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Some 1.7 million Americans retire each year, transitioning from the workforce to live off federal benefits, pensions and savings.
Retirement offers those typically ages 62 and up a chance to spend more time with loved ones, take up hobbies without the pressures of work and travel.
But is this practice beneficial for their overall health?
Experts say that depends on how people live during retirement – and their past health history.
“Your life after retirement already started when you were a baby,” Baowen Xue, an associate professor at University College London, told The New York Times on Friday.
Improved diet, sleep and fitness
Retirement gives people time to improve certain areas of their life, like fitness, diet and sleep habits, researchers at the University of Sydney found in a 2016 study.
It can be easier to develop and maintain an exercise routine and unemployment can help people make more mindful food choices.
“Retirement provides increased time to prepare healthy meals and maintain a healthy diet, increased time to spend engaging in physical activity and increased time to spend engaging in socially healthy activities,” Dr. Amanda Sonnega, a University of Michigan researcher, previously told the BBC’s Science Focus.
A stronger social life
Retirement also gives people time to strengthen connections with families and friends, as well as within their communities.
Some people may gain the freedom to move to some place they could improve their social lives.
And it can give people an opportunity to do things they’ve always wanted to try, like go on a cruise or take up knitting.
All of this can strengthen both mental and physical health.
Retirees who remain engaged socially often experience slowed biological aging, Dr. Zaldy Tan, medical director of the Jona Goldrich Center for Alzheimer’s and Memory Disorders at the Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, explained in a statement.
“Retirement from work is not retirement from life,” he said.
Increased disease risk
On the flip side, people who spend their retirement largely alone and not engaged in activity may see their health decline in retirement.
Over a dozen studies conducted over the past decade show how retirement can leave people at a heightened risk of depression and a higher risk of disease.
The later people retire, the higher the risk of health problems in retirement, too, according to researchers at VU Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
That’s because the risk of disease increases as we age.
A return to work
Even with health benefits, retirement just isn’t for everyone.
Some people might go back to work if they enjoy it or think they need the socialization, mental stimulation or money – despite health benefits from retirement or even at risk to their health.
Although working later in life has also been tied to better health as people age, Harvard Medical School says.
“Work is sometimes seen as negative,” Tan said. “But we shouldn’t look at work as evil and vacation or retirement as good. It’s really what you make of both situations.”
No size fits all
At the end of the day, there’s no “one-size-fits-all” retirement. The choices you make now and during retirement define your health – as well as factors outside of your control.
So does your mindset, according to Patrick Skerrett, former executive editor of Harvard Health Publishing.
“If you’ve had a stressful, unrewarding, or tiring job, retirement may come as a relief. For you, not working may be associated with better health,” he said.
“People who loved their work and structured their lives around it may see retirement in a different light, especially if they had to retire because of a company age policy,” noted Skerrett.
