If you retire early, you could be harming your health: new study
Fox News
A new study done by researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York, suggests that early retirement may accelerate cognitive decline in late adulthood. Here are the details.
A recent paper published in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization suggests that early retirement may accelerate cognitive decline in late adulthood. "The increase in social isolation was strongly associated with faster cognitive decline among the elderly." Early retirement’s negative influence on mental fitness activities as well as social engagement outweighed the protective benefit on health behaviors. The study and research design are geared to detect true causal effects of retirement on cognitive impairment. "When you go to work, you use your brain actively — and in some ways, going to work helps your mental abilities." "We show robust evidence that retirement has important benefits. But it also has considerable costs."
"Participants in the program report substantially lower levels of social engagement, with significantly lower rates of volunteering and social interaction than non-beneficiaries," said lead author Plamen Nikolov, assistant professor of economics at Binghamton University, State University of New York, in a press release about the study.
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