Does retirement send us into an early grave?

Most of us can’t wait to retire. It is the time we look forward to because we finally have the freedom to live life exactly the way we want, budget permitting. But, one man believes that retirement is becoming increasingly impractical and that it is actually having several negative influences on our health and wellbeing. So trusted retirees in the Starts at 60 community, do you agree with him?

According to news.com.au, Barry LaValley is a “visiting global authority on retiring” and he believes that our longer lifespans are causing several points of stress in the retirement dream. He has said, that people need life balance rather than “lopsided leisure” and with many people living to 90 and retiring in their early 60s, retirement is doing just that.

He pointed out “If you had leisure time for seven days a week, 365 days a year for 30 years, where is your break? Our own parents retired at 65 but would die at 72”. Essentially, he believes that spending that much time living a typical retired life means that we “kill ourselves mentally”.

And he does make a good point. But, he also should have a word to many of the retirees in the Starts at 60 community because I know they would beg to differ. We have thousands of people here who are retired, but they aren’t killing themselves mentally – they are living full and rich lives.

Some are going back to education and are learning new things; some have started new hobbies that have even turned into business; some are passionate volunteers dedicating their time and efforts to causes in need and some are travelling all over the world. If you think about it, you are all proof that retirement doesn’t kill us mentally and he did allude to this as well. He said, “Just keep your brain going because you either use it or lose it”.

So does this this actually mean that the definition of retirement is due for a change? Right now retirement relates strictly to the action of leaving or ceasing work, but in reality retirement doesn’t mean the work stops. In several cases, retirement is when we actually start working – at the things we enjoy and are passionate about.

So do you feel that retirement has given you life or do you feel like it has made you stagnant? Share your thoughts in the comments below…