Clemson Study Finds Most People Happy After Retirement

Most people look forward to retirement, and for good reason, according to a pair of researchers in Clemson University’s College of Business.

Research by Devon and Aspen Gorry, assistant professors of economics in the John E. Walker Department of Economics, found strong evidence that retirees experience immediate and long-lasting happiness when their working years come to an end. Retirement also has a positive impact on health, according to the husband and wife research team, but the effects aren’t immediate and may not be experienced for four or more years after retirement.

“The research looked at the short and long term and found that even years later, people report being happier in retirement than they were before,” Devon Gorry said. “Yes, individuals may vary, but overall we found strong evidence that retirees, on average, find immediate happiness that is lasting.”

Research data was tapped from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), sponsored by the National Institute on Aging and the Social Security Administration. HRS is a large data set compiled by surveys every other year from Americans over the age of 50 on a variety of topics related to their lives. Data used in the retirement research, conducted by the Gorrys and Sita Slavov, a professor of public policy at George Mason University, sampled more than 10,000 people who had retired and reported working for the last 20 years.

Devon Gorry said the study’s findings, soon to be published in Health Economics and currently a working paper with the National Bureau of Economic Research, should be of interest to anyone making a retirement decision, and to Washington policymakers considering raising the age for Social Security eligibility.

“Knowing that overall, most people report being happier and healthier in retirement is one piece of information someone can use in making the decision,” she said. “And for lawmakers looking at increasing the age for Social Security eligibility, they need to look at the unanticipated effects it might have.”