Dear George,
In a couple
of weeks, I’ll be celebrating the six-year anniversary of my retirement from
the university. That certainly
whizzed by quickly. I do feel I’ve
settled into a reasonable new life path, though retirement is a huge
transition, probably equivalent to marriage or the birth of one’s first
child. After 43 years in my
workplace, I’m aware of big losses as well as opportunities to remake a life of
my own choosing. For years
beforehand I quizzed older colleagues and acquaintances about their
retirements, and, with few exceptions, they were enthusiastic, even
exuberant. One knowledgeable
female friend, though, warned me that retirement for strongly career-oriented
people can be devastating, a precursor to depression, illness, and death. I wondered if she were being the most
realistic. There is quite a bit of
social science research on the correlates and consequences of retirement. Here are some of the things that I ran
across on the Internet:
NUMBERS OF RETIREES: According
to the Social Security Administration, there are currently about 38 million
retired workers in the U.S.
(12) [note: numbers in
parentheses refer to sources listed at end]
-Over 10,000
Baby Boomers will retire every day for the next two decades. (4)
TIMING OF
RETIREMENT: In 1991 half of American workers planned to retire before age 60;
today that number has dropped to 23%. (4)
-The typical
American worker now retires at age 62. (13)
-On average,
individuals who retire at age 65 can expect to live for 18 to 20 years in
retirement. (7)
RETIREMENT
AND FINANCES: Investment firms typically
recommend that retirees have assets of 8 to 11 times their annual wages to
prepare adequately for old age.
(19)
-88% of
Americans are worried about "maintaining a comfortable standard of living
in retirement," and 40% plan to work "until they drop."
(4)
-According to
the Social Security Administration, 20% of retirees' incomes come from
pensions; 15%, asset income; 36%, Social Security, and 29%, part-time
work. (10)
-One in six
older Americans lives below the poverty line ($22,350 for a family of
four). (17)
SATISFACTION
WITH RETIREMENT: Numerous studies
indicate that most adults look forward to retirement and, once retired, are
happy with retirement. (9)
-For
example, one large-scale national survey study found that 61.5% of retirees
reported high levels of satisfaction with retirement, 32.9% said they were
somewhat satisfied, and 5.6% expressed dissatisfaction. (16)
-Satisfaction
with retirement is positively correlated with good health, satisfaction with
one's previous job, engagement in productive activities (e.g., paid work,
formal or informal volunteering, care-giving), self-esteem, and a sense of
personal control over one's life outcomes. Having been forced to leave work is associated with
retirement dissatisfaction. (11,
16)
RETIREMENT
AND PHYSICAL HEALTH: Gerontologists
have not found any major long-term effects of retirement (independent of age)
on physical health. (3)
-When
retirees do experience negative health outcomes, these are more likely if
individuals are unmarried, lack social support, don’t engage in physical
activity, don’t work part-time, and have retired at an earlier age. (1)
RETIREMENT
AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING: Retirement per se has little impact, positive or
negative, on mental health.
Researchers find that the most positive psychological effects of
retirement are found for people with solid social supports who are engaged in
their communities and spend more time with family and friends. (15)
-In a review
of twenty years of retirement research, social scientists Mo Wang and Beryl
Hesketh conclude that psychological well-being in retirement varies as a
function of five factors:
- (1) Individual attributes (financial status,
physical health);
- (2) Pre-retirement job-related factors (e.g.,
lower well-being connected to work stress, job dissatisfaction,
unemployment before retirement, stronger work identity);
- (3) Family factors (greater well-being for
married vs. single persons, higher marital quality; less well-being with a
working spouse, more dependents, losing a partner);
- (4) Retirement transition factors (e.g., greater
well-being with voluntary retirement, retirement planning; less when
retiring earlier than expected, retiring for health reasons);
- (5) Post-retirement activities (greater
well-being with bridge employment, volunteer work, leisure activities;
less with anxiety associated with social activities). (18)
- One health
website suggests that depression following retirement is likely to be most
common for people: (a) who have invested a lot in their careers and neglected
other areas of their lives; (b) whose sense of self-worth is dependent on their
work; (c) who are frequently in the spotlight and don’t realize the impact of
attention and admiration on their sense of self-esteem. (5)
- A recent
retirement survey describes over two-thirds of retirees as active and enjoying
a vigorous part of their life. 95%
of retirees consider themselves open-minded; 94% peaceful; and 94%
independent. (14)
SIX PHASES OF
RETIREMENT: Gerontologist Robert Atchley theorizes that there are six phases of
retirement that individuals go through with retirement:
- (1) Pre-retirement (disengagement from the
workplace; planning);
- (2) Retirement, including three alternative
possible paths:
·
[a] the
"Honeymoon", as if on indefinite vacation;
·
[b] the
"immediate retirement routine", busy and comfortable;
·
[c]
"Rest and relaxation", very low activity;
- (3) Disenchantment (disappointment, uncertainty,
felt lack of productivity);
- (4) Reorientation ("taking inventory",
finding a satisfying lifestyle);
- (5) Retirement Routine (mastering a rewarding
routine);
- (6) Termination of Retirement (retirement role
replaced by the subsequent role of disabled elder). (8)
By and large,
these data offer an encouraging picture.
I would sum it up by saying that people’s quality of lives in retirement
vary as a function of physical health, income, social ties, and engagement in
meaningful activities. I’d say
Katja and I are doing o.k. in these different domains. Perhaps the most challenging is seeking
out productive activities. Our
workplaces provided us with a host of goals and tasks that took up much of our
daily lives. Now there’s much less
external structure and external pressure, and our daily rounds of activities
are much more up to ourselves.
There’s more room for personal choice, but also more possibility for
ennui. Today my next steps will be
to take a half-mile walk with the sheepdogs, eat a Lean Cuisine (Swedish
Meatballs), work on my blog, and go off to my line dancing class. Sounds good to me.
Love,
Dave
SOURCES:
(1): www.aysps.gsu.edu, “The effects of retirement on physical and mental
health outcomes”; (2): www.money.cnn.com, “Be ready for the 3 stages of retirement”; (3): www.collegestudy.org, “Chapter 2: The effects of retirement”; (4):
www.theeconomiccollapse.blog, "25 bitter and painful facts about the
coming baby boomer retirement crisis"; (5): www.health24.com, “Beating depression after retirement”; (6):
www.merckmanuals, "Effects of Life Transitions on Older People"; (7):
www.ohioline.osu.edu, "Facts about retirement"; (8): www.ohioline.osu.edu, "Stages of retirement"; (9):
www.psychsocgerontology.oxfordjournals,org, "Gender and Life Satisfacton
in Retirement"; (10): www.thequarterroll.com, "Retirement trivia"; (11):
www.jstor.org, "Retirement and Life Satisfaction; (12): www.ssa.gov,
"Social Security Basic Facts"; (13): www.statisticbrain.com, "Retirement statistics"; (14): www.squidoo.com, "Retirement facts"; (15): www.theconversation.com, “Retirement: a trigger for distress or welcome relief
from the rat race?”; (16):
www.urban.org, "Satisfaction and Engagement in Retirement"; (17):
www.money.usnews.com, "8 scary retirement facts"; (18): www.shrm.org, “Achieving well-being in retirement”; (19) www.washingtonpost.com, “Many blacks, Latinos have no retirement savings,
report finds”
G-mail Comments
-Phyllis S-S
(12-17): Dear Dave, Interesting. Did you see all the
research that is coming out on the benefits if being bilingual? Phyllis
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