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Working Beyond Retirement Could be Good for You. Or Not.

USA Today, 11/27/08

Abstract:

As Americans watch years of retirement savings disappear in the stock market collapse, many are having the same thought: Maybe we'll just have to work forever.

While most of us really won't end up working until we die, the trend toward delayed retirement — in full swing even before this financial disaster — raises an interesting question: Will working longer be good or bad for our physical and mental health?

The answer is unknown, but it's likely some people will thrive as they work into their late 60s or beyond, while many others will suffer, researchers say.

"We have an interesting experiment going on," says Arie Kapteyn, a researcher with the Rand Corp. "It's a little early to know what the effects are."

The number of American men still working or returning to work after 65 has been rising since the early 1990s, breaking a decades-long pattern of earlier retirements. As more women have entered the workforce, more also have stayed on past 55, 60 and 65, says the National Institute on Aging.

The end of mandatory retirement laws and changes in Social Security helped spur the changes. But so did improvements in health. People who are in good health tend to work longer. So sorting out the health risks and benefits of extra years on the job is complex, says Richard Suzman, director of behavioral and social research at the institute: "There's an interactive effect. Health can affect whether you keep on working, and working can affect your health."

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