Reluctance to Retire

A study of academic physicians in a teaching hospital showed that their self-identity, their self-worth, was so connected to their job that they actually had great anxiety and even depression when it came time to retire.* The culture of the organization was that work came before family, before friends, and that advancement in that job was most important in their lives. When you think about your later career life and retirement, do you feel the same way these physicians feel?

They felt that they would die on the job, that the job was too important to leave for others to do it. The physicians hadn't really planned for retirement; they hadn't saved money for it nor had they thought how they might spend their time having never had time to cultivate a hobby. It was ingrained in them by the hospital organization that work was more important than family so much so that they didn't see how younger generations would succeed when the younger physicians put a greater emphasis on non-work activities than the older ones had ever contemplated. Younger ones were considered lazy and uncommitted, which added to the older generation’s fear of retiring and leaving the organization in the hands of less qualified people. Meantime, the hospital, despite having created the reluctance to retire culture, felt that older physicians needed to retire in order to renew and refresh the work force.

I think this points to a need to greater enhance the transitional process from employment to retirement. Employees need a way to step down slowly from full time employment to full time retirement. Of course, I still believe that you should work as long as you want to work, but I think it's possible, maybe good, to move from a stressful all-encompassing job to a less stressful job. As I've said before you can volunteer, become a mentor, try something you've always been passionate about. Think about what you want your later career and retirement to look like, and make a plan.

* Reluctance to Retire: A Qualitative Study on Work Identity, Intergenerational Conflict, and Retirement in Academic Medicine by Michelle Pannor Silver, BA, BS, MPP, PhD and Sarah A. Williams, MA. The Gerontologist, advance article published online September 2016.

Successful Aging - What Research Says

Successful Aging. To me it means positive aging, keep going beyond retirement, slow down on your terms. Researchers have studied what it means to successfully age. I happened upon an old article from 1997; I think the information still holds true. The MacArthur Foundation spent years studying more than a 1000 people, doctors gave a study the name Americans Change Lives, and Swedes studied twins raised separately all to figure out what are the differences between aging with disability and risks and aging with good health and longevity. All that studying, and I'm only mentioning a few. They discovered a number of factors that make up successful aging. “Successful aging is multidimensional, encompassing the avoidance of disease and disability, the maintenance of high physical and cognitive function, and sustained engagement in social and productive activities. Research has identified factors predictive of success in these critical domains.”* Here's just a few factors:

• Genetic factors - how your genes relate to risks like heart disease and diabetes. However, in studying several generations of advanced age relatives it was found that those genes had less effect in the current generation.
• Physiological factors - gait, balance and blood pressure measures, specifically, were excellent predictors of mortality, even just five years later.
• Cognitive factors - we've all worried about dementia interrupting our aging. Interestingly, “Education was the strongest predictor, with greater years of schooling increasing the likelihood of maintaining high cognitive function.”*
• Engagement in life (socializing) - being involved with other people has a health protective aspect, meaning showing love and respect and giving direct assistance like doing chores and providing transportation are good for your health.

There are more factors of course that help with successful aging. I'm sure you can figure out many for yourselves. What does successful aging look like to you?

*Successful Aging by JM Rowe in The Gerontologist, Vol. 37, No. 4, 433-440, 1997.