You can’t afford to lose meaningful money in retirement. It is the one death blow that is almost impossible to recover from and in my observation it leads to: 1) An obsession with trying to “make” the money back which takes over one’s life or 2), shutting the world out and blaming the loss on someone else. Both scenarios lead to isolation and as it turns out are bad for one’s health.
Dr. Andrew Weil, M.D. shares with readers the results of a study concluding that 10 to 25 percent of retirees don’t do well in retirement and are at a higher risk of dying within six years of retiring. According to the study the reason why hinges on whether or not you maintain social connections or become isolated.
A team of Australian researchers investigated 848 people age 50 or older, half who were retiring and half who were not. Their health was similar when the study began. The study team found that the retirees who belonged to social groups – a sports club, religious organization, trade union or any other type of leisure or professional group – had a lower risk of death in the first six years after retirement than those who had no such connections.
Losing money isn’t the only reason for isolation but it definitely doesn’t help.
More from Dr. Weil on aging:
