You may be aware that I had a big birthday recently. I’m sure I’m not the first person to be puzzled about how I’ve managed to not only spend six decades on the earth but also to end up with a 25 year old son along the way!
Just as Louise was beginning to worry that I might want to spend more time in her house, a new study (1) has provided evidence of the benefits of continuing to work in your 60s (I do wonder if this is entirely coincidental).
The study confirms that working longer improves cognition and reduces physical disability, (the cognitive gains are particularly large for single people). The study also tells us, somewhat unsurprisingly, that non-sedentary jobs are good for mobility and that sedentary jobs have negative effects (but not just on mobility)!
The increases in State Pension Age between 2010 and 2017 have resulted in women born only months apart having differing pension ages. The study looked at the impact on these women. One of the impacts was to increase the employment rate of 60–63-year-old women by 11% between 2010 and 2017. The study looked at the way in which these women were affected.
The conclusion was quite dramatic – women who continue to work beyond age 60 have, on average, significantly better cognition and fewer signs of physical disability than if they had retired at 60.
Being in employment increased verbal fluency by around 6 words (in a minute) on average – compared to an average of 23 for women who retired at 60. The study concluded that the deterioration of cognition on leaving work become apparent quickly. It was found that was particularly relevant for single women. Single women saw the largest positive effects of continued work on cognition, compared to smaller (but still positive effects) among married women.
One of the measures which the study used was walking speed, as a measure of physical disability – which is an objective and independently assessed measure of health. Being in paid work at older ages was found to increase average walking speed by around 0.2 metres per second, up from an average of 1.0 m/s for women who retired at 60. This result was corroborated by substantial falls in the probability that individuals report having (moderate) mobility problems, for women who continued to work. The study found that upon retirement older women did not increase their levels of other exercise (e.g. in sports or activities) and hence did not offset the loss of physical activity from leaving work.
Taken together, these results suggest that there are, on average, some health benefits of extending working lives, in addition to the increased earnings that such work brings.
There are plenty of reasons why I want to continue to work (partly because I enjoy spending time with my wonderful clients, and I do actually enjoy most of the work I do), but now I have an extra reason – work is good for you!
Philip Wise | philip@sussexretirement.co.uk
Managing Director and Chartered Financial Planner
This blog is for information purposes and does not constitute financial advice, which should be based on your individual circumstances.
