Study: How to Add Extra Years to Your Retirement

After all those years of raising a family and leading a productive career, retirement has finally arrived. But is disappearing to a remote island beach really the best way to live out your final years? A new study from the University of Queensland in Australia has found that if you want to live for as long as possible after retiring, it's important to live as part of a community. The chances of dying within six years of stopping work was two percent for study participants who were members of two or more social groups. If they left one group, their risk of dying during the study increased to five percent, and it rose to twelve percent if they left both groups. Lead researcher Niklas Steffens said that in retirement, social planning may be as important as financial and medical planning. "If you don't belong to any group, join one." About.com Expert Dr. David Katz cautioned that it's possible "Individuals prone to ill health, physical or mental, were less social as a result. (…) Still, the study reminds us of the importance of meaningful human interactions to our well-being."

Someone forward you this email? No Sweat! Sign up here to get your own If you're having trouble viewing this email, click here Follow Us Study: How to Add Extra Years to Your Retirement After all those years of raising a family and leading a productive career, retirement has finally arrived.  But is disappearing to a remote island beach really the best way to live out your final years? A new study from the University of Queensland in Australia has found that if you want to live for as long as possible after retiring, it’s important to live as part of a community.  The chances of dying within six years of stopping work was two percent for study participants who were members of two or more social groups, like a church congregation, book club, or exercise group.  If they left one group, their risk of dying during the study increased to five percent, and it rose to twelve percent if they left both groups.  Lead researcher Niklas Steffens said that in retirement, social planning may be as important as financial and medical planning. “If you don’t belong to any group," Steffens says, "join one.” About.com Expert Dr. David Katz cautioned that it’s possible that, “Individuals prone to ill health, physical or mental, were less social as a result. (…) Still, the study reminds us of the importance of meaningful human interactions to our well-being." Nicholas English Content Manager of About.com Health How to Be Happy at Any Age READ NOW 6 Tips for Starting a Social Group    READ NOW 10 Things to Stop Doing If You Want to Live Longer    READ NOW 8 Steps for Staying Healthy After 40 READ NOW Trending Now • Parent of a Child With Asthma? • Here's What You Need to Cut Back On Sugar • 5 Reasons Sex Is Better Than Candy • How Much Sleep Is Too Much? • I'm Bad at Sports, But My Kids Love It • 4 Ways to Deal With Constant Back Pain • 5 Ways to Defuse Your Anxious Thoughts Advertisement About Health  |  Follow Us You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to the About Health newsletter. If you wish to unsubscribe, please click here 1500 Broadway, 6th Floor, New York, NY, 10036 © 2016 About.com - All rights reserved. Privacy Policy.