POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
Retirement and death not linked study says
Researchers at the Arc Centre of Excellence in Population Aging Research (CEPAR) say that increasing the retirement age will have no impact on mortality rates because health is the largest determinant in a person's death.
However it found that job loss as a result of company closures or down-sizing did affect mortality rates.
The study by the Australian School of Business sought to answer the debate around whether retiring lengthens or shortens lifespans — an issue that has seen more than 1000 academic studies report significantly different outcomes.
In some studies, retiring was said to reduce stress and lead to greater life enjoyment, whereas some found it led to loss of social networks and reduced mental and physical activity.
But the CEPAR study found that retirement has no impact on how long people live.
John Piggott, professor of economics at the Australian School of Business and director of CEPAR, said the timing of death depended on a person's health.
"Health influences both the timing of retirement and when we die, which has sometimes caused confusion in earlier studies," he said.
"As Australia's population continues to live longer, the amount of time spent in the post-work period is extending and this has significant cost implications for both individuals and governments."
If governments needed to raise the age of retirement to cope with rising fiscal burdens, it would not have adverse affects on the population, according to Piggott.
The research looked at population data from the Norwegian Government between 1990 and 2010 due to different retirement ages (62 or 67) between some employers.
AUTHOR
Staff Writer
Money Management staff writers are writers who contribute to the website from time to time. If you would like to discuss the content contained within this article please contact us.
Recommended for you
Australia’s largest superannuation fund has confirmed all members who had funds stolen during the recent cyber fraud crime have been reimbursed.
As institutional investors grapple with shifting sentiment towards US equities and fresh uncertainty surrounding tariffs, Australia’s Aware Super is sticking to a disciplined, diversified playbook.
Market volatility continued to weigh on fund returns last month, with persistent uncertainty making it difficult to pinpoint how returns will fare in April.
The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) has called for the incoming government to prioritise “certainty and stability” when it comes to super policy.
TOP PERFORMING FUNDS
ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
DomaCom DFS Mortgage
90.28 3 y p.a(%)
2
GAM LSA Private Shares AU I
37.08 3 y p.a(%)
3
DomaCom Lot 21 Chellaston Road Munno Para West SA 5115 Australia
31.44 3 y p.a(%)
4
Fidante Credit Suisse Global Private Equity
31.12 3 y p.a(%)
5
Global X GlobalX FANG+ ETF
28.28 3 y p.a(%)
