BY INVITATION
'I'm retired not expired': Retirement tips for the over-60 set
- Published: 1 Oct 2012 at 00.00
- Newspaper section: Business
Sept 30 is the official retirement date for civil servants in Thailand and for many, the adjustment period into the golden years can be quite daunting. Here are a few tips that the newly retired may find useful.
Researchers repeatedly find that retired people tend to do less well on cognitive tests than people who are still working. Moreover, research also finds that those who work longer think better, implying that the earlier people retire, the more quickly their memories decline.
No one seems to take this matter more seriously than the Americans. The National Institute on Aging began a large study in the US nearly 20 years ago called the Health and Retirement Study. It surveys more than 22,000 Americans over the age of 50 every two years and administers memory tests. The test looks at how well people can recall a list of 10 words immediately and 10 minutes after they had heard them. People in the United States did best, scoring an average of 11 out of a perfect 20. European countries also have their own surveys, using similar questions. The Danish and British were just behind their American peers with scores just above 10, followed by France (8), Italy (7), and Spain (6).
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