Some people look forward to an early retirement where, they think, the stress levels are less, they will have a great amount of joy just doing the things they want to do, and blissful happiness awaits them.

You might want to think this through before you jump into early retirement – especially if you are an individual who likes to keep busy and enjoys being productive.

Busy people generally are not “good at” doing nothing – and it is the rare busy person who “likes” being idle.

Translated into “Doom Loop language,” this means “Q4” – a decidedly unhealthy place to be.

Research conducted during the past few years have shown a remarkable correlation between decreased life expectancy for those who choose early retirement and those who retire later.  For example, investigators found that retiring at age 55 doubled the risk of death before reaching age 65 compared to those who worked until past age 60; and the results of the research showed clearly that mortality rates improved with an older retirement age than for those who seek less stress and a more relaxed lifestyle by retiring early.

Perhaps a realization of the need to keep busy during retirement has contributed to the growth of organizations, books and websites devoted to helping retired people find the happiness they thought was awaiting them.  I won’t list the various websites, self-help books, etc. in this brief posting.  You can easily find them for yourself in any bookstore or just by using Google.

In any event, my advice about retirement is this:

Make sure you have a clear idea of what it is that you want to do when you retire – especially if you are “not good at” and “don’t like” being idle.  If that is the case, then you will feel the unpleasant effects of “Q4.”

~ CCJ