Retiring is bad for your health

auditor0007

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Oct 19, 2008
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1. Retirees Who Continue to Work Enjoy Better Health

Retiring abruptly to a lifetime of leisure may not be good for your health. A recent study found that retirees who ease into retirement—transitioning from a full-time job into a temporary or part-time job—have fewer major diseases and function better on a day-to-day basis than those who stop working entirely, regardless of their health before retirement.

The study's authors refer to the transition between a full-time job and complete retirement as "bridge employment," which can be a part-time job, self-employment or a temporary job. The findings are reported in the October issue of the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association.

"Given the economic recession, we will probably see more people considering post-retirement employment," said co-author Mo Wang, PhD, of the University of Maryland. "These findings highlight bridge employment's potential benefits."

Wang and his colleagues looked at the national Health and Retirement Study, which is sponsored by the National Institute on Aging. They used data from 12,189 participants who were between the ages of 51 and 61 when the study began. Beginning in 1992, the subjects were interviewed every two years over a six-year period about their health, finances, employment history and work or retirement life.

In measuring health, the researchers only considered health problems diagnosed by physicians, including high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, lung disease, heart disease, stroke and psychiatric problems. Their findings showed that retirees who continued to work had fewer diseases and functional limitations than those who fully retired.

The study found that people whose jobs after retirement were related to their previous careers had better mental health as well as better physical health, but mental health improvements were not found among people who worked in jobs outside their career field after retirement. The authors believe this may be related to adapting to a different work environment that might create stress. The study also found that retirees with financial problems were more likely to work in a different field after retirement.

"Rather than wanting to work in a different field, they may have to work," said Wang. "In such situations, it's difficult for retirees to enjoy the benefits that come with bridge employment." The authors recommend that retirees carefully weigh their choice of employment after retiring.

"Choosing a suitable type of bridge employment will help retirees transition better into full retirement and in good physical and mental health," said co-author Kenneth Shultz, PhD.

No link available as this was in newsletter form through E-mail

I think most people know this to be true. My father is 72 and still works full-time. I have a client who is 94 years old. He works six days per week even though he can no longer drive. Personally, I think retirement does more than just destroy the body; it destroys the mind, and that is what keeps people going. I know I will never retire completely unless it is due to illness.
 
My mom has retired 2 or three times, and always ends up going back to work. She's working at a residential treatment center (the same one I used to work for) now, and she's 75.

My sister has retired two times....but went back when asked by the tribe to become a tribal attorney (primarily prosecutorial) and then after she retired from that, when she was asked to set up a child support enforcement department for the same tribe.

My mentor, lead worker and trainer is planning to retire in December. I don't see it lasting long. She's still relatively young, in her 50s, and she's just too much of a "doer" to enjoy retirement without being involved in an outside job. I keep begging her to stay on...why work for peanuts when if you just need to work, you can continue to do what you do best and get paid (and paid WELL after 30 years) for it? She'd essentially be my secretary (which is a complete joke, she's a trainer for the state for Pete's sakes, and one of, if not THE most knowledgeable person in the system) but still get paid what she's earning now. Unless she retires. Then she has to start over as far as pay goes, and I don't think she's up for that. So I keep encouraging her to withdraw her retirement paperwork and just hang on for a year or two. It's all gravy to me.
 
PS...my co-worker (technically lead worker and trainer) turned over her caseload to me about 6 months ago and since then has been like the WORLD'S BEST SECRETARY because she knows EVERYTHING, I'm going to miss her so much when she's gone.

I told her I'm keeping her on speed dial anyway, and she will remain my first go-to person when I have any questions (about 3 dozen a day). So she might as well just stay and get paid for it. Dontcha think?
 
I swear I'm going to send out a petition to all our clients begging her to stay and present it to her at her retirement party. Maybe that will work.

Along with a pair of black Alonquin slippers.
 
NEVER, ever, in my whole working career did i ever think that i would not be working or retire until i died....i loved working so much, i can't begin to count the ways!

And when my job was first downsized, I was gungho on finding another job...interviewed for one up in maine, portland area, with gh bass, had gone through my 5th interview for it, ending with the president, and they called my recruiter agent and settled the money and hired me...so, matt was gonna have to quit his job and we were moving from massachusetts to maine, beautiful Casco Bay area with all the little islands....just lovely.

That week, their NEW PARENT COMPANY, who had just recently bought gh bass out... decided to put a halt to their hire of me...a month later i read in the Footwear News that the president of Bass was fired, 2 weeks after that, i read the VP of Merchandise, who would have been my immediate report, was fired...2 months after that an article on their parent company sending their folk from NYC in to run the business... this was a Shirt company sending in their ceo's to run a shoe company....i could have told them that was a huge mistake, huge mistake....shoe business is not like the RTW (ready to wear) business...less than 2 years after Van Huesen sent in their crew, the company went down like a rock...a shoe company that survived in the usa for over 90 years i believe....sad....maine lost another shoe company....

So i figured it was not that the people i interviewed with changed their mind on me, but things were happening behind the scenes that had nothing to do with me....thank goodness! :eek:

anyway, when i was downsized, i had a ''noncompetitive agreement/contract'' with them...they paid me my full salary for almost 8 months and my health insurance, as long as i did not go and work for their major competitors, and agreed not to sue them for downsizing me...which I didn't even KNOW one could do?

and after that period i was eligible for unemployment for 6 months if i really could not find a job....

IT WAS MY FIRST BREAK from working since i was a kid.... But I had begun my job search immediately, not for money....because i was being paid to not work, at least for rockport's/reebok's immediate competitors.... i just WANTED TO get my hands on my next challenge and GO FOR IT!

Then, the blow with not getting the job i thought i got....and it was $40k more than i was making, a higher position as well, with more responsibility, but i was sooooo ready for the challenge...

after being told i wasn't being hired, after being told i was being hired hit me hard...the interviews were over 3 months....5 of them with different vp's of the company and last one with the president...i was so pumped because i really got along with the president, and like him a great deal....the interview with him lasted 2 hours when he had only set aside 20 minutes....we really had the same type vision for where we saw the product going and how to get us there....i knew when i left that interview that i was hired....i knew it....and 2 days later my recruiter calls and seals the deal with them... :(

Anyway, after all of THAT, I decided for the first time in my life, I would sit back and smell the roses...what that meant, I was clueless on...but I was determined to find out!

I looked around my house, and realized, my walls were still off white, from when we had moved there 4 years earlier...so I picked out paint colors and painted the inside of the house....

Then I decided that I hated my peninsular in the kitchen and wanted an Island, so I tore the thing apart, made it an island and tiled the floor where the peninsular was and wa la', I had a kitchen with easy access to the back deck and a semi remodel, done on my own.... Then I learned how to crochet, and I made at least 25 afghans of which I gave to all my friends and family :lol:, then I found my true love....flowers, birds, and gardening....i joined a bird watching group, began revamping my entire yard, landscaping it and planting flowers, tons of perennial gardens that came back every year....that also brought the birds in....then as a side kick to that, i was on a quest to fix up the bathrooms in the house, to make them more updated, got new sinks and fixtures and tile at home depot and worked on that, when inside the house....then i decided I really needed to decorate my house and buy new furniture to fit it instead of the college/youth hand me down stuff we still had....then i decided to refi the house, from a 8.5% down to a 5.12% which saved us some money, then i found a new phone service a new cable package and a new internet service that ended up saving us another $100 bucks a month... then I got in to cooking, meal ready for matt every day when he got home, got in to making his lunch instead of him buying it every day....

Basically what I am saying is that it isn't so bad...not working, you can still stay fairly busy and also, now people can keep their minds going...just by being on the net....or on these type of sites...at least for me, I spend a great deal of time on research, on the threads I am reading, to see if all is true that is being said or to see if I can find more info on a topic...I feel Like I am in school again, I have learned so much....

and I have learned much about life as well....that you don't need a bunch of material things to make yourselves happy (nor a career)....matt and I have both learned that it is more important to have eachother, start there, and everything beyond that is gravy....

So, i guess the point of this long post, is that NEVER SAY NEVER.... ;)

Care
 
after being told i wasn't being hired, after being told i was being hired hit me hard

Not sure but that could be a promissory estoppel issue.

Very interesting post Care. It sounds like there could be more follow up in that study. I suspect it's not so much about paid work as it is about "fulfilling activity". Those of us in full time work don't have to set ourselves any objectives or any worthwhile projects because work does it for us. And I suspect many of us might not know how to find fulfilling activity after retiring from full time work. My own formal retirement from my employer of nearly 42 years - :eek: - is pending but I have a post-formal retirement plan which involves contract learning and development work and also a research degree, so I hope to keep my brain ticking along.
 
some people never have a plan with what they want to do with all they time they will have availible...sitting around staring at the wall will drive someone mad. so, like they used to say, "go climb a mountian"
 
some people never have a plan with what they want to do with all they time they will have availible...sitting around staring at the wall will drive someone mad. so, like they used to say, "go climb a mountian"

Better than being told, "go take a hike!" :D

Good thought though - if part-time work isn't someone's thing then they should find something that bolsters them, something they've always wanted to do but something that isn't simply pure indulgence. The problem with indulgence is that it's a bit like sugar, one hit and it's all over and then comes the down.
 

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