41–50 of 292 posts
I take long sabbaticals from employment so I can actually work on harder problems and unfamiliar domains I'd struggle to do professionally if I could even get hired at all to do for money. That and spend more time on my physical fitness while still being able to sleep enough and study other things.
Retirement where people just shut down is no different than a scheduled form of burnout.
And I'm a senior software guy in a big Valley corp.
Probably the real priority here is to find one's "happy place" and stay there as long as it stay that way.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't mean to be rude, but your living grandfather is very fortunate. Your deceased grandfather lived an average lifespan for someone in most of the developed world. I don't know ... a great deal about the background of your anecdote, but I would hesitate to overextrapolate, though. Sometimes the lack of activity is the manifestation of the underlying health issue that contributes to mortality.
Its definitely anecdata. My surviving Grandfather has lost two wives (both active as he was) to cancer, so his life style alone does not confer longevity. That does not mean the will to live is not real, and those without out it fade much faster.
Sitting around May Speed Up Cognitive Decline. Both my Grandfathers retired shortly before seventy. One sat down in his Chair and did not get up. He ignored his health, and passed within 10 years. The other is highly active in his community and church, still gardens, and travels constantly. He is in his mid 80s with no sign of slowing down. Barring a major health incident, he will live well into his 90s like his moth…
The other had one of his lungs shot by tuberculosis, but despite that, smoked his entire life. Not particularly active either after retirement. He lived until his late 80s (EDIT: just checked, 85 actually).
EDIT: Obviously staying active is important for good health but anecdotes are not super informative.
Not only early retirement but any kind of retirement that gets the retiree in a mode that they don't have to try anymore will result in cognitive decline. I am seeing this in my dad who has been retired for ten years now. Throughout his work life he was a sharp hard working banker. Now he uses his age and retirement as an excuse for not trying. Just yesterday he wanted me to order something for him from Amazon. I tol…
Not only early retirement but any kind of retirement that gets the retiree in a mode that they don't have to try anymore will result in cognitive decline. I am seeing this in my dad who has been retired for ten years now. Throughout his work life he was a sharp hard working banker. Now he uses his age and retirement as an excuse for not trying. Just yesterday he wanted me to order something for him from Amazon. I tol…
Better headline: Cognitive Decline Prompts Earlier Retirement
Is there a reason you believe that the causality should be reversed? The article suggests they did tests post retirement and observed the rate of decline.