Poor health
‘Poor health’ was (one of) the reason(s) to retire early in 12 of the 30 participants. Most persons who mainly retired early because of ‘poor health’ experienced a gradual decline in health. Poor health was the main reason to retire in some persons, whereas it was one of a variety of reasons in others. Poor health resulted in early retirement through four different pathways.
First, poor health resulted in early retirement in one employee who felt unable to work at all due to health problems, and felt there was no other possibility but to retire early. This 63-year old woman who had suffered from psychological disorders (ADHD and burnout) for many years had quitted paid employment after being granted a work disability pension four years ago. She explained:
“In 2007, that was the last year, I became sick in June or July. I worked till autumn, although I said ‘It’s not possible, I am too tired’. The company doctor said ‘No you have to’. I said ‘I can’t do that’, however, I started again. In March I completely collapsed. And in May the general practitioner concluded that I was depressed.”
However, during re-examination of her work disability pension, her insurance physician approved her for a 16 hour working week. Both this woman and her employer thought she was not able to work anymore, and together they concluded early retirement would be the best solution. She experienced early retirement as the only possible escape from work.
Second, persons who experienced or expected that physical or mental health problems caused a decline in their (future) ability to work decided to retire early (N=5). Health problems made their work physically or mentally (too) demanding, which resulted in feelings of incapability to accomplish working tasks properly. A 63-year old male job coach in a social workplace with a history of heart disease and cancer explained that he retired early because of health problems. He stated that work had been very important to him. Besides, it offered day structure and social contacts. This man felt he was not able to accomplish working tasks properly and explained:
“I was there to pump people up, to make them feel good, and now I got the feeling that I needed to be pumped up… and I thought that’s not good, because then you can’t help people in the way that you want to anymore.”
This man also felt that he was a burden to his colleagues by being absent on a regularly basis.
“The most important reason for me to stop was that I was sick…the work that you miss burdens your colleagues, because they have to take over.”
In some persons, negative events at work or certain working conditions, such as aggression, high work pressure, and conflicts, underlied the influence of poor health on early retirement. For example, a 60-year old policeman explained that a traumatic experience when he just started working had bothered him during the rest of his career. He explained that he had suffered from increasing fears in stressful situations and a declining mental health. This was the main reason for him to retire as soon as possible.
“I worked for the police for a year and a half, and then in a fight at a pub I got beat up so bad I had to go to the hospital. Well, I probably didn’t deal with that very well, because six weeks later I was working again. At that time they didn’t have a company support group, which luckily they do have now… I really experienced that as a burden during my whole career.”
He reported that he did not always perform well due to his traumatic experience:
“Just that in a violent situation, that could escalate I hid behind my colleague, or because of the violence I would intervene too quickly.”
Third, poor health influenced early retirement in persons with health problems who were afraid of a further decline in health (N=4). For example, a 60-year old civil servant who had suffered from many health problems during his life (e.g. Crohn’s disease, Transient Ischaemic Attack) was afraid to become disabled if he would continue working:
“Look, deciding to stop at 60… that was actually because I didn’t want to end up handicapped early.” […] “When I got that TIA and the oppression complaints, I said ‘60 is my limit’. I don’t want to think of being 62 or 63 and it going down hill from then on, and I get disabled. Then I'd have no one to blame but myself.”
Although this man experienced health problems, these problems did not influence his ability to work:
“Yes, but it didn’t limit me in my work. I had problems with walking to my work, or when I needed to walk up a lot of stairs. However, in my work it didn’t limit me at all.”
Similarly, a 60-year old woman, who worked as a nurse, explained that fear of a further decline in health played a role in her early retirement. She said that she valued her (future) health more than her work:
“Because my back is more important than work. That’s how I think about that. I don’t want to end up in a wheelchair in two years. So yeah, these things together made me retire.”
In the second and third pathway discussed above, the decision to retire early was often triggered by the financial opportunity to do so. Participants either had personal savings, or could claim a special financial arrangement from their employers. The 60-year old civil servant, mentioned above, for example, explained it would be stupid to risk his health by continuing to work.
“And that while I can get a nice arrangement from the age of 60 onwards.”
No pressure was felt from the employer or colleagues to retire early. Most persons did not discuss opportunities to (further) adjust the demands of the job to their abilities with their employer. One person reported that she proposed job redesign to extend working life, but according to her employer there were no opportunities within the organisation to do so. Although early retirement was experienced to be voluntary, most of these persons originally had not intended to retire (this) early.
Fourth, some employees felt capable of doing their job despite their health problems. Nevertheless, the employer suggested to retire early, sometimes even in a compelling manner (N=2). There was a threat of dismissal, or the employer caused a situation in which the employee felt it was not possible to continue working in an agreeable manner. This often occurred when organisations were restructuring. The push to early retirement by the employer was not directly caused by the health problems, but was related to the work situation that emerged due to these health problems. For example, a 61-year old man who worked for the largest part of his life for one company in various ICT-related jobs explained he retired early due to a complex interplay of “unwanted circumstances”. This man explained that work had always been very important to him. The largest part of his working life he worked 50 to 60 hours a week. Three years before he retired, he got a stroke. He recovered, but it took a year before he was able to start working again. His department had been sold to another company and his job did not exist anymore. He explained that he organized his own re-integration by arranging another job, and received little help from his employer:
“I have been out of circulation for a year. When I came back to [company name] there was no work anymore for me. I searched for a job within the organisation and found something.” […] “I organised my own reintegration. Nobody from the personnel department was concerned about that. It’s a pity, but it was just like that.”
He was overqualified for this job. The employer was not satisfied with this new situation. They made clear the company wanted to let him go, and proposed a financial arrangement for early retirement. This man was very disappointed in his company. Nevertheless, after tough negotiations, he accepted an adjusted financial arrangement. Although it was a choice to accept the proposed arrangement, it did not feel like a choice to him. The company at least did not create a situation in which this man could have decided to continue working in a pleasant way.
Good health
‘Good health’ was (one of) the reason(s) to retire early in 5 of the 30 participants. This occurred also in persons who suffered from chronic diseases. These persons reported they wanted to enjoy life while their health still allowed them to do so. In most persons, the awareness of being in ‘good health’ arose, when they were confronted with the finiteness of life. This was caused for example by illness or death of a family member or friend, or death of a colleague immediately after retirement. A 62-year old administrative assistant expressed his fear to die or getting a handicap after years of hard working:
“Too often I’ve noticed this in entrepreneurs: they worked themselves half to death until they are at least 65, sometimes older… and when they retire they just die or they got sick, or they get a handicap and can’t do anything anymore. Well, I didn’t want that, I want to do things while I still can.”
This man also explained he wanted to spend more time with his wife:
“And because my wife didn’t work anymore and was also at home. And I said, listen, I’m healthy and there are things that I still want to do together.”
Persons were looking forward to having more time and freedom, and wanted to spend more time on hobbies, family and friends, and holidays. A 62-year old math teacher, who was very motivated to work, felt he had worked long enough and wanted to enjoy the time and the freedom of retirement now. About health he said the following:
“But you can also turn it around and say you’d be better off stopping while you’re still healthy so that you can still enjoy it.”
In these employees, continuing to work did not fit into their perspective of the future. What they wanted to do in life, while still in good health, did not match with what they expected to be able to do while working. These kind of processes occurred both in persons who enjoyed their work and found it important, and in persons who did not enjoy their work and merely did it for a living. Persons did not discuss opportunities to adjust certain job characteristics with their employer, such as working hours and flexibility, to reach a better fit between their job and private lives.
Although ‘good health’ was reported as a reason to retire early, it was often not a primary reason. Besides, it was always accompanied by the financial opportunity to retire early because of savings or a favorable early retirement scheme. One men, in which good health was an important reason to retire early, explained:
“And the fact that it was possible. Also financially.” […] “If it would not have been possible financially, I would have had to continue working.”