MYTHS AND REALITIES OF COLLEGE RETIREMENT

This paper will discuss the present difficulties being experienced by American college professors with respect to their planning and preparing for retirement. Current macroeconomic conditions are forcing state and institutional budget and program cuts at colleges and universities across the country, increasing job insecurity for many academics. Simultaneously, stock market losses, reductions in the values of real estate, the erosion of the value of personal pensions, and other related challenges are forcing many seasoned American college professors to rethink their retirement plans. Relatively new options exist for today’s academic instructors as well, including not retiring at all, whether for financial or other reasons. How individuals should deal with these new and changing pressures is the focus of this paper