While having a career and dealing with the daily grind is often associated with increased stress, not to mention less rest and relaxation, many reports are conflicted as to whether it’s advantageous or not to retire. For many people, moving onto the retirement phase of life presents an opportunity to pursue personal interests and passions. It’s something that is met with excitement, happiness and contentment. However, for others, retirement is a difficult thing to endure, as schedules change, time is freed up and, for someone who isn’t married or doesn’t have a lot of family, it can translate into loneliness and boredom. Some studies suggest that taking an early retirement can be bad for our health in terms of longevity. In a study by the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, researchers found that early retirement may be a risk factor for mortality and that prolonged working life may provide additional survival benefits. The reasons for this are varied. AsThe Guardianbreaks it down: “You might assume the effect was caused by sicker people retiring earlier and dying prematurely, but this study really tries to take that into account. The researchers analysed data from 2,956 people who were part of the Healthy Retirement Study funded by the National Institute on Aging in America. People were divided into unhealthy and healthy retirees based on whether they said sickness influenced their decision to stop work: about twothirds were healthy and a third unhealthy. During the 18 years of the study, 12% of the healthy and 25.6% of the unhealthy group died. After taking into account factors such as the healthy group’s better education and finances, they found that healthy retirees who worked a year longer (over the age of 65) had an 11% lower ‘all-cause mortality risk’. Even the unhealthy group reduced their likelihood of dying by 9% if they delayed retirement.” It should also be pointed out that those who retire earlier may face the burden of financial struggles down the road, which can have a negative impact on one’s health. Other research on the topic of longevity and retirement has looked at how morality rates vary from one profession to the next. For example, a very laborious job can pose potential risks, such as injuring oneself, meaning that early retirement in this case could be more beneficial. However, an administrative job could help to keep someone’s mind sharp and, therefore, it’s more beneficial to keep working. There’s no denying that our jobs have a major impact on our lives – after all, some of us spendmost of our lives there. But sometimes, it may be our career that keeps us celebrating birthdays well into our 80s, 90s or even beyond. Take Dr. Shigeaki Hinohara, for example, one of the world’s longest-serving physicians and educators. Not only did he argue that early retirement was a bad idea, he exemplified this by working until his death when he was 105 years old Japan Times). In the interview, he explained that the retirement age in Japan was set at 65 years old back when the average life expectancy was 68. Now, people are living much longer ‒ the average life expectancy in Japan as of 2015 was almost 84 years ‒ and so they should be retiring much later in life too. Until a few months before his death on July 18 in Tokyo, The New York Times reports, Hinohara continued to treat patients, kept an appointment book with space for five more years, and worked up to 18 hours a day. So, in the end, it’s all a judgment call – if work, for you, is something that you’re passionate about, something that drives you and something that you genuinely enjoy, then stick to it! However, if your job is physically draining, mentally challenging or, in general, causes you stress and discontent, it’s time to start considering retirement. After all, you ultimately want as many retirement years as possible! Longevity by Jennifer Cox Longevity & retirement 44 | www.snowbirds.org
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