Physical activity consistently emerges as the most important factor influencing both absolute physical capacity and the rate of age-related decline. Our longitudinal data are consistent with previous studies showing that regular physical activity can attenuate the decline in physical performance [17, 32–37]. Individuals who were physically active in their leisure time at age 16 maintained higher aerobic capacity, muscular endurance and muscle power throughout the observation period. This emphasizes the importance of early intervention to establish positive exercise habits in adolescence and early adulthood, as these patterns appear to have long-term benefits for physical function. Encouragingly, our results show that transitioning from physical inactivity to activity at any age significantly improves performance in all fitness modalities studied. These findings contradict the assumption that early inactivity irreversibly impairs physical performance. Rather, taking up regular physical activity leads to measurable improvements in performance even in later decades of life. This finding is of particular importance for clinical practice, as physical activity is still the only evidence-based intervention to reduce the risk of sarcopenia [2, 38]. Recent large population studies also show that an active lifestyle is beneficial at any age [13, 39, 40]. Rise and Fall of Physical Capacity in a General Population: A 47-Year Longitudinal Study – https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jcsm.70134
Text above in bold are my highlights.
Despite the documented limitations this is a very strong study.
I’ve been doing my home based virtual physical therapy for nearly a year. I’m trying to get to the gym at least twice a week. I don’t walk as much as I used to but…
“We have to understand that anything in the past takes you out of the present moment. Anything in the future takes you out of the present moment.”
Zen Master Daigneault
To readers who are visiting this blog for the first time my posts on Random Thoughts About Retirement and Unretirement are written by an Old Guy who is old enough to be retired but isn’t retired and is still working. I had another birthday and the older I get the more I think about retirement. Back in 2023 I was thinking about what retirement for me would look like (see More Random Thoughts on Retirement – June 2023). But decisions such as this take serious thought and consideration. At first I thought I wanted to retire to a quiet life of blogging and writing my Future Best Seller titled The Man Who Had No Hobbies. After much thought I decided to add a short term goal to my retirement plan. My new short term goal is to avoid unretirement.
My RSS feed feeds me headlines on unretirement.
According to a new report from T. Rowe Price around 7% of retirees are looking for work in retirement, while 20% say they’re already working part time or full time…The two main reasons for coming back into the workforce are a tale of opposites. While 45% chose to work for social and emotional benefits… a slightly larger percentage — 48% — felt they needed to work for financial reasons.
Once an eagerly awaited milestone, retirement is currently undergoing a transformative reevaluation. Traditionally seen as a well-deserved period of rest and relaxation, the dream of early retirement is now being challenged by a new perspective – that of embracing lifelong work. This paradigm shift reflects the changing nature of work, increased life expectancy, and the desire for personal fulfillment.
The reality is many won’t have a choice. The following chart illustrates retirement savings as of 2019.
Americans are having trouble financially preparing themselves for life after work. A recent Federal Reserve report found that nearly a quarter of U.S. adults have absolutely no retirement savings or pension. Even though the level of preparation increases as people get older, concern about inadequate savings is still readily apparent across all age groups, even older people in their 60s.
OOPS. I’m glad I didn’t click the Publish button. The savings situation appears to be worse than I thought. The study below was an analysis of data from 2010!
The study broadly examines how American households are faring in relation to retirement savings targets recommended by some financial services firms. It uses the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances to analyze retirement plan participation, savings, and overall assets of all U.S. households age 25 to 64, not just those with retirement account assets. This is important because some 45 percent, or 38 million working-age households, do not have any retirement account assets.
The average working household has virtually no retirement savings. When all households are included— not just households with retirement accounts—the median retirement account balance is $3,000 for all working-age households and $12,000 for near-retirement households. Two-thirds of working households age 55-64 with at least one earner have retirement savings less than one times their annual income, which is far below what they will need to maintain their standard of living in retirement.
The findings confirm that the American Dream of retiring comfortably after a lifetime of work will be impossible for many. Based on 401(k)–type account and IRA balances alone, some 92 percent of working households do not meet conservative retirement savings targets for their age and income. Even when counting their entire net worth, 65 percent still fall short.
So how will you afford retirement without any savings? Don’t look to Social Security. Here’s some numbers on average Social Security payments. The full chart at the source website goes up to age 100.
As of December 31, 2021, the average Social Security payment for all retirees was $1,658.03 a month, according to the Social Security Administration’s Annual Statistical Supplement for 2022. For men, the overall average was $1,838.08. For women, the average was $1,483.75 — a difference of $354.33 per month.
Whether people unretire or simply stay in the workforce longer, some of the largest financial benefits of additional years of work are delaying retirement account withdrawals and delaying claiming Social Security benefits. These actions essentially shorten the amount of time your assets will need to support you in retirement. Even a few additional years of income have a positive effect on the probability that you won’t outlive your funds.
The Boss (SWMBO) and I talk about this often. Once the W2 income stops and we have to rely upon a small corporate pension, savings, and a shaky Social Security promise we’ll have to get conservative on our spending. No more Stratocasters. Less purchases for wardrobe enhancements. Gas station beer instead of craft brews.
Seven mutations appeared in a strain of H3N2 seasonal flu and led to a “fast increase” in reports of the mutated virus, says Prof Derek Smith, director of the centre for pathogen evolution at the University of Cambridge. New flu virus mutation could see ‘worst season in a decade’https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2dr8gzdz1wo
I started writing my journal in 2005. One of the best things about keeping a journal is the ability to verify if memories from the past are accurate or the made up, mashups your brain creates as memories. Here’s my entry on Monday July 24 2006:
A 4:00 PM meeting with the Division head with an HR rep present is never a good thing. I immediately thought to myself:
“This is gonna suck.”
And it did, big time. I got whacked today.
And that’s how my WFH life began. When my work from home situation arises in conversation most are surprised to learn I’ve been WFH this long. I’m surprised how long I’ve been working from home!
I am convinced due to having a low stress working environment, better diet (NO office snacks/free food/lunches out), no commute, along with a host of other variables I just might be increasing my lifespan. I do know I get plenty of sleep on a regular routine basis.
Short sleep duration (< 7 h per night) was associated with a 14% increase in mortality risk compared to the reference of 7–8 h, with a pooled hazard ratio of 1.14 (95% CI 1.10 to 1.18). Conversely, long sleep duration (≥ 9 h per night) was associated with a 34% higher risk of mortality, with a hazard ratio of 1.34 (95% CI 1.26 to 1.42). Sex-specific analyses indicated that both short and long sleep durations significantly elevated mortality risk in men and women, although the effect was more pronounced for long sleep duration in women. Both short and long sleep durations are associated with increased all-cause mortality, though the degree of risk varies by sex. Imbalanced sleep increases mortality risk by 14–34%: a meta-analysis – Ungvari, Z., Fekete, M., Varga, P. et al. Imbalanced sleep increases mortality risk by 14–34%: a meta-analysis. GeroScience47, 4545–4566 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-025-01592-y
I’ve decided not to retire. Wait, let me clarify my statement.
I’ve not changed my mind about my decision not to retire five years ago.
I love double negative sentences.
Fewer than twenty percent of older people worldwide enjoy a retirement pension that is enough for them to live off. Although countries like China and India are now also developing their pension systems, the prospect of most older people receiving pensions totaling 60 to 70% of their final salaries remains a long way off.
The majority of our friends are retired. I’m always asked when I’m going to retire. My quick answer was always “Don’t know”. I’ve since modified my response to “Two to four years”. This has been my answer for the past two years. Might still be my answer next year too.
Interestingly, older workers (65+) earn around $3,000 more than those in the 25 to 34 bracket, reflecting a group of late-career professionals who continue to command strong wages. Charted: Median U.S. Salaries by Age Grouphttps://www.visualcapitalist.com/charted-median-u-s-salaries-by-age-group/
Late-career professional. There seem to be a lot more of us now.
Three in four workers (75 percent) plan to work for pay in retirement, compared with just 29 percent of retirees who report they have actually worked for pay in retirement. In fact, the RCS has consistently found that workers are far more likely to plan to work for pay in retirement than retirees are to have actually done so. 2025 Retirement Confidence Survey – https://www.ebri.org/retirement/retirement-confidence-survey
But if you’re working for pay in retirement how can this be considered retirement?
It is a common misconception that prices come down when inflation cools, when in reality a period of high inflation leaves a legacy of high prices. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. consumer prices have increased 22.7 percent since January 2021, with some categories seeing even steeper price increases than that. Food prices have are up 25 percent, rents have increased almost 27 percent and transportation prices are up 28 percent. And yet, nominal wages have only grown 21.8 percent since January 2021, leaving many people worse off than they were almost five years ago. Cost of Living Is the Biggest Challenge Americans Facehttps://www.statista.com/chart/35054/biggest-challenges-faced-by-americans/
The second survey is small with just over 200 respondents. The methodology statement is vague so it’s hard to tell if the findings are truly representative of a larger population.
Maybe the survey got an overwhelming number of pessimists.
Brownstone, by virtue of renting cheaply in a city with sky-high prices and a dearth of new housing, has received thousands of applications for its $700-a-month pods over the past few years, Stallworth said. He thinks there’s at least “10,000 people probably interested in being in San Francisco at any time” and pointed to the tens of thousands of applications that Y Combinator, a local startup incubator, has received in recent years.(Startup founders make up a sizable share of the Mint Plaza building’s residents, Stallworth said.) Startup behind $700-a-month bed ‘pods’ wants to put 10,000 more in San Francisco – https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/startup-bed-pods-san-francisco-21029460.php
I keep telling The Boss all I’m trying to do is to make our retirement income last as long as we last.
lifeunderwriter.net 
You must be logged in to post a comment.