Why Do People Die Early – They Retire!
Want to know how to die at an early age? All you need to do is retire. According to studies, that is the answer, regardless of your age!
I know, this sounds a bit crazy, that’s what I thought when I first heard this. We work a job that we may like, others work a job they hate. We jump from one job to the next for 30 or 40 years with the hopes of retiring and finally having a chance to kick back and enjoy life.
You are probably wondering why I asked, why do people die early and told you they retire. No, this is not a simple play on words. This is a statement that is backed by various studies and we will discuss a couple of them here.
How To Die Early
A 2001 study conducted by Hillary Waldron with the U.S. Social Security Administration shows that those who retire at 62 instead of 65, are 10% less likely to live to 80. This was proven in a regression statistical analysis. A fancy way of saying they ran the numbers and proved this.
The study also covers variables such as gender, marital status, and education. On average, married females with a college degree lived the longest. A single male with high school or less had the shortest lifespan after retiring early. You can read the 45-page study here.
The British Medical Journal in 2005 published an article showing “employees who retired at 55 had a significantly increased mortality compared with those who retired at 65.”
What do most people do when they retire?
In the Eastern U.S., it may seem like they all move to Florida. That’s what I thought when I live there.
Many people will travel, play bingo, visit family, watch reruns on TV, read, do crossword puzzles, and so on. This is great for a couple of months, then many people get bored. I know I would.
There must be more to retiring than sitting around and getting old!
How Not To Die Young
Do these studies mean as long as I keep working, I will not die at a young age? They almost appear to suggest that, but there is more to it than just working longer.
People need to interact with others. According to Psychology Today, “People with more social support tend to live longer than those who are more isolated, and this is true even after accounting for your overall level of health.”
Getting together with friends, pursuing hobbies, and just getting out and interacting with others can have great benefits both mentally and physically.
Seniors Live In Poverty
Another problem that plagues us when we grow older is that many of us fail to plan for our retirement. When was the last time that you sat down and calculated how much you will need to live on when you retire? Don’t worry, very few actually take time to do this correctly.
Many people will invest in a 401k or other retirement plans. We put a couple of percents away and figure that will be enough in time. Unless you started early or have been playing catch up, you might want to sit down with a financial adviser and figure things out.
What Else Can I Do?
One thing that can take care of both of these problems is to start an online business. Don’t worry, they are fun to do and I will show you how to build one for free. You don’t even need to know anything about building a website, I didn’t before I started learning a few months ago and it only took an hour to create my first one.
All you really need to do is pick something you are interested in, hobbies are a great place to start. If you need ideas, see my getting started section of my website. I have several articles to help you there.
To learn to create a website, read my review on Wealthy Affiliate. You will see why I decided to learn with them and continue today. You will be part of an amazing community and doing something you enjoy.
Final Thoughts
As we have seen, people need social interaction and do things they enjoy. I want to be able to enjoy my grandkids and great-grandkids when I get older. The extended family has always been important to me. I enjoyed visiting my grandma, who was around for 98 years. The stories she could tell!
Unless we planned better than we should have, we will run short in our retirement years. Having our own business gives us the opportunity to support ourselves where we will fall short. You don’t have to make thousands of dollars a month unless you want to. Even a couple of hundred can make a big difference when we get older.
To learn more about Wealthy Affiliate see my review here.
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