Iowa State University Extension offers two retirement curricula for purchase:
- Retirement: Secure Your Dreams
- Welcome to Retirement
Retirement: Secure Your Dreams
Retirement: Secure Your Dreams is a comprehensive, flexible retirement planning curriculum targeting four audiences: young adults, self-employed individuals, baby boomers, and individuals within five years of retirement. The curriculum is based on the 13 publications in the Retirement: Secure Your Dreams series and links are provided to these publications. Teaching materials available for eight lessons (view lesson overviews) include:
- Teacher's guide (view sample in MS Word)
- Learner activities/worksheets
- PowerPoint slides - dark background for on-screen presentations (view sample) and light background for overheads (view sample)
- Evaluation tools
- Marketing materials
- Background research
The cost of a 3-year license is $50. To purchase access to the curriculum materials, print off the license agreement (pdf), fill it out and send it and the license fee to Iowa State University.
Access the Retirement: Secure Your Dreams curriculum, if you have purchased a license.
The web-based curriculum may not be copied for multiple facilitators (such as the field staff of a state's extension programs). It is expected that each person intending to use the materials will purchase a license. View samples of the Retirement: Secure Your Dreams curriculum.
Welcome to Retirement
The “Welcome to Retirement” simulation is designed to provide participants a hands-on opportunity to experience life at ages 68, 75 and 85. Each participant draws one of eleven scenarios to experience, with “income” between 24 to 210 game pieces representing $12,000 to $105,000.
Between January 5, 2004 and April 30, 2005, 275 participants explored retirement though the simulation. Of the 212 participants who respond to evaluation questions:
- 97% (206) reported the simulation helped them think about their own retirement
- 86% (183) said the simulation helped them think about financial security of others in their community
The simulation is designed to facilitate discussion and takes 45 minutes to an hour to complete.
For more information about Welcome to Retirement contact Ruth Freeman.
ISU Extension is making a license agreement available for three years for using the Welcome to Retirement simulation including 30 game boards and web access to the instructions, 11 scenarios, summary sheet and evaluation for $45. To purchase access to the Welcome to Retirement curriculum materials, print off the license agreement (pdf) fill it out and send it and the license fee to Iowa State University.
Access the Welcome to Retirement curriculum, if you have purchased a license.
Additional game board (SP 244) can currently be ordered for 50 cents from ISUE Online Store.
Note: Some of the files linked on this site are Adobe Acrobat pdf files. For more information about pdf files or to download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader, please consult the pdf help section.