Retirement Or Working Into Our 70s; What Can We Expect?

When we like what we do for a living and the many positive things that it brings, then it is easy to see why many of us are pushing back our retirement age. Add to this, talk of extending the pension age to 70 and the likelihood is that many of us will have a much longer working life. But we don’t want our later years to be all work and no play, leaving us with no get up and go to have old-age fun, so what can we expect in the years ahead?

Adopt a positive outlook

Because people are living longer then we need to be sure that our later years are going to be healthy ones. If you do the sums, increased life expectancy may not result in improved quality of life. However, by looking after ourselves, adopting a positive outlook and keeping as fit as we can, we will find ourselves in a good strong position to fight off the types of illnesses that rear their heads as we age. If you believe the old saying that ‘You are as young as you feel’ then feeling much younger and not expecting to decline with age may be the secret of keeping going.

Taking care of ourselves

Research has shown that continuing to work is good for our mental stimulation and it provides us with good social interaction so we have to ensure that our bodies keep up the pace. None of us want to think about it but unfortunately as we age, health problems can increase. It is essential to take care of diet and exercise, thus keeping Father Time on the back foot. Mathematically, with every extra year we live, our bodies are at risk of becoming more susceptible to illness and disease but we must not look to the future with any sort of negativity. We should be aware of the dangers and try to adapt our lifestyles accordingly wherever possible.

So what should we be aware of?

Let’s take a look at some key diseases and how age impacts upon them:
Cancer – with many types, risk does increase with age. By 75, 1:3 men and 1:4 women are likely to be affected.
Heart disease – the proportion of people affected doubles between 45 – 64 and this increases by a further third by the time we hit the 65 – 79 age range.
Osteoarthritis – After 45, the pervasiveness of this condition jumps sharply and can restrict employment as hands, hips, knees and ankles may be affected.
Type 2 diabetes – 28% of 65-74 year olds have this condition. If complications occur, amputations can result in disablement, thus badly affecting employment.
Cognitive issues – these can rear their heads in our 70s and whilst they may not result in dementia, functioning at work may become difficult.

Retirement and beyond

So as you can see, statistics do show that health issues may figure in our lives much more as we age but if we want to carry on working into retirement and beyond, we need to have an action plan in place. Eat well, sleep well and maintain a get-up-and-go attitude and you will be able to choose when you want to stop working, looking forward to a much deserved Siesta at a time to suit you!