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Comment by sliverstorm | Hacker News Reader

Totally unscientific, but I think it's conspicuous that is right around retirement. Maybe people who are living on sheer determination lose their purpose. Maybe people who need to be busy are suddenly bored out of their minds. Maybe work kept them moving, and without it they tanked quickly.

I have no real proof, but I'll be prodding my father to find a side job or volunteer work or a really deep hobby as he approaches retirement.

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If what you say about deaths rising after retirement is true, it could be the loss of a routine. I suspect (and I also have no evidence for this) that a routine, honed over many years, is important to health. Also, loneliness is highly correlated with increased chance of death. The end of work life could significantly increase loneliness.

or you know, it could have nothing to do with these handwavy claims and instead, he may have had a terminal illness, in part triggered by years of extreme stress and super hard work.

My father is a doctor. He is in his 70s and works 60 hour weeks at the Native American reservation clinic that he started working at after he retired and built his dream home out in the middle of nowhere. He claims that a 60 hour work week is retirement for a doctor. He certainly doesn't need the money, but says he will continue showing up at the clinic till he dies.

How do you disentangle the correlation, though?

Is it not also possible that a driven person retires because, perhaps subconsciously, they recognize symptoms that both impair their continued performance and portend their imminent demise?

Simple, 65 is the standard retirement age and has been for a long time now, while longevity patterns have shifted.

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