Education and debate

ANY QUESTIONS

Is there any evidence to support the view that early retirement is associated with increased life span?

No. Several studies that examined this question have indicated that early retirement is related to higher mortality, even when health conditions that may have contributed to early retirement are accounted for.^{1 2} Other studies have not found an excess mortality among people who retire early,³ but no well controlled investigation has shown any survival advantage of early retirement. It is possible that the association between mortality and early retirement reflects subtle unreported health problems that have contributed to the decision to retire or that the association, if real, is restricted to forced retirement or involuntary loss of employment. If this were the case it is conceivable that voluntary early retirement of apparently healthy people could have beneficial effects for some of them, but empirical evidence in support of this hypothesis is lacking.--DIMITRIOS TRICHOPOULOS . . . [Full text of this article]

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Tsai, S. P, Wendt, J. K, Donnelly, R. P, de Jong, G., Ahmed, F. S (2005). Age at retirement and long term survival of an industrial population: prospective cohort study. BMJ 331: 995- [Abstract] [Full text]  
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