Though academic research has shown retirement to be viewed by retirees as a satisfying time in life, popular opinion holds that retirement is a difficult adjustment for a couple. This study was undertaken to find out more about one source of popular opinion, the popular press. All popular books and magazine articles on the topic of marriage and retirement published between 1960 and 1985 were surveyed. Thirty articles were located through key words for couples, marriage, and retirement in the "Guide to Periodical Literature." It was found that these sources emphasized heavily the potential stressfulness of retirement, and in turn offered advice about togetherness and autonomy, communication, sexual intimacy, boredom, and the onset of late life. Over time, advice to wives shifted away from an emphasis on nurturing their husbands and toward encouraging wives to take responsibility for their own well-being. With few exceptions, the subject of retirement in the popular press meant the husband's retirement. A review of the research literature revealed that it, too, had confined itself to the marital impact of the husband's retirement. Clinicians should be aware of the popular emphasis on the stressfulness of retirement and of the possibility that popular stereotypes about marital strain can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. (Author/NB)