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The Case AGAINST Early Retirement

Early retirement seems like the dream—after all, when else but retirement could you have the freedom direct your own schedule and choose what you want to do? But a new article from the Wall Street Journal shows that the reality of early retirement may not be as promising as the allure.

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Staff Writers
The Case AGAINST Early Retirement
JOBS

The Wall Street Journal published an article over the weekend that tackled a counter-intuitive problem: that early retirement may actually be detrimental to retirees' health.

We've discussed this before, since work can provide lots of the elements that can lead to a stimulating and fulfilling life, but this article backs up its thesis with evidence from studies showing, among other things, that delaying retirement can reduce mortality for men in their 60's by 32% and that early retirement can accelerate cognitive decline. The thinking here is that, in addition to structure and purpose, work also provides the opportunity to problem-solve and socialize while avoiding vices like excessive sedentary lifestyles and drinking or smoking.

Additionally, retirement can be viewed as having a detrimental effect on the finances of the retiree, since another study shows that every year in the workforce increases a potential retiree's future retirement income by 9%, due presumably to both the growth in retirement assets and the delay of claiming Social Security, resulting in a larger monthly payment.

Head over to the Wall Street Journal for the full piece and to learn more about how early retirement could negatively impact health. Let us know in the comments: would (or has) your retirement affected your health? If so, how?

Date posted: Apr 22, 2019
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I’m 68 yrs of age , still want to work!!! Fill out whole state with my application. Know luck since I was 67.

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I am 73 years old, I retired from AT&T at 59 years old after working non stop for 40 years and I never worked a day after that. I feel super great (no medical problems and I don’t take any meds) I have all the money I need and am busy all the time and travel every year! This article in the WSJ is bunk. People drink, don’t exercise, lonely etc even when they are working. Its all all in the person!!!

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