Health and ER?

[ESRBob]

I keep wondering whether ER could be arguably good for health since people have more time to exercise and less stress. Or is ER bad for health because we all sit around in front of our computers all day and don't get out much any more. Any takers? Do you think you are healthier now than when you were working full time?

On a related note, if you are married, do you think your marriage is stronger now than when your were working full time?

I'll go first (surprise surprise).

I am clearly not as healthy as when I was working full time. But, I think it is mostly due to aging. I know
I have a lot less stress now.

My marriage is stronger now - new wife

John Galt

[trumpeting_angel]

My health is one of the primary reasons I'm interested in ER. My sister died not long ago, at the age of 47. I was given two gifts: an inheritance to give me a boost toward ER, and the concept that life doesn't last forever. I was desperate to cut down on the stress in my life. I left my stressful job, and am working part-time for myself, making my own hours. It isn't precisely retirement, but it's an awful lot better.

I don't want to get cancer. I don't smoke and eat reasonably well, but stress was my constant companion. I'm determined to lower my stress levels: I want to live.

Anne

[unclemick]

Once my brain got reconnected - ie decided on ER (instead of unemployed and looking for a job) - took about a year, my SO said heck yes and retired also. Then everything got better - attitude, sex, health, fun, lower stress, etc., you name it. I haven't had a bad cold or the flu in eleven years.

But - I blame my lack of exercise recently to posting too much to this forum and not that I'm getting lazy. Hope to squeeze in a few more years of 'doing nothing in particular' before active old age sets in.

[trumpeting_angel]

Obviously, you need to be playing more ice hockey!

(Well, at least that's what works for me. . .) I, too, spend an inordinate amount of time on the computer, and have the orthopedic issues to show for it. I do a lot of writing and typing for work, and when I do that during the day and hang out on the computer in the evening, it adds up to TOO MUCH.

Unclemick, do what you enjoy. Life is too short to do otherwise. OTOH, exercise will make life longer. . .

Anne

[ESRBob]

My health is better now by far, since I am able to exercise regularly (I have no willpower, but I can schedule and make it to yoga classes, which gets the job done). Still, before I got the hang of SWR and Asset Allocation, I stressed as much over ER finances as I ever did over a job (thanks to those wonderful markets in 2001 and 2002... )

Relationship-wise its better because there is more time to be there if stuff comes up, and keep the honey-do list relatively short (secret to domestic peace around our house).

As for the kids, I think I staved off a major crisis a few years back that was brewing with our youngest son -- again, just being able to log the time with him on math and reading and writing and discipline stuff reversed a problem that had gotten close to out-of-hand during my rat-race years. (he was 6 going on 16 when I started ER)

[Nords]

My blood pressure's lower, my pulse rate's in the 50s, my cholesterols have moved in all the right directions, my bodyfat's down and my muscle's up, and I'm half as intense as I used to be. I'm off the Flonase, I haven't had bronchitis or pneumonia and barely a respiratory virus since retiring, and sometimes I even sleep six hours in a row before waking...

While I worked out more during my working days, it tended to go in cycles-- trapped at your desk, going hard to make up for missed workouts, injuring something and having to heal, getting behind while healing, starting over again, getting trapped at the desk, etc. ER workouts are more regular, I've broken the cycle to make much more progress, and I can work out with my best partner (spouse) or my toughest partner (kid). I'm glad I wasn't learning surfing & taekwondo while I still had to show up at the office. I actually have time to practice & study now!

Honey-dos are getting cranked out daily, I'm reading almost as much as I want to, I'm learning more than ever about investing (and I have the performance to show for it) and spouse says that I've never been so mellow. I only see rush hour once a month for a non-profit meeting.

I too retired as the kid was entering the danger zone (perhaps they never leave it). There's nothing to inspire good behavior like the thought that your parents will spend all day "helping" you! And the kid knows that she's much more likely to encounter a well-rested, calm, objective parent instead of the ticking bomb that just survived a 12-hour day. Now it's less about challenging authority and more about learning to leave the nest.

Once you're in ER, staying in front of the computer or not exercising are personal choices. You're not forced into it because of work-- now it's your own darn fault and you have no one else to blame.

And if we believe society or our families/"friends" when they claim that we're old, then that's how we'll behave. I may be 43 chronologically but I still have the maturity of a 25-year-old, and they're much more fun to be around!

[Pennhaven]

I used to have a doctor who told me that I should never retire, because when men cease to work they die! It just goes to show what they teach some doctors in med school. :

I have a different doctor today , and am in better shape then I have been in over 20 years. I get more (and more regular) exercise, eat better, sleep much better, and have reversed the pattern of yearly increases in my waist size (it is gradually reducing every year now). My stress level is at least 80% lower.

I think that just the cessation of the business travel and business meal life style accounts for half of the improvement. It is very difficult to lead a healthy life style when you are on and off airplanes and in and out of hotels and restaurants for much of the week.

Eating is a big source of pleasure for me and fortunately I am blessed with wife who is an excellent cook who knows how to prepare delicious, well balanced meals that are much more healthy than typical restaurant fare. It is also fortunate that I enjoy active recreational activities such as hiking, biking, and cross country skiing, and that I have a dog with lots of energy who is a pleasure to get outdoors with.

There probably are some personality types whose life and self image are totally linked to their careers and who are unable to adjust to retirement in a healthy manner, and are therefore prone to disease post retirement. I would guess that my old doctor is one of those. But I have always maintained that anyone who is unable to retire in a constructive and positive manner is probably lacking in imagination and curiosity. Which may also be linked to personality type. Some people are only happy if they are striving.

Hello PennHaven! Your doctor was partly right.
Men do die after they retire. But, they will also die
whether they retire or not. Guaranteed!

My case is interesting in that I have some chronic health issues that I developed after I retired, mostly of uncertain origin. On the other hand, I am almost 60
and carried a heavy load for a lot of years. I doubt
that my problems are due to the cessation of work.
On the other hand, we will never know.

John Galt

[Pennhaven]

Quote:

Hello PennHaven! Your doctor was partly right. Men do die after they retire. But, they will also die whether they retire or not. Guaranteed!

No doubt about it. Afterall, life is a fatal condition.

[Approximate] Dialog from Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven:
The Schofield Kid (after gunning down villian): "That SOB had it coming."
Eastwood as (retired 8) ) gunfighter William Munny: "Kid, we all got it coming."

BTW the same doctor who told me never to retire, also said that his goal was never to have to sign a patient's death certificate. i.e. Apparently he wanted to keep us alive forever. Not only an impossible goal, but also misguided. I'll take quality over quantity any day.

Take care of yourself.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Quote:

I used to have a doctor who told me that I should never retire, because when men cease to work they die! It just goes to show what they teach some doctors in med school. :

Another case of confusing cause and effect.

We used to die shortly after we quit work, because we used to wait until we were about to die before we retired.

I'm far better off. There are clearly imbalances that are caused by retiring that you have to rebalance...find your own new rhythm. Social changes, financial, spiritual, intellectual, emotional, et cetera.

I'm still working on my rebalancing. But it was better from day 1 than working.

[Ol_Rancher]

We have all heard the stories of men who retire and are dead within a year or two. These anocdotal examples of the hazards of retirement ignore at least one fact that comes to mind.
Many who work long careers and retire are often forced to do so because of bad health. One who retires after a first heart attack or a diagnosis of cancer might not be expected to have many years of retirement.

Yeah Ol-Rancher, that's another big reason I bailed when I did. Wanted to go while I still had some zip and
while I had pretty good health. Working until I couldn't
go any more had no appeal.

John Galt

[trumpeting_angel]

Good point, Ol Rancher. But the research showed clearly that men were at higher risk for heart attack shortly after retiring. But think about mandatory retirement and a life lived working. ER's have a big advantage: not only getting to retire early and do whatever the heck one wants, but thinking about retirement, planning, deciding how one wants to live one's life.

I think people in this situation are at much lower risk. It's a consciously lived life, consciously made decisions, and more relaxing than being a Type A who is suddenly shoved off of the treadmill. Easy to see where those heart attacks came from. (If their wives weren't driven quickly bats and ended up poisoning them!)

Anne, ER wannabe

HI Anne! I am a certified Type A and that won't change.
However, I shoved myself off the treadmill. My workaholism is under control now, but I must confess
that if my wife was not still working I would be concerned about ground glass in the sugar.

John Galt

[ESRBob]

I was reading Ralph Warner's "Get a Life" the other day, written for traditional retirees, but it had a lot to say to us in ER: basically if you wait until you are retired to start getting a life, you end up a washed up hulk and in many cases, figure that its better to die than figure out how to change. (only half-facetious -- the brain is an amazing director of health -- if you are depressed and tragic, bad things start going on in the body). He says anybody, ER or traditional retirement-bound, should be working doubletime to 'get a life' in their middle years -- the successful happy retirees all seem to have done that. So those of us in ER are simply doing that in spades -- we have a lot more time and conscious focus on getting a life now, which should help us have a long and happy rest-of-life. And it should help our health, too (on average).

Can I just say my health and happiness has increase enormously looking at posts here as opposed to looking at the darn financial markets -- that stuff gets me clutching my chest after 15 minutes or so every time...

[trumpeting_angel]

John,

Your Type-A-ness shines through in all your posts about calculating and real estate. Sounds like you'd better make some plans for when your wife retires, though!

Seriously, you should be good at it by then, and not be driving anyone crazy. Those who get off the treadmill voluntarily and get to choose how to spend their time, have such an advantage regarding stress and how to manage it. Which seems to be what this thread is about, at least in part.

Anne

[unclemick]

Yup. The mind can be a strange place. Back in 93 - once my brain let go of 'being unemployed' because at age 49 'you are supposed to be still working' then everything got better stress and health wise. Nothing like a good brain 'phart' as us old R&D types used to say.

[Billy]

Definitely healthier now...and stronger marriage. Of coarse now the stress of work is replaced with the stress of air travel, but that's one I was willing to trade.

Billy
web-site http://www.geocities.com/ba264

[cute fuzzy bunny]

About the only other thing I've experienced is the brains ability to adjust to current stress levels accordingly. When I was working, small things wouldnt bother me as much. Now what was a small thing then is a relatively large thing now. I'm learning to readjust this so small things stay small things.

The other thing is I have far more time to read news and goings on, and a better grasp on what goes on in the world. There is so much crap going on, superficially spackled over for the average joe, that having the time to "break the spackle" can lead to some annoyance. I guess the old adage of "ignorance is bliss" has some merit. Perhaps the solution is to limit myself to academic readings or fiction and not engage things that cannot be changed.

Making mountains out of molehills and tilting at windmills definitely wont improve ones health.