Short Stuff: The Retirement Curse | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Hey and welcome to the short stuff. Josh, Chuck, Jerry, Dave, Short Stuff, Tally Ho. >> Yeah, we're talking about retirement. today and specifically um what can be. referred to as the retirement curse, which is this idea that uh you know, maybe you're doing fine in life and. you're chugging along at your job and. then you retire and you encounter all. all sorts of uh problems. maybe uh. mental health problems, maybe physical.

health problems, and retirement um can. be the trigger to that kind of thing. >> Yeah. I mean, I think it's one of those. things where a lot of people are. familiar with it anecdotally, like maybe. they've seen somebody um you know, just. their health declines very quickly or. it's just something changes for the. worse from retirement. Um and it's. actually quantifiable. Um, and. apparently 5 to 6 years after. retirement, this is just the average. American. I suspect it's not quite as.

bad elsewhere. And in fact, I couldn't. find mention of the retirement curse as. we're presenting it anywhere else. It. does seem to be a semi-American. phenomenon. >> Interesting. >> But there's a the average American shows. a 6 to9% decline in mental health within. the first five to six years after. retirement. a five to six percent. increase in illness condition, right? >> Yeah. >> A five to 16% increase in difficulties. with daily activities. And when they.

control all the other variables, they're. like, it seems to be retirement. But of. course, retirement itself is not doing. this to you. It's all the life changes. that come from retirement. >> Yeah. Exactly. It's that transition. uh. how you deal with that is really really. key and something that you really got to. think about going into it. Uh I hope if. you're a person of retirement age, you've got a plan in place. Uh we're. going to talk more about that, but it. seems like the worst cases are when.

people just retire and all of a sudden. they're like, "Wait a minute, I uh have. my days free all the time. I'm not going. to this place anymore." If if you went. to an office, let's say, I'm not. surrounded by people every day that I. normally might be. um you know going to. work is is mental engagement and you. know even if you're not doing like hard. labor u just getting up and getting out. of bed and going to an office and moving. about the world represents some kind of. physical activity and especially if when.

you retire you just kind of hit the. couch or the recliner. >> um that's that's a big difference. >> Yeah. Also, like those people that. you're interacting with, even if you. work from home, just interacting with. them on calls or via email, like you. don't have that all of a sudden. If you. start emailing those same people, they're like, "You retired. Go do your. thing. I'm trying to work here.". >> Yeah. >> You know, they don't let you in on calls. any longer. And so, if you don't already. have a pretty tight circle of friends. outside of work, which a lot of.

Americans do not. >> Yeah. Especially as you get older, it. just gets harder and harder to make. friends. Uh, and because you spend a lot. of your time at work, those people. become your friends de facto. Uh, if you. don't have that network already in. place, you need to go figure out how to. do it because that is probably. ultimately what's behind the decline. more than anything. >> Yeah, for sure. Uh, and like we said, we. need you need to have a plan in place uh. for, you know, we'll talk about exercise. and social engagement and stuff like.

that or maybe just keep working or work. part-time or volunteer. >> Uh, and maybe we'll take a break and. talk a little bit about those work. statistics right after this. >> Oh, yeah. So you should know. All right. I got this from the Bureau of.

Labor Statistics here in the United. States. Um kind of the picture over the. years of of when people stop working. Uh. I think in 1948. uh the the rate of people age 65 and. older working was 27%. Um 47% of men, 9% of women. Um age 65. and older started trending down in the. latter half of the 20th century and hit. its lowest point 1985 and only 10% of uh. people over the age of 65 were working.

And since 1985 that started to grow uh. grow and started to trend upward like. people working later and later. >> um because some sometimes economic uh. necessity sometimes just preference and. then the the last year I have had. available at least was 2024 when it was. about 19% of people aed 65 and over. still working and I think 38% of those. were doing so part-time. >> Right. Um, you can also like the fact.

that it hit its low point uh in 1985. >> That's just about the time the unions. got broken up and pensions went away and. got replaced by 401ks. >> Interesting. >> Yeah. So, um, and that is one reason why. a lot of people stay in the workforce. It's financial necessity. um when I was. looking for the the retirement curse. abroad outside of the United States. One. reference I found was in Australia, but. essentially what they were talking about. was the retirement curse of outliving. your savings. Uh and a lot of people are.

scared to death by that idea. And. there's a lot of people in the United. States who are like, I have to keep. working. I don't have a choice because. yeah, >> I'm going to keep living longer beyond. my savings. So that's a big one, especially because we don't have uh. universal singlepayer or free health. care here in the United States. >> That gets more and more expensive the. older you get and you happen to need it. more and more the older you get too. So. the insurance plan. >> that uh mostly you get that through your. employer. You used to before Obamacare.

If you have a good insurance plan that. you don't pay that much for through your. employer, that in and of itself is is. reason enough to keep working for a lot. of Americans. >> Yeah. End of life care is really, really, really expensive. >> Uh, another reason. >> it's a real screw job. >> It is. Yeah. You work your whole life. and then get hit with a tremendous bill. that you can't afford at the end of it. >> Exactly. >> It's sad. So, uh, personal choice is. another reason. Um, people are, you. know, generally healthier and living. longer these days compared to previous.

decades. And so, a lot of people just. want to keep working because it gives. them a sense of purpose, something to. do. They want to keep joining those. calls. >> Yeah. Well, and remote work is another. reason why people are working a little. later. Uh because hey, you're at home, so you know, no skin off your back. >> Yep. So, um there's actually a Harvard. study that was like, okay, what's behind. all of this? Because yes, everybody, you. know, has some sort of anecdotal data, but but there's got to be some factor. that really rises above everything else.

And um Harvard's been studying this. cohort of 724 men for over 75 years now. There's only 60 of them left and they're. all in their 90s. But every two years. they track their health. They ask them. about their satisfaction in life. >> And they found that when you separate. the wheat from the chaff, the cream from. the milk, >> the peanut butter from the chocolate, >> Yeah. >> what stands is social connections. And. we've talked about this before and it. makes me really nervous every time we.

do. But the more social connections you. have, the more connected you are with. other people, the more you interact with. other people, the happier you are, the. longer life you have, the less disease. burden you have into uh old age and um. just the better off you are in general. It seems to be the underlying thing for. health into old age. >> Yeah, for sure. Um the fourth this is a. amazing study the Harvard study of adult. adult development and the fourth. director is a guy named Robert Waldinger.

who is a psychiatrist and he has an. awesome TED talk that I recommend people. watch and it's a TED talk so it's not. more than what what is it 18 minutes or. something. >> I don't remember what the when the um. >> yeah there's a set length I can't. remember but it's called what makes a. good life lessons from the longest study. on happiness. >> and he reiterates what you said is that. you know those relationships are kind of. the key to rem remain socially connected. and loneliness is toxic. >> Yeah. >> So, uh you know, you're you're you want. to avoid that stuff um both physically.

and mentally. And on the physical side, uh one kind of obvious things that you. should do is I mean, if you're a runner. and you do cardio and you can keep doing. that, that's great. But strength. training and stretching and stuff like. that, resistance exercises is a really. big deal uh to start doing as or. continue to do if you don't do it. already as you get older. >> It's enormous. Um it helps keep your. bones healthy. Uh it helps keep your. muscles strong. It prevents things like. sarcopania where you develop a stoop. Um.

balance is a big one because falls are a. big problem as you get older. So um. strength training, resistance training, that helps your balance as well. Um, and. you also just want to move. Um, one. thing I'm heartened by is there's so. many people who I see out taking walks. in the middle of the day every day. >> I think that's great. Um, and that's a. big part of of staying, >> I guess, healthy or just living life is. getting outside and moving around, even. if it is just going for a walk, you. know, or chasing pigeons at the pond.

>> Yeah. I mean, that's, you know, one of. the mental aspects is daily routine. And. if that's chasing pigeons is your thing, uh, like you need to you need to have a. plan in place and have a a routine and. not just be like, well, what's the day. going to throw my way? Um, you know, you. also need to eat, you know, eat well, obviously nutrient-dense foods, and get. get really good sleep. That's key. But. like getting out in the world is a big. one. And you know, I think everyone has. seen this maybe sadly somewhere in their.

family. Like the the worst thing you can. do is turning that television on during. daylight hours. >> It gets worse though, Chuck. If you turn. it on and you turn it on to cable news, you're. >> Yeah. >> Not only are you going to die, but your. family wants you dead now. >> It's a problem. >> It is. when you start sitting on the. couch and watching TV during the day, it's uh you know, it can be the. beginning of the end. So, you need to be.

out in the world, you need to try and. learn some new things. Like, it's you. can get so inspired by seeing, you know, either on social media or whatever or. news stories when you see some of our. senior friends out there like taking a. dance class for the first time or or a. new hobby or learning an instrument or a. new language or something like that. Like, that is just food for your brain. Yeah, like if your local community is. like putting a one penny tax or. something um to to build a new senior. center, that's money well spent.

>> Yeah, agreed. >> Um and then of course you can volunteer, you can venture. There's a lot of stuff. you can do. Um and I think the point is. to just keep doing stuff like you said, stop like resist the trap of just. sitting on the couch all day, you know? >> Yeah. Because the the retirement curse. is is self-inflicted generally. Uh, >> so you you uh hopefully have a choice as. to how you spend your remaining years. And we say uh cuz I mean I'm 55, dude. That's coming that's coming for me.

sooner than you. >> Mhm. >> And I want to I want to be out in the. world. I want to be one of those old. guys out there on the golf course in his. 90s or taking a I want to learn to dance. finally in my in my 80s. >> That's awesome. What What kind of dance? >> Modern jazz. >> Break dancing. Oh, that'd be great. The. breakdancing grandpa. There's your. second chapter right there. >> There you have it. >> Uh, well, yes, I think this short stuff. proved that we are becoming old men. And, uh, look for a short stuff in the.

future on sitting. Uh, and I think Chuck's short stuff is. out. Stuff you should know is a production of. iHeart Radio. For more podcasts of. iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio. app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you. listen to your favorite shows.