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Early Retirement May Be Good for Your Health

You are probably not looking for a reason to retire early.  The reason is fairly obvious.  Early retirement may be much more pleasant that working well into one’s 60s or 70s or beyond.  But here’s another reason that renders early retirement more appealing – it could lengthen your life.  That’s the conclusion of research made available over the years as well as from a 2017 study published in the journal Health Economics.  As indicated by The New York Times, in that study, three economists from the Netherlands analyzed what transpired when some Dutch civil servants could temporarily quality for early retirement in 2005. Men responding to the early retirement offer were nearly three percentage points less likely to die over the next five years than those who did not retire early. Parenthetically, too few women met the early retirement eligibility criteria to be included in the study. In any case, these findings echo those of other studies. For instance, an analysis in the U.S. found that seven years of retirement can be as good for one’s health as reducing by 20 percent the chance of acquiring a serious disease like diabetes or heart conditions. The salubrious effects of retirement have also been discerned in studies using data from England, Germany, and Israel. This likely reflects the fact that for many people, work can be stressful and can leave little time for exercise.  

Anirban Basu, Chariman Chief Executive Officer of Sage Policy Group (SPG), is one of the Mid-Atlantic region's leading economic consultants. Prior to founding SPG he was Chairman and CEO of Optimal Solutions Group, a company he co-founded and which continues to operate. Anirban has also served as Director of Applied Economics and Senior Economist for RESI, where he used his extensive knowledge of the Mid-Atlantic region to support numerous clients in their strategic decision-making processes. Clients have included the Maryland Department of Transportation, St. Paul Companies, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Players Committee and the Martin O'Malley mayoral campaign.