Study: Full Retirement May Be Unhealthy

A new study entitled “Bridge Employment and Retirees’ Health: A Longitudinal Investigation” has found that seniors that continue to work in the same field in the same capacity during retirement may actually enjoy better physical and emotional health than seniors that undergo full retirement. The results of this study may come as good news to potential retirees that may, because of the recession, may have to work into retirement age.

The study looked at 12,189 participants between the ages of 51 and 61 who were interviewed every two years over the six years starting from 1992. They were asked about their health, finances, employment history, and work or retirement life.

According to the study, retirees who held bridge employment, or part-time jobs taken after retirement, had better overall health and mental stability than those who did not. The bridge worker group faced less major diseases and fewer functional limitations than those who stopped working all together, and bridge workers who continued working in the same field they worked in pre-retirement had better mental health.

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