explore the challenges experienced by employees in the age bracket of 50 to 65 years. A quantitative approach was utilised. Probability sampling with a systematic sampling method was used to obtain a representative sample of 100 employees from the larger population of 4,453 employees. Survey research was undertaken in order to provide a numeric description of the opinions of employees of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, by using questionnaires as the data collection method. The cross-sectional survey design was most appropriate as it involves one contact with the respondent and is comparatively cheap to undertake and easy to analyse. Questionnaires were handdelivered to some respondents to fill in themselves and collected upon completion, whilst other respondents were assisted with the questionnaires by Wellness Champions. The data was analysed using the Statistical Package of Social Sciences program (SPSS). The research demonstrated that the challenges faced by employees of EMM are financial, psychosocial and physical in nature. Surveyed employees indicated that they were not aware of any retirement preparatory programme offered by EMM and expressed a strong need for such a programme. One of the recommendations is the development of a retirement preparatory programme by EMM in order to mitigate some of the post-retirement difficulties that may be experienced by retirees. / Dissertation (MSocSci)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted