Is Retirement good or bad for your Health? Or what is the relationship between Retirement and Health?
As our life span increases, our retirement norms have not adapted. People seem to be spending a larger portion of their lives retired. It is said that retirement makes it good for your health because it reduces your physical and psychological stress, however others may argue that continuing to work can be more productive.
Health can Impact one’s retirement decision, but disentangling the direction of the relationship is complicated. We choose to retire, often for reasons we cannot directly observed, however this dynamic relationship between Health and Retirement could exist for someone who is healthy at age 50 but experiences a chronic Disease just about the time they have decided to retire at 65. Health considerations motivate retirement decisions. Health problems do have a great influence on the decision to retire early; as well as retirement could significantly increase one’s risk of being diagnosed with a chronic disease like Cancer, heart attack or stroke.
Some people claim retirement to be a chance to relax, for others, retirement can be a period of declining health, limitations and pain.
The U. S Health and Retirement study Data shows that retirees were 40% more likely to have had a heart attack or stroke than those still working. Could Retirement be linked to improved Health or a neutral effect on health? That freedom of retirement can certainly enhance our mental and physical health and well-being. Either way, if you have a chronic disease or not, could we say that the impact of Retirement on your Health may depend on the Individual.
The Harvard Health Blog suggests that moving from work to no work comes with a boatload of other changes. “If you love your work, retirement can bring some emptiness of purpose. If you had a stressful job, retirement can bring relief. Either way researches offer these Tips.
- Don’t retire from daily contact with friends and colleagues.
- Maintain activities like sports or travelling, to keep a purposeful daily life.
- Be Creative, keep your Brain healthy by painting ,gardening, or helping other people
- Keep learning; explore new subjects you have always been interested in.
People who retire because of health problems may not enjoy retirement as much as someone who retires feeling healthy. But it makes sense to view Retirement as a PROCESS, not as a single Event, that will bring good changes and bad, just like the earlier stages in your life.”Life was NEVER meant to be a bed of roses”.