Can working longer increase life expectancy? A study by Oregon State University published in the “Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health” researchers found that delaying retirement lowers the risk of dying among both healthy people and those with health issues.
The study examined almost 3,000 workers who retired in 2010 and had been in the workforce in 1992 with the average age of retirement just shy of 65. Healthy workers that delayed retirement just one year lowered the risk of death by 11% and 9% for those with health issues which was true across diverse socio-demographic profiles.
There are obvious financial benefits in delaying retirement including increased Social Security payments as well as more time to save and less years taking distributions but the researchers postulated that retirement can be stressful and that working may help people to maintain health and cognitive abilities.
A TPSU Adjunct Lecturer discussed these issues as he counsels people about to retire asking three questions:
- Are you prepared to dramatically increase the amount of time you spend with your spouse especially if they are also retiring?
- How are you going to replace the social network you have developed at work?
- What are you going to do with your time after working 40 hours/week for 35 years?
Men are particularly challenged.
Many people are not prepared which can cause stress, anxiety and even depression in retirement.
With people living longer, greater use of technology enabling tele-workers and, of course, the gig economy, it’s becoming common for the the first phase of retirement to work less followed by full retirement when people are healthy enough to still travel and finally the traditional stage when health prevents a person from working or traveling extensively. Now we have evidence that working longer can increase life expectancy
