I mean seriously y’all - what is going on? This is Tragic!

Ok, so I’m obsessed with data. But I’m also a fan of correlation. In the last few years, I’ve noticed something that makes me so mad - people work their butts off for 40+ years, and they are looking forward to retirement to finally do some things they have never had time for - a long trip, a woodworking shop, playing with grandkids, picking up a new hobby - and then a year or two into retirement - they get sick, their health fails and….. they die. Talk about a tragedy! What’s the point of all of this?!

I remember a funny saying my dad had - “what good is money if you don’t spend it”. That was his mantra for life - live intentionally, live in the moment. Why? Because he always reminded me that tomorrow is not guaranteed. That idea really hit home when he died in a car accident in his mid-50s. I can tell you my dad wasn’t waiting for retirement to do things he loved - he had done them all through his life.

But back to the idea that retirement is dangerous. Why would I say something so crazy?!

We have a problem today that we haven’t had in the past - lifespan is outpacing health span. We may be living longer but it’s often a sickly longevity - like a painful prolonged existence - that almost sounds like hell!

Until quite recently, comparatively few people lived to ‘old age’. Life expectancy at birth was 18 years in the early Bronze Age, 22 in the Roman empire, and 36 in Massachusetts in 1776. It’s 77.5 years in the U.S. today, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. An American child born today has a better-than-even chance of living to age 95. The first person to live to age 150 may have already been born.

Seems like great news - people live longer!! But the problem is - we are getting sicker by the year in the most advanced civilization on record!

Protect Your Health, Prolong Your Life

Retirement is often painted as a time for relaxation, travel, and personal pursuits. But beneath this idyllic vision lies a harsh reality: retirement, without consistent physical activity, can significantly increase your risk of illness and early death. Research consistently shows that staying active is one of the most powerful ways to protect your physical, mental, and emotional health during these years.

Here’s why it matters—and how to make it happen.

For many, retirement leads to a dramatic drop in physical activity and lack of purpose, and this comes at a steep price:

• Higher Mortality Risk: A Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health study found that people who retire early face a 13% higher risk of mortality than those who remain engaged in work and activity longer.[1]

• Increased Chronic Illness: Sedentary retirees are at greater risk for heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers. A meta-analysis in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience highlighted that low physical activity accelerates biological aging and cognitive decline.[2]

• Loss of Purpose and Depression: Retirement can cause a sense of aimlessness for some, which, combined with inactivity, often leads to depression and mental health challenges.[3]

• Muscle and Bone Deterioration: After 50, adults lose up to 1-2% of muscle mass per year if they don’t engage in regular strength-building exercise.[4] This decline contributes to mobility issues, falls, and long-term disability.

So what is the solution?

Is it time to rethink retirement?

With millions of people living vigorously into their 80s and beyond, the very idea of “retirement”—the expectation that people will leave the workforce at an arbitrary age—makes no sense.

The Atlantic recently had a piece on the value of those with some white hairs and wisdom -

This isn’t exactly an original idea (active retirement); it was proposed in the first century B.C. by  Marcus Tullius Cicero, the Roman philosopher and statesman at age 62, wrote De Officiis, in which he described how older people should serve others with their high crystallized intelligence: “The old … should, it seems, have their physical labors reduced; their mental activities should be actually increased. They should endeavor, too, by means of their counsel and practical wisdom to be of as much service as possible to their friends and to the young, and above all to the state.”

What if retirement was just a step into a different phase of life rather than how we treat it now which is almost making it like the retired are as valuable, aren’t as needed, aren’t as important. As if sitting idle for the least 20 years of life is something we all look forward to?!

Takeaways: Purpose is Paramount!

From all that I’ve seen and heard and read, the key to a happy healthy golden age of life is - purpose! The Japanese call it your Ikigai - your personal purpose and calling in life. The reason you wake up each morning. The earlier we find this in life the better.

I don’t think I have to explain all the reasons to stay physically active - those are clear at any stage in life but all the more so in retirement when the temptation is to put your feet up and relax. But we know now that sitting is the new smoking.

1 - Do whatever it takes to find your passion and purpose!

2 - Stay active - perhaps even more than ever before - with new hobbies, new sports, new activities that get you outside, with friends, and ideally that even break a sweat!

3 - Count your blessings and live every day with joy and intentionality!

4 - Work is fulfilling, it gives us community, purpose and fulfillment - it may just be that in retirement years we find work that we love as well as where we feel needed.

---

I’d love to hear your thoughts. 👋

I write this newsletter each week because I feel my best when my body, mind, and soul are all healthy. I want the same for you. If you feel like you’ve seen something valuable here, please do me a favor and forward this newsletter to a friend.

I have a passion for making a difference in the world and I think the world is in desperate need of healthy, happy men who love the women in their lives with a self-sacrificing type of love.

I have found the following four books to be the 4 books every man should read and every woman should want the men in their life to read.

• Good Energy - What makes for a Healthy Body and Mind?

• The Masculine in Relationship - How to Win the Trust, Lust, and Devotion of a Strong Woman

• The Man’s Guide to Women - The Science of Happy Relationships

• The Desire of Ages - Leadership in a World of Cowards

Here are a few other links to things that have changed my life:

Whoop - Track your HRV and REM Sleep

Function Health - Optimize Your Health

Here are a few topics I think you’ll love if you haven’t checked them out before:

How to Breathe for Better Health

How to Supercharge Your Sleep

The Power of the Sauna

-Jared

P.S. - This newsletter does not provide medical advice. The content, such as graphics, images, text, and all other materials, is provided for reference and educational purposes only. The content is not meant to be complete or exhaustive or to be applicable to any specific individual's medical condition.

References

1. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 2017.

2. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 2020.

3. The Lancet Public Health, 2018.

4. Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle, 2019.