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Of course, we can’t all be Meryl Streep. The award-winning stage and film icon, who turns 76 this year, exemplifies the conviction that retiring from work has little appeal.
With more than 50 years of unforgettable global performances, Streep is now set to play the character of Aslan, the talking lion, in Greta Gerwig’s Chronicles of Narnia animated film, which will be released in 2026.
“Acting is my way of investigating human nature and having fun at the same time,” Streep has said.
Working after 60, 70 or even 80 is not just about notoriety or income; it is also good for your brain. Research shows that working keeps the brain healthy and helps people live longer. For those adverse to retirement, work is not the four-letter word many associate with staying on the job.
“I prefer not to retire in order to stay connected, feel useful and express myself creatively. I want to feel engaged with society,” says Susan Moon, 82, editor, Zen teacher and author of several books, including the 2022, Alive Until You're Dead: Notes on the Home Stretch.
A prime example of ageless energy, intelligence and vigor, Moon, who also wrote the 2010 book, This Is Getting Old: Zen Thoughts on Aging with Humor and Dignity, says, “Getting old has real advantages and there are big plusses to being mentally acute.”
Living in Berkeley, CA., as a writer and Zen teacher with an active social life, Moon says, “I don’t judge people who are not working; they have earned the right to rest. But not doing anything at all feels unbearable to me. I feel like I am still obliged to make a contribution to the world.”
A 2024 Journal of Education, Technology and Computer Sciences study reports, “The peak of intellectual activity in older individuals occurs around the age of 70, accompanied by an increase in myelin, resulting in a 300 percent improvement in intellectual abilities. With a healthy lifestyle, intellectual capacities do not decline with age but rather grow, reaching their peak between 80 and 90 years of age.”
Author, psychologist and “super longevity” expert Susan Pinker says in her 2017 TED Talk, which has received 3.4 million views, that the Italian island of Sardinia has 10 times as many centenarians as North America does. That is because of social integration, “one of the strongest predictors of how long you will live,” she says.
Seventy-five percent of longevity is lifestyle, Pinker says, including how many people you interact with each day — at home, work, in community, at events, even in random encounters. As the world learned during the social isolation of the pandemic, staying home and alone can severely restrict interaction.
The World Health Organization reports that by 2030, there will be 1.4 billion adults over 60 worldwide, and 2.1 billion of them by 2050.
Many of them are retiring — but many are not. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in 2022, 26 million people ages 55-64 were working, and nearly 11.3 million people over 65 were also working. That’s a lot of people who are not retired. The Alliance for Lifetime Income’s Retirement Income Institute report shows that 11,200 Americans turn 65 every day. Only 5.6 million are collecting Social Security every year.
The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society’s 2023 survey of nearly 180,000 people globally shows that older women tend to be happier than men. “Higher well-being is correlated with social relationships, as measured by confidence in friends and family,” the study shows. And in high-income countries, “Employment has a positive correlation with well-being.”
Dr. Linda Teplin is vice chair for research in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, the Owen L. Coon Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University. She is 74, “but I feel 28,” she says.
“I’m never bored. I conduct large-scale studies used to advance public health policy,” she says. “It is a lot of fun. I’m teaching, do public speaking, write journal articles, so I don’t see why I would retire,” says Teplin, who was the 2022 fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the largest general scientific society in the country.
A sense of purpose is “associated with a range of healthier cognitive outcomes across adulthood,” a 2022 National Institutes of Health study found. “Individuals who report more purpose perform better on cognitive tasks, show less age-related cognitive decline over time, are at lower risk of developing motoric cognitive risk syndrome, and, ultimately, have lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.”
An avid global traveler, who recently returned from Nepal, Teplin says she goes to the theater often — with her eight different theater subscriptions — and does not work weekends. “I am not a workaholic. I am pretty fit, go to the gym two to three times a week and can deadlift 110 pounds.”
At 66, I also love what I do and feel it matters. I write books, columns and articles, mentor brilliant people around the world, deliver keynotes and serve on three volunteer boards.
Moon has a similar attitude. “Something in me wants to be creative, and it’s very satisfying when something comes out right. I feel really good when I’m published; it makes me feel like I’m being my full self. Staying active and doing things I care about, I get to have my cake and eat it too.”
Teplin agrees. “I organize my life so I can do my work and be satisfied that my work has improved millions of lives. If I didn’t work, I would travel more, perfect my soufflé.” She pauses. “I have already perfected my popovers.”
At what age did you retire? Or when do you hope to retire? Let us know in the comments below.
Paul Spella
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