Work & Finance

The Dark Side of Retirement

How to make sure you can handle all that freedom

“Retirement kills more people than hard work ever did,” cracked publisher Malcolm Forbes. Easy for him to say…he was the boss. But recent research suggests the famous capitalist was actually onto something: Breaking a 40-year routine is a wrenching change, so wrenching that if you don’t manage it correctly, it can be damaging to your health and your relationships. Psychologists call it retirement syndrome: A host of serious life challenges suddenly occurs amongst those newly freed of the shackles of work and career. Early retirees are particularly vulnerable to the three D’s: death, depression, and divorce.

Short Retirement
According to a 2005 study published in the British Medical Journal, people who retire at age 55 are 89 percent more likely to die in the first 10 years of retirement than those who retire at 65. “Mortality improved with increasing age at retirement,” the study concluded.

Zoloft Retirement
British researchers have found that men who retire early have “increased prevalence of common mental disorders,” namely depression.  “Immediately after retirement, there’s a strong upsurge in well-being for the first six months or so. That’s the honeymoon period,” says psychology professor Christopher Sharpley, PhD, founding director of Australia’s Centre for Stress Management and Research. “After one or two years, there’s a decrease in well-being, which can often turn into quite serious depression.”

Solo Retirement
“The average working couple spends about 20 minutes a day in conversation,” says Mary Louise Floyd, author of Retired With Husband. “Then, suddenly, they are together all day.” And just like a fine single malt, more isn’t always better. Experts agree that “gray” divorces are becoming increasingly common, with most initiated by the wife. Newly retired men experience more marital conflict than nonretired men, says Jungmeen Kim, PhD, a professor of psychology at Virginia Tech. Sharpley also has noticed the trend. One wife of a soon-to-be-retired executive was freaking out that her husband would be home all day. “She told me, ‘I married him for better or worse, in sickness and health, and for richer or poorer, not for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.’ ”

The Solution
Get a life outside of work. After a career and a social life defined by the office, new retirees can find themselves in an intellectual and social wilderness. “Men often find it difficult to make new relationships, particularly outside of work,” says Ron Manheimer, PhD, director of the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement. Manheimer says men should prepare for release from the nine-to-five by building new social circles through volunteer work, clubs, or even a part-time job. In addition to providing a new social network, getting involved in new activities will give you something to focus on and help you maintain a sharp mind. “It’s important to keep having things to aim for,” says Manheimer. A focused man is also a younger man. “Real aging comes not when we pass a certain birthday, but when regrets take the place of dreams, when we desert our ideals,” according to findings by Manfred Kets de Vries, an INSEAD professor and expert in economics and psychoanalysis.