Sunday, October 18, 2009

Longevity and early retirement

This article in the UK's Telegraph caught my attention: Money the key to a longer life

One of the concerns I have as an early retiree wannabe is the stories and studies which show that those who take early retirement tend to die younger than those who keep working. While there have been plenty of doubts cast over those studies, they gave given me cause to think (and are one of the reasons why I intend to do a 1-2 year part time transition after I hit my number).

However as reported in the Telegraph article, the following findings pretty much debunk the view that early retirees die younger. Key quotes:

"The study, for the Economic and Social Research Council, also found that those who get the choice of early retirement are also more likely to enjoy a longer life."

"Early retirement is generally good for people's health and well being unless it has been forced on them."

"Those forced into early retirement generally have poorer mental health than those who take routine retirement, who in turn have poorer mental health than those who have taken voluntary early retirement."

I will try to track down the original study and read for further details. In particular, I will be looking for factors which contribute to the longevity of early retirees (or are at least positively or negatively correlated).

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