提前退休好不好 Retirement is good for you both mentally and physically
The email invitations kept coming. “Please remember our leaving drinks tonight.” “Hope to see as many as can make it see me off.” “Please celebrate the end of an era — and, of course, the start of a new one.”
電子郵件邀請函不斷地發送過來。“請記得參加我們今晚的告別酒會。”“希望看到儘可能多的人能夠來爲我送行。”“請慶祝一個時代的結束——當然，也慶祝一個新時代的開始。”
It has been retirement party time at the Financial Times as a number of colleagues, examining their pension and financial options after a change of ownership, have decided this is a good Moment to go.
近來英國《金融時報》的退休派對接連不斷。好幾名同事在英國《金融時報》易主後查看了自己的養老金和金融期權，作出了離開的決定。
Most of the leavers have been in their late 50s and early 60s, baby boomers whose healthy pensions and property wealth make early retirement possible.
大多數離開的人都是55歲往後，60歲出頭。作爲“嬰兒潮”一代，他們的養老金和地產財富使他們能夠提前退休。
Average UK life expectancy is 81, slightly above the wealthy country average. Most of those we said goodbye to will be retired a long time — around a quarter of their lives. Except for the most lavishly qualified, this is longer than all their years in education, from the first day of primary school to university graduation.
英國人的平均壽命是81歲，略微高於富裕國家的平均水平。我們送別的大多數同事會享受漫長的退休生活——大約是他們生命的四分之一。除了學歷最高的那些人以外，這比他們受教育的全部時間——從上小學的第一天到大學畢業——還要長。
Those who live longer than average — and the better-off are more likely to do so — could spend nearly as much time retired as they did working.
那些壽命超過平均值的人可能會度過和他們的工作年限一樣長的退休時光，而富裕的人更有可能長壽。
Is this a clever idea? Is it good for your health and happiness to spend so many years not working?
這是不是一個明智的想法？這麼多年不工作對你的健康和幸福有沒有好處？
Some years ago, the view was that it was not. Work kept you healthy and in touch. It gave you status and purpose. Stopping work led to a quick decline. Early retirement meant early death.
一些年前，普遍觀點是這樣不好。工作讓你身體健康，讓你與社會保持聯繫。工作爲你提供地位和目的。停止工作會導致你快速衰老。提前退休等於提前死亡。
A 2005 study published in the BMJ medical journal looked at workers who had retired from Shell Oil, the US subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell. It found that those who retired at 55 had far higher death rates than those who carried on working until they were 65.
2005年發表於《英國醫學期刊》(BMJ)上的論文研究了荷蘭皇家殼牌(Royal Dutch Shell)美國子公司殼牌石油(Shell Oil)的退休員工，發現那些55歲退休的人比那些工作到65歲才退休的人的死亡率高得多。
Was this because those 55-year olds had stopped working because their health was poor? To try to eliminate this possibility, the study examined those who had lived beyond 65, figuring that many of those who had retired early because of ill health would have died before reaching 65.
那些55歲的人之所以選擇在55歲退休，是否正是因爲他們身體不好？爲了排除這一可能性，該研究調查的是那些壽命超過65歲的人，料想許多因爲健康狀況不好提前退休的人無法活到65歲。
Even then, those who retired at 55 died earlier than those who carried on working. The death rate was even higher for early retirees with lower-paid jobs. But those who retired from better-paid positions at 55 also had shorter lives than those who carried on working. Those who left at 60 lived as long as those who retired at 65. It was retirement at 55 that was so damaging.
即便如此，那些在55歲的退休的人也比那些55後後繼續工作的人死得更早。從薪酬較低的職位上提前退休的員工的死亡率還要更高。而那些在55歲時從薪酬較高的職位上退休的人，壽命也比那些55歲後繼續工作的人短。60歲退休的人跟65歲退休的人壽命一樣長。損害尤其大的是在55歲退休。
The Shell Oil study had its limitations. Only 11 per cent of the workers studied were women. But it chimed with much conventional wisdom at the time: retirement was not good for you.
針對殼牌石油退休員工進行的這項研究有其侷限性。只有11%的研究對象是女性。但這項研究的結論跟當時的普遍觀點一致：退休對健康不利。
Except I have noticed something about retirement parties. It is not only existing colleagues who come. Those who have retired drop by too — and I am always struck by how well they look. Their skin often has a glow it did not have when they were working and most of them are thinner.
只是，我在退休派對上注意到了一些事情。不僅現在的同事來了。那些已經退休的人也來了——他們氣色都很好，每每讓我感到驚訝。他們的皮膚大多煥發着一種光澤，是他們還在職的時候沒有的，大多數人都更苗條了。
This, according to research presented to the annual congress of the European Economic Association in Mannheim in August, is because, contrary to those earlier studies, retirement actually is good for you.
這是因爲，根據8月在曼海姆舉行的歐洲經濟協會(EEA)年會上展示的研究，與更早的研究得出的結果相反，退休實際上對健康是有好處的。
The study looked at German survey data from 1994 to 2012 and found that retired people were more likely to say their physical and mental health had improved since retirement. They managed an extra 40 minutes of sleep every weekday and were more likely to exercise. They also visited the doctor less often.
這項研究查看了德國從1994年到2012年的調查數據，發現退休的人更有可能說他們的身體和心理健康在退休後有所改善。他們在每個工作日能多睡40分鐘，更有可能鍛鍊身體。他們看醫生也比以前少。
Has this result been replicated in studies that do not rely on self-reporting? Finnish researchers looked at 11,000 public sector workers’ purchases of antidepressants in the years before and after their retirement. The results, published in the journal Epidemiology in 2011, showed that people without significant health problems used fewer antidepressants after they stopped working.
有沒有不依賴自我陳說的研究得出了一樣的結果？芬蘭研究人員對比了1.1萬名公共部門員工在退休前後購買抗抑鬱藥品的記錄。該研究的結果發表在2011年的《流行病學》(Epidemiology)期刊上，表明沒有明顯健康問題的人們在退休後服用的抗抑鬱藥變少了。
The researchers said release from the demands of work, more time for exercise and a feeling of greater personal autonomy seemed to improve mental health. Certainly, most of the retired people I speak to seem not only happy and healthy but busy. Many were still working, although not for one employer and not all the time. Some researchers argue partial retirement is preferable to a complete halt. Many had travelled. Some were involved with grandchildren. Some were engaged in new activities, such as singing in choirs. They are a lucky, as well as a happy and healthy, generation.
研究者表示，從工作要求中解放出來，擁有更多的時間鍛鍊，感覺自己有更大自主權，這似乎能夠改善心理健康。當然，我聊過的大多數退休人士似乎不僅快樂、健康，還很忙碌。很多人還在工作，儘管不是爲一個僱主，也不是全職工作。一些研究者認爲，半退休比完全停止工作更可取。很多人去旅行。有些人照顧孫子女。有些人蔘與了新活動，比如在合唱團唱歌。他們是幸運、同時也快樂健康的一代人。
Their children and grandchildren, with lower pension and housing assets, will have to work far longer. Future researchers will have to study the effect that has on their health.
這代人的子女和孫子女的養老金更低，房產更少，因此不得不工作長得多的時間。未來的研究者將不得不研究這對他們的健康有何影響。
