There have been several interesting articles over the past couple of weeks on working in retirement and/or working later in life.
The consensus of these are those working full or part-time instead of fully retiring are happier, healthier, more engaged and in better financial shape.
Some examples:
Next Avenue's 4 Traits of the Happiest Retirees report all 4 happiness traits are related to working during retirement. Key quote:
If you want to be happy in your retirement years, here’s my advice: don’t retire — at least not in the traditional sense.
The North Dallas Gazette's Studies Show Retirees Should Continue to Work reports on a University of Miami study that found older adults who continue working tend to be much healthier across multiple health outcomes than those who don't work.
Several article pointed to the study Late Life Working and Well-Being. This study found working later in life potentially has all sorts of benefits - as long the work provides flexibility. Key findings include:
- Voluntary part-time workers have more life satisfaction and less stress and are more satisfied with their jobs than full-time workers.
- Flexible approaches to retirement and to part-time work are linked to higher levels of well-being, at least in labor markets where flexible work is a choice.
- Workers who remain in the labor force after retirement age are more satisfied with their health and are happier than their retired counterparts.
- Flexible work times and retirement schemes can enhance well-being—which is linked to better health and higher productivity—and also reduce unemployment and pension burdens.
And Bankrate's Trending: Working longer, retiring later reports on an Aon Hewitt study showing the average retirement age has been increasing and more people are working well into the traditional retirement years.
So folks are getting the message - working past the traditional retirement age makes sense.
This trend will continue and we expect the workforce participation rate for older Americans to continue to increase over the next decade.
Comments