Postponing Retirement Slows Cognitive Decline

Working for a few years longer than planned might help to maintain cognitive function for a longer period of time in retirement.

Waiting to retire until age 67 was found to lessen the rate of cognitive decline in retirement. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), researchers looked at how a policy change in the “statutory retirement age” to 67 by the U.S. government affected cognitive function later in life. The data covered individuals between 55 and 75 years old. For those born in the year 1960 or later, retiring at age 67 is predicted to improve cognitive function.

The study discovered that this postponement does “insulate” those who retire at age 67 from cognitive decline. However, those who retired at age 67 had a “slowed rate” of cognitive decline, not necessarily a “boost” in cognitive function.

It was also found that this insulation does not vary across gender, education or occupation, affecting everyone equally. Furthermore, depressive symptoms and comorbidities were not found to mediate the effect of postponing retirement.

The study’s authors discussed the significant implications of this information: “Longer life expectancies and population aging have motivated many high-income countries to postpone the statutory retirement age for more recent cohorts … Prior evidence was inconclusive as to whether labor market participation is protective against cognitive decline because working is dynamically interconnected with other life-course factors that influence cognitive function.”

Source: “Does postponing retirement affect cognitive function? A counterfactual experiment to disentangle life course risk factors,” by Jo Mhairi Hale, Maarten J. Bijlsma and Angelo Lorenti; SSM Population Health, June 2021.