A vision of retirement
The idea that we all must retire, presumably so we can spend more time idling at drive-thru pharmacies and watching big-screen TV, is a given for most Americans.
They take as gospel that around their mid-60s, they’ll shed that old job and the rest of their life will be spent hand-in-hand with their significant other, gazing at a sunset over a glorious beach.
After sundown, they’ll be able to catch some tube while downing the meds they got earlier at the drive-thru.
The truth about retirement
Unfortunately the above scenario is all too common. In part because we have bought into a “system” that is fundamentally flawed.
These flaws are two fold:
- Our current plans for retirement are based only on financial models such as 401k’s and pension funds. These models are fine when it comes to finance, but this ignores ones health as an essential component to a long and enjoyable retirement.
- We currently think in terms of two retirement models that exist independently on two ends of the spectrum:
- Early Retirement
- Standard Retirement
Time is the true currency of retirement, that and our health (these are mutually exclusive)
What we already know about this topic
There is a widespread perception that early retirement is associated with longer life expectancy and later retirement is associated with early death.
No consensus has been reached on the comparative survival or mortality of people who retire early or late.
Mini Retirement has never been studied in this regard.
The case for early retirement
Over the weekend, I came across a fascinating study that suggests that retiring early can significantly increase your lifespan. This work was based on an analysis of longevity data from former Boeing Aerospace, and it concluded that “for every year one works beyond age 55, one loses 2 years of life span on average.”
Here are the relevant data:
(Source: “Actuarial study of life span vs. retirement age” by Ephrem Cheng)
As you can see, these data appear to indicate a continuous decrease in lifespan the longer one works.
Perhaps the scariest bit of data here is that those that work through the traditional retirement age of 65 only cash their retirement checks for an average of 17 months.
17 months! Is that how you imagined your retirement future?
Of course the real question is why someone that works longer might die sooner. With regards to this study you can not easily extrapolate from one workplace to another and correlation between two variables does not automatically imply that one causes the other. Nonetheless, it is fun to speculate.
Given that many jobs are filled with stress and frustration, it’s not hard to imagine that there might be some health problems associated with working – e.g., heart disease, hypertension, (to name just a few).
On top of that, a busy work life leaves less time for exercise, eating right, and so forth, which only compounds the problem.
The case for delayed retirement
After reading the above study I figured perfect, this just proves the point that work methodically sucks the life out of us. Or does it?
Can early retirement actually be a risk factor for early death? This seems counterintuitive to some degree but is it?
This study from December 2007 looked at employees of the petrochemical industry in the United States who retired at 55, 60, and 65 to assess whether there is any survival advantage of early retirement.
And what did they conclude?
Results Subjects who retired early at 55 and who were still alive at 65 had a significantly higher mortality than those who retired at 65 (hazard ratio 1.37, 95% confidence interval 1.09 to 1.73). Mortality was also significantly higher for subjects in the first 10 years after retirement at 55 compared with those who continued working (1.89, 1.58 to 2.27). After adjustment, mortality was similar between those who retired at 60 and those who retired at 65 (1.06, 0.92 to 1.22). Mortality did not differ for the first five years after retirement at 60 compared with continuing work at 60
What this study adds
Early retirement at 55 or 60 is not associated with increased survival
Employees who retired at 60 had similar survival to those who retired at 65
Differences in mortality could not be attributed to the effects of employee’s sex, year of entry to the study, or socioeconomic status
In another similar study among 3,971 U.S. Rubber tire workers from two different companies they looked at survival age after early (age 62 to 64) and normal retirement (age 65). And what did they conclude?
Results For the two companies, death rates were significantly elevated during the first, fourth, and fifth years after early retirement. Among normal retirees, elevations in death rates occurred during the third or fourth years after retirement in company B and company A, respectively. When the experiences of both companies were combined, no significant mortality excesses were observed. Comparisons of deaths (cases) within 5 years of retirement with survivors (controls) showed that pre-retirement health status was the only significant predictor of survival after early retirement.
The case for mini retirement
Prior to the 4 Hour Workweek, I don’t believe anybody ever thought about the concept of mini retirement.
You had two choices: Cash in all your chips early, or cash them in late and hope for the best.
But in reality neither of these are good options. They are both ultimatums on a linear path of life. One that is punctuated by the term retirement.
History, and above all technology has allowed us to change the way we approach the concept of retirement.
The 4 Hour Workweek and the 4 Hour Body are indicators of our move towards a new, evolved way of approaching not just retirement but life in general.
One that combines increased productivity, increased interest in what we call work, a push for healthier living and a concept of life as a continuum.
Putting it all together
“The purpose of life is to do what makes you come alive. When you stop, you die.”
By this definition there is no such thing as retirement “per se”.
But I am not naïve. At the end of the day there will always be bills to pay and we need a way to put food on the table, cloths on our back and find some enjoyment along the way.
We can not all do what we love for money (despite what Tim says) and I will argue with anybody who says otherwise.
In this sense retirement is often a destination. One where we can shed the “good enough job” and do what exactly?
This is where purpose and health play a key role.
We can not let our working years stop us from enjoying our later years. We must always be proactive when it comes to our health. Certain jobs even if they pay well, and have a wonderful benefits, may not be in line with a “healthy” retirement.
In essence as we finally reach retirement age our 401k coffers may be full but we may be too dead to know the difference. The take home point. Don’t wait till your dead to know the difference.
There are a few assumptions I operate on. The first is that long life is not guaranteed. If we define risk as the potential for an irreversible negative outcome, there’s more risk in postponing the things that you would most like to do for 30 or 40 years versus taking a perhaps sub-optimal, less-compounded return on investment because you allocate some of that to these mini-retirements.
Timothy Ferriss
Action steps
You do not have to quit your job to enjoy a mini retirement:
- I called Direct TV today to cancel my television service. It was after I cancelled that they offered me a 200 dollar rebate, 15 dollars off my monthly bill, free premium channels and a host of other goodies. Why? because I was such a devoted customer.
Take home point: Often it costs a company more to loose rather than retain a good customer. The same principle often applies in the workplace. Do your job well, better than everyone else. If you call to cancel your service or scale back your time you may be surprised by the outcome.
Ask and you may receive:
- Last weekend we stood in line for 45 minutes waiting to get on a ride at our local amusement park. When we finally got to the front of the line the ride stopped working. We left sad and extremely disappointed by our waste of time. Two hours later we found ourselves once again at the back of the line, which was now around the corner. While we all stood complaining a member of our group walked up to the front of the line and explained our circumstances to the ride operator. The result: we were personally escorted to the front of the line and placed on the first available seat.
Take home point: Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want. We make up excuses in our head to avoid the discomfort of a particular situation, probably from fear of disappointment or failure. But like being at the back of the line you really have nothing to loose and quite possibly a lot to gain by just asking for what you need.
Till Death do us part:
- I often council patients who have jobs that are literally killing them. As far as I am concerned no place of employment will ever be worth a trade in for your life. It appears we are often more committed to a dysfunctional job than we are to a dysfunctional marriage. If it gets to this point, it is time to make a move for yourself and your employer.
Take home point: It may be hard to leave a good paying job in a sluggish economy. But like a marriage there are times where things just don’t work out as planned. In this case it may be better to lick your wounds and move on rather than just hope for the best. Do everything you can to make it work and if it doesn’t there will always be other fish in the sea.
What do you think
Is working longer a grave health risk? Or do you think there’s another explanation for these data? Are mini retirements a viable option for the average worker? At what age do you plan to retire? Please weigh in with your thoughts.
Related Posts:
- The Essence of Life Is Time
- Why the Four Hour Life? Because you do not need permission to be awesome!
- Why your Doctor wants you to buy the 4 Hour Body and the 4 Hour Workweek but doesn’t know it yet.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
The Europeans always make fun of Americans since the majority of them are either really young college back-packers or old retirees. We don’t go on vacation (or holiday) like they do, so this makes sense. I always thought work when you are young, retire for a bit for a few years (age 30-45), and then go back to work maybe after enjoying the prime of your life. Not sure how it would work, but I am working on retiring as early as possible. Thanks for the studies to back me up!
I retired at 53 and I am now approaching 62 ( but only admit to being 29)
The pension plan that I am in was offering early retirement options due to an excess in revenue within the plan. I took a hit of about 80% of what I would have gotten if I waited and retired at 62 (normal retirement age factored in with 30 years service)
The job was very stressful and with other income factors in my life I knew that I could get by financially. I am fortunately a person that has few wants and enjoys a simple life. I share my house with a great person to keep expenses down. I dog sit which includes other animals .. cats, horses, turtles. I have babysat my granddaughter since her mom returned to work when she was one year old. She is now in school full time and I take her back and forth to school. She is in a French Immersion school so I am calling on my high school french to help her with that. It is surprising how much progress we both have made. I took on a part time job at the grocery store nearby and this is my third year of doing that. I am in good health and good shape so I am definitely enjoying life and so glad that I took the early retirement. My middle daughter, Andie, sends me quite a few interesting articles… this being one of them… I am currently reading the 4 hour body.
I agree with you completely. I won’t try to get political but one of the main reasons I have always supported a national health program is that unlike the Europeans when an American leaves his/her job for a mini retirement unfortunately they also often loose their health benefits. Having health care that is universal and portable sure would allow people to be more creative and flexible. I guess the moral of the story is if you are an American take your mini retirement abroad then at least you will be covered from that standpoint. The other problem is the accumulation of debt. As the father of 2 young children I am fascinated by the idea of travel and homeschooling as an option. I just saw a 21 year old today with Ovarian Cancer and metastatic dz to her brain. Just a reminder of the value of every minute!!!! Thank you for your comment.
Cathy, you sound like you have found wonderful balance in your life. I am happy for you. This is also impressive given you are only 29*. The fact that you care for your granddaughter so thoughtfully is a wonderful gift to her, your daughter and sounds as if it brings you great pleasure and joy as well. You seem to understand the philosophy of less being more and the key to a life of fulfillment and happiness. Thank you for taking time to share your story.
Stephen
Not sure how I stumbled on this website…but interesting.
I’m 62 (and unlike Cathy, have given up on pretending I’m 29…but confess to not always being entirely truthful about my age…) and am still working full-time as a Physician Assistant. I spend a lot of time sitting and looking at patients and patient’s charts. In the process I’ve noticed I’ve gotten stiffer and stiffer, and was recently diagnosed with an achilles tendinosis which is hampering my previously active lifestyle. I have new back aches, knee aches, etc etc and am, for the first time in my life, feeling OLD. Yikes, how did this happen??? I figured it out: a combo of stress, sedentary lifestyle (ie working 4 ten-hour shifts, then driving 2 hours each way to get home…), doing something day after day I’m no longer enjoying, and normal aging – have all caught up with me. And I’m not liking it. But…do I give up the golden handcuffs?…the pension, the good salary…..? Tough decision. I’ll read your book and see if that’s the thing that’ll catapult me into making some alternative decisions…..Thank you for the insight.
I was hoping some day of connecting with another PA! I really enjoyed your comment. Especially the reference to golden handcuffs. I had never heard this description but it sure fits the bill. I think most of the time it isn’t an all or nothing proposal. Especially given our profession. Often it is just a matter of finding something in-between. Such as going part time. I have not talked about this on the blog, but my wife and I moved out of our house last year, and rented it to 4 college students (very scary), I cut down my 4 10 hour days into 3 10 hour days (with a 1 hour 15 minute commute each way), we cut expenses we did not need, got rid of a car, and life well… it became exponentially better.
The truth is life is short and impermanent, and trust me I understand the value of a job, and health care benefits and pensions etc. etc. But like Tim says in his book (which I guess you will be reading) if he wakes up too many days in succession and hates what he is doing, he figures it is time for a change. Now I know this is not always this easy, but most of us can make modifications in our lives, work and schedules to change golden handcuffs into maybe finger-cuffs?
Whatever the case I am sure you may see this in your own practice…and is an advantage of our profession. Walking with somebody through death, reminds me that life is so valuable and so precious and there are just so many things you can do every day. I hope you find your enjoyment again, it is surely there, it just needs to be reignited. Don’t let fear stand in your way, sounds like you have an itch that could use some scratching!!!
Thanks you so much for your thoughtful comment. And a shout out to all of the PA’s our there working hard and caring for patients.
Hi Stephen, I personally think that mini retirments are very important.
As technology evolves and more jobs can be done online with flexible working hours, I guess that the chance for employees will increase to take of and enjoy them. So they wont be exclusive for freelancers or people that take the risk to loose their jobs.
I hope you are right.
I like to believe that people of all professions have a chance for mini retirements, but often it is difficult. And then of course there is the down economy. When it is like this people are less open to taking chances… Great for employers, not so great for employees.
But I still think that if you separate yourself from the masses by doing exceptional work, your employer is much more likely to give into your requests… regardless of your profession. Of course this requires a bit of relationship building and is not something most people can do within the first 1-3 years at most jobs.