Mental health counselors are familiar with the pattern. A person retires, and for a few years everything is fine. But then, some retirees — especially men — fall into depression. One frequently cited study found that the incidence of self-reported depression goes up by 40% during those first few retirement years.
Depression after retirement is also common. It's estimated that almost one-third of retirees in the United States develop symptoms of depression at this stage of life.
You may be more relaxed, and your life may slow down. Loss of work-related stress may be a great relief and good for your health, but losing the daily structure and your work relationships can also be stressful and harmful to your health. In fact, retirement is ranked 10th on the list of life's most stressful events.
In the research on retirement and depression, a number of studies have found patterns related to the “loss” of the work experience itself. As much as you may look forward to the day you no longer need to go to work, many will end up missing it when it's gone. This isn't surprising.
67-70 – During this age range, your Social Security benefit, if you haven't already taken it, will increase by 8% for each year you delay taking it until you turn 70.
Retirees enjoy over seven hours of leisure time per day, according to 2019 data from the American Time Use Survey. They use their newfound free time in a variety of ways, including taking up new hobbies, relaxing at home, watching TV and lingering over daily activities. Many retirees also continue to work or volunteer.
Develop Your Own Routine and Schedule and Stay Social
An easier starting place for fighting retirement depression is simply to create and follow a schedule. You need to get dressed, get out of the house and see people. Get out your calendar and write down places to go and people to see on a regular basis!
These studies concluded that retirement is associated with lower life satisfaction, depression, and lower happiness (9, 10).
After looking forward to this stage for so long, many retirees must deal with a feeling of letdown, similar to that of newlyweds once the honeymoon is over. Retirement isn't a permanent vacation after all; it also can bring loneliness, boredom, feelings of uselessness, and disillusionment.
Doing nothing is okay, but it can be challenging to slow down in your activities after working for like 30 or 40 years. It's all about finding the right balance of doing nothing in retirement, slowing down, and spending time on the activities you like to do most.
Some of the top emotional signs you might be ready to retire include: Becoming resentful of your work, or daydreaming about retirement during work hours to the extent that it distracts you from getting your work finished. No longer identifying who you are with what you do (your job).
Retirees are selling their forever homes to move into senior living communities that have everything within walking distance. Walking, as we all know, is one of the best exercises around, plus it's good for the environment, and there's no need to spend money on gas.
What did retirees miss most? According to the study, 65 percent said they most missed interacting with co-workers, friends or students at work.
Housing. Housing—which includes mortgage, rent, property tax, insurance, maintenance and repair costs—is the largest expense for retirees. More specifically, the average retiree household pays an average of $17,472 per year ($1,456 per month) on housing expenses, representing almost 35% of annual expenditures.
The finding echoes a few others, the New York Times reports: “An analysis in the United States found about seven years of retirement can be as good for health as reducing the chance of getting a serious disease (like diabetes or heart conditions) by 20 percent.
“Continuing to work for as long as possible will absolutely give you more choices and financial freedom in retirement,” Duran explains. “Working for a longer period of time not only gives you more savings and builds your safety net, but it also provides health benefits which you don't have to pay for personally.”
Life Expectancy
If you retire at 65, you have a 76 percent chance of living ten more years, a 38 percent chance of living 20 more years, and a 5 percent chance of living another 30 years. The life expectancy for men in the United States is 78.54 years.
Well, the research that you and I have read, and more importantly, what I see in real life in working with clients for the past 25-plus years, are that people go through the phases we describe as the Go-Go years, the Slow-Go years, and the No-Go years. And in the Go-Go years, it's early retirement.