Active Interest Mentorship for Soon-to-Retire People: A Self-Sustaining Retirement Preparation Program

Abstract

Retirement is a major life transition that often leads to maladjustments and mental health hazards. In this study, we developed an innovative retirement preparation program, the Active Interest Mentorship Scheme (AIMS), which utilized active interest development as a positive entry point through which to engage soon-to-retire people. Each retiree received a 1-year mentorship 6 months before retirement. Adopting a quasi-experimental design, the study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the AIMS in protecting retirees' well-being. The well-being status of 161 retirees was assessed at 4-month intervals. Measures included self-esteem, life satisfaction, positive affect, depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms. Serial trend analysis revealed a general improvement in well-being at 4 months after mentorship, followed by a mark reversion in some variables at 2 months after retirement. Upon completion of the program, participants generally returned to a level of well-being that was comparable with or better than preretirement levels. The first 2 months after retirement appeared to be the most distressing. The findings support the efficacy, as well as feasibility of the innovative retirement preparation program.

The Current Status of Retirement Mentoring in Academic Surgery in the United States

“…This is in line with existing literature supporting the interest among medical professionals for late career mentorship and retirement planning [13]. Other professions have also recognized the benefits of retirement mentoring programs [16,17]. Wang et al [16] showed that mentoring corporate employees for 6 months before and after retirement improved their affect, self-esteem, and life satisfaction, as well as containing depression and anxiety.…”

“…Other professions have also recognized the benefits of retirement mentoring programs [16,17]. Wang et al [16] showed that mentoring corporate employees for 6 months before and after retirement improved their affect, self-esteem, and life satisfaction, as well as containing depression and anxiety. Importantly, many retirees who had completed the 1-year mentorship program expressed interest in becoming retirement mentors themselves.…”

Switching to Self-Employed When Heading for Retirement

“…Based on previous studies, we included several individual-level characteristics in the analysis. The continuous variable of Age was limited in our sample in that only people over age 50 were included because they are verging on retirement (Ng et al, 2019). As we focused on individuals who had not reached the official retirement age, the age cohort was bounded by 50 and 67 (M = 55.78, SD = 3.54).…”

Status and Role Transformations of the Elderly in Modern Russia

“…Retirement is one of the main transitional periods in every person's life. It often leads to imbalances in the psycho-emotional state and social situation (Siu-man et al, 2017). The social status changing due to retirement has an impact on the person's mental state, on changing his perception of society and relatives, transforming his role in life, reflects his financial situation and, subsequently, on health and adaptation to environmental changes.…”

“…Scientists around the world are exploring problems and ways to mitigate the transition period of retirement. In particular, they offer a mentoring program as a technology for preparing for retirement (Siu-man et al, 2017). Scientists also analyze biopsychosocial factors (resources, planning, retirement conditions, pension expectations) that affect life satisfaction (Siguaw et al, 2017).…”