It’s a question just about everyone faces at some point: Will I remain healthy and will I be happy after retirement?
The answer, according to a new study co-authored by George Mason University public policy professor Sita Nataraj Slavov, is a qualified yes.
The information is important for many reasons, for individuals, health care providers and policymakers. Policies that delay retirement to improve fiscal budgets might actually negatively affect well-being.
Slavov and Utah State University researchers Aspen Gorry and Devon Gorry spent a year crunching the numbers, analyzing the effects of retirement on physical and mental health, life satisfaction and use of health care.
Their message to policymakers: Be careful when designing public policies that might resolve shortfalls in funding for public retirement programs, such as lengthening the amount of time workers have to stay on the job to be eligible for retirement. Those policies could backfire in hidden or unexpected public costs.
Americans tend to retire around ages 62 or 66 because that’s when they can begin to collect Social Security. Other benefits, such as pensions, also have “threshold ages” at which workers tend to retire.
And once these ages are reached and work stops, “retirement does seem to make people happier,” says Slavov, who teaches at Mason’s School of Policy, Government and International Affairs.
“They report higher levels of life satisfaction, and this seems to persist for several years after retirement.”
But don’t expect euphoria to kick in immediately upon retirement, Slavov said.
“In the short run, there is no immediate improvement in health,” she said. “In the long run, more than four years or so after retirement, we do see improvements in health. That’s good news.”
The study doesn’t explore the reasons this might occur, but Slavov speculates the lack of stress and more free time to exercise and focus on health are possibilities.
Slavov said the researchers are beginning a similar study of retirement in the United Kingdom. The continuation of the study actually adds to her own well-being. She said she enjoys exploring complex policy problems such as these.
“One of our biggest challenges is how we deal with an aging society,” she said. “I just thing that’s a really interesting and important problem.”
And there’s an added bonus for her.
“On a personal level, the more I learn about retirement, the better my retirement will be someday.”
Write to Buzz McClain at bmcclai2@gmu.edu