Millions of people dream about early retirement. Reducing day-to-day work stress seems like it should be good for your health. But a new study from the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock, Germany finds that Americans who continue to work at least until they are 67 have less cognitive impairment compared to those who retire earlier (SSM – Population Health, Sept. 2021). Maybe you should delay retirement.
Retirement and Cognitive Function:
I have a close friend who maintains that everyone needs a purpose for getting up in the morning. He is still working full time and is getting very close to 80. This guy loves solving problems for other people. He maintains that it keeps him mentally sharp. He also gets great satisfaction when he completes a project successfully. The money isn’t bad either.
What does the research say about my friend’s philosophy? The authors of the recent study note that:
“…postponing retirement to age 67 provides an insulative effect against cognitive decline. Even the population-averaged effect of the intervention shows a 30–34% reduction, for men and women, respectively, in cognitive decline associated with remaining employed compared with retiring younger than age 67. The effect is related to a slowed rate of cognitive decline versus a ‘boost’ in cognitive function. The protective effect appears to hold regardless of gender, educational attainment, or occupational attainment…”
What Other Factors Affect Your Brain?
Work is a funny thing. For many people work, is depressing, especially during the pandemic. They don’t get to socialize with coworkers. That means no gossip or joking around. Working from home can be challenging.
Even if you are going somewhere to work, a bad job or a bad boss can be demoralizing. But don’t assume that a job has to be high-paid or intellectually challenging to be meaningful. Someone who picks up garbage may find it rewarding, especially when interacting with people on the street. Ditto for the folks who deliver the mail.
And “work” can include everything from volunteering to grandparenting. A study published in the Journal of Marriage and Family (March 4, 2014) reports:
“The authors examined whether the provision of child care helps older adults maintain better cognitive functioning… These findings point to the inclusion of grandparenting among other cognitively stimulating social activities and the need to consider such benefits when discussing the implications of this important type of nonmonetary intergenerational transfer.”
Other activities that may not be considered work but may be helpful include going to the library, reading the newspaper, exercising and getting involved in hobbies.
Why the New Study Encourages People to Delay Retirement:
“Our findings suggest that postponed retirement is beneficial to cognitive function for all genders, races/ethnicities, educational levels, and regardless of professional or non-professional occupational status.”
So, next time you wish you could retire early, perhaps you should ask yourself if you might want to delay retirement a few years to improve your mental functioning later in life.
