A lot of people find their retirement intimidating and it is even ranked number 10 on a list of 43 most stressful life events. According to the Entrepreneur magazine: “An actuarial study conducted on some of the larger US Pension Funds including Boeing Aerospace, indicates that employees who retired at the age of 65, died within two years of retirement.” On the other hand, “Another startling statistic from the same Corporations is that those who retire earlier say age 55 tend to enjoy their retirement on average for more than 25 years. The chances are that those able to retire earlier have less stress, have planned and managed their lives better with respect to finances, health, and career and are able to retire comfortably. One important observation is that these younger retirees (55) aren’t necessarily idle in retirement, but they are far less stressed than their working counterparts from age 55 to 65. This means they may be busying themselves with part-time work, hobbies and things they enjoy doing, so much so that ‘work’ becomes fun and is done at a more leisurely pace.” Additionally, a lot of people find this transition hard to face with, so here are some useful tips to ease it: Keep in touch with your colleagues and friends, and try to meet new people Take up a new hobby that will fill in the extra hours during the day and keep you happy and motivated Start learning new things, and this practice will keep your brain and body active Nevertheless, even though retirement is not exactly one expects, it also has one amazing advantage- improved health. As we age, our health declines, but researchers have found that retirement significantly improves a person’s mental health. There is conflicting evidence when it comes to physical evidence, but studies have shown that it positively affects our mental health: There is no need to work late or wake up too early, so people tend to sleep more, which rests their mind and improves overall health Stress and strain at work are stripped away so a person is relaxed and tension-free People have more free time on hand, and often turn to physical activities like yoga, hiking, or tennis Source
