I made an observation growing up that has stayed with me till now. I noted how men who had worked their whole lives would go into retirement and suffer precipitous declines in health, that in some cases, led to death. I filed that away.
Working as a physician, I have also made another observation that somehow ties into the first. I have noticed that older patients, being those 70 and older, who were still in relatively good health and looked physically fit, had something in common. They were active. Not just physical activity but most of them still worked regularly. The most impressive are the old farmers.
These physically fit seniors always stand in stark contrast to their compatriots who were not active.
These observations and other anecdotes have always made me wonder about the wisdom behind retirement. Why do we retire?
We spend years keeping a schedule that keeps us regimented only to one day give that all up for one that may not be as controlled and full. Somehow, that dramatic change has effects that are profound.
We did not always have retirement. The concept is actually just a bit over a century old. It is noteworthy that even in the 19th century, the older generation may have been seen as a burden. In his 1882 novel titled “The Fixed Period”, the then 67-year-old Anthony Trollope wrote about a fictitious country called “Britannula” where large numbers of old men were retired to a place where they would be encouraged to enjoy a year of relaxation, followed by a peaceful death – euthanasia – with chlorofom.
It was the German Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, who in 1883, introduced the concept of paying senior citizens a wage to stay home and not work. He did that to take the wind out of the sail of the Marxists. The set age was 70 and with the life expectancy then, very few took advantage of that age.
In the US, the famous physician, William Osler, in his farewell speech as he left Johns Hopkins for Oxford, made remarks that earned him the ire of the nation. His speech centered on the theme of the energy of youth and the uselessness of old age. Osler, who was 55 at the time, claimed that men were virtually useless after age 40 years and should retire after age 60 years. He then jokingly referred to the Trollope book and wondered if the old should be chloroformed.
By the 1930s, with the Great Depression underway, dwindling job prospects for the youth made it necessary to “get rid” of the elderly workers. Roosevelt would introduce the Social Security Act and the retirement age would be pegged at 65…arbitrarily.
So what do the studies say about retirement? A rash of studies paint a rather grim picture of health after retirement and yet, there have been a few that have shown the opposite. One of the latter was a 2017 Dutch study that showed that men who retired in their 50s were less likely to die in the next 5 years than those who continued to work. Yet noteworthy is not the retirement itself but what the men were able to do in retirement. They were able to lead healthier lifestyles. Similar results have been seen in studies from Israel, England, Germany and other European countries.
However, the studies that show negative health effects of retirement greatly surpass those that show a benefit to health. Retirement allows one more free time to live healthier, why are there so many studies showing negative health results?
Boyle et al showed in 2010 that the loss of purpose contributed significantly to the development of Alzheimer’s in the elderly. Hill and his group have shown that the loss of that purpose leads to an increase in all-round mortality. Holt-Lunstad and her group see a correlation between loneliness and death in the elderly and Behncke showed an increase in the incidence of strokes and cancers in retirees. The US Health and Retirement Study showed an increase of 40% of strokes and heart attacks in retirees.
In spite of all these negative findings, the studies that show a benefit may give us a clue why retirement can be so bad for so many. The two big culprits may be loneliness and lack of purpose. Of course, family and friends can help one deal with that but what if one’s work was where one found companionship?
Loneliness can be so crushing that it induces a certain despondency that takes away even the motivation to be active. This lack of activity worsens one’s health. The loneliness in itself is also dangerous. Coupled with the lack of purpose, is it any wonder so many retirees do not do well.
It is important to note that in those studies where retirement led to health benefits, most of those retirees were not lonely, had a sense of purpose and stayed active.
Depending on one’s job, retirement might be finally a time to find some rest or it could be the beginning of a slow decline, physically and cognitively. It is even worse now that life expectancy is much higher than in the 1930s.
In all, these studies help explain my observations.
So should we retire? Should we put men and women to pasture, who may still live another 20 years and risk having them spend those years alone and without purpose?
I think the institution of retirement is here to stay and so each of us should have a plan on how to deal with it. If possible, one should maybe delay it for as long as possible. One should also try to develop other interests that could fill one’s time in retirement. Retirement communities are sources of companionship. Consideration could also be given to another career, even a part-time job or a volunteer position.
In a recent book titled “Late Bloomers: The Power of Patience in a World Obsessed with Early Achievement”, Rich Karlgaard discusses the ability of the human brain and our capabilities to still keep developing deep into adulthood. If we are ever developing and possess the ability to attain new capabilities, why retire onto loneliness, despondency, and lack of purpose. Maybe the ultimate antidote to the ills of retirement is to never stop learning. Like the writer T. H. White wrote in the novel, “The Once and Future King”:
“The best thing for being sad is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake in the middle of the night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world around you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honor trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting.”