What is the best age to retire: we talk to doctors, economists and psychologists | The truth

But, be careful, not everyone wants to say goodbye to work at the age required by law, some because they arrive with their tongue hanging out and their health… damaged; others because they still see themselves as having a lot to contribute. So the debate is on: is 65 the right age to say goodbye to working life as we have known it?

In developed countries the question is increasingly relevant because the average life expectancy of citizens is growing. In Spain, for example, it now stands at 82 years and three months. That is, if you retire at the statutory age, you still have 17 years left to 'enjoy life'. However, the issue must be viewed from several points of view. Here we are going to focus on three.

“The retirement age was set at 65 years in 1919. And it remains the same more than a century later,” recalls Emilio González, professor of Economics at ICADE Comillas. Then, life expectancy was around 45 years, although not because adults died very young, or not only, but because infant mortality was exponentially higher than now. Despite this, the teacher considers that the time has come to review this condition given the significant advances in this field, but not because it seems like a young age, but because the system needs an overhaul.

“To answer what is the appropriate age for retirement, two things must be taken into account: physical and intellectual health and how I finance my retirement,” explains González. And the answer to these questions is not the same for everyone. Therefore, he believes that this criterion should be personalized as much as possible. “If you have enough contributions and want to retire before age 65, right now the system penalizes you,” he says. And he believes that it should not be like that: “There should be that freedom to do it.”

On the other hand, he also does not see it appropriate that someone healthy enough to continue working beyond the age of 70 cannot do so, as is the case now. Only a small number of positions can be held for life. Regarding this, he gives the example of Germany, where a job recovery program for retirees has been developed.

This approach allows this group to return to the company under certain conditions, which includes compensation in line with the reduced and flexible hours they have. «And it has been a success for several reasons, among them, because it allows young people to be trained from experience. It has also increased the productivity of this workforce and, in addition, has allowed older people to remain active, with the good repercussions that this has for health,” concludes the teacher.

When you still have at least 20 years left to retire, that goal seems like heaven, you believe that when retirement comes, a new life opens up before you, with a lot of opportunities and, above all, with time to do all that that has been postponed. However, when we sign in for the last time, sometimes what we find around the corner is a void that we did not expect.

A retirement “has to be healthy,” advises María Dolores Merino, professor of Differential Psychology, Psychological Well-being and Occupational Health at the Complutense University of Madrid. And that implies movement, action. The expert considers that when we say goodbye to our job, we must have a plan B, that is, do things and maintain social contact, because both factors have a decisive influence on the physical and mental health of any person.

“Retiring to stay at home watching TV without doing anything else is harmful,” he says. There are studies, in fact, that show that it increases the risk of premature death. We are social beings, they are in our essence and in our DNA. Thus, establishing a retirement age is “risky” because it depends on physical health, but also on what we are going to do afterwards. “You have to have a certain attitude, a desire to do things or learn new things.”

And that doesn't happen to everyone. As the expert explains well, there are situations in which certain people have dedicated their lives to work, their entire social circle has to do with it and when their working life ends they do not know where to start and, furthermore, they have been left alone. Assessing this is also interesting to decide when to withdraw.

The ideal time to retire financially “does not have to coincide” with that of well-being. This is biology. For this reason, experts in geriatrics and aging also opt for personalizing the dates according to individual life expectancy, among other values. But if we really want to know if there is a medical limit for continuing to work, things are complicated. “Except premature illnesses, cognitive decline begins to be noticeable around age 70,” says Lisa Renzi Hammond, from the Institute of Gerontology at the University of Georgia.

But be careful, because from the age of 45 there are already parts of our brain that lose volume (prefrontal cortex, which influences executive functioning and attention and memory at work). However, others continue to improve for many years, such as accumulated knowledge to apply in new situations and appropriate behavior in personal interactions). So there is a compensation of some traits with others.

This being the case, it would also be advisable to assess how much physical demand our work causes us and whether it is a strong stressor in our life. If the answer is a lot to both questions, retirement is an option. And you don't have to be 65 years old. It may be earlier.

This is the case of professions such as that of the legionnaire, where from a certain age, in which strength and vigor begin to decline, those affected move to the second and third line. It is an indisputable fact that at 50 you do not run like when you were 20. And this is stated in the Law of Troops and Sailors, which literally says the following: “Once you reach 45 years of age, and in the event that you have not acquired the status of soldier, permanently, the active service relationship in the Armed Forces ceases, with the professional soldier of troops and sailors who so decides and who has completed at least 18 years of service, accessing the condition of reservist of special availability, and with it the right to receive a monthly economic allowance»

The problem with retiring early because one no longer feels qualified or has the necessary strength to face one's job is what happens next. Or what is the same, how to finance your retirement years in a society where the saving capacity is limited – the household rate in the third quarter of 2023 stood at 3.3% – and mortgages are signed for up to 30 years.

“The idea of ​​retiring young is a dream for the majority of the population that seems unattainable, but that is not the case,” defends financial advisor Elizabeth Wakefield. However, to achieve this it is necessary to have a financial education that not everyone has. What's more, only a small number of people practice it.

Wakfield, an expert in personal finance, investments and mortgages, has devised a philosophy so that those who are interested in taking sides in this matter and not leaving it in external hands can do so. She calls it the FIRE method (for its acronym in English) and it is based on “achieving a level of financial independence that allows you to cover your living expenses with passive income generated by your investments.” She or put it roughly: have income that allows you to live off of them.

This is achieved mainly by doing the math and saving, two things that Spanish society is not particularly good at. «You have to create a detailed budget and reduce all unnecessary expenses. Ideally we should save 70% of our income, or at least more than 50%. That means “giving up temporary luxuries and unnecessary expenses.” Are you on a terrace with a coffee reading this? Well, you should take that off.

– How do I calculate that I have reached financial independence?

– Multiply your annual expenses by 25.

Once we cover the figure it gives us, we also have to continue doing the math: “You have to know the 4% rule, which refers to the amount of money that can be withdrawn from your investments each year without depleting the accumulated capital.” The way to retire before 50 is austerity.