At a time when the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement is spreading across the U.S., 101-year-old Ann Angeletti who still works six days a week embodies the exact opposite ethos.
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Let’s call it WATER (Work And Thrive, Evade Retirement).
It’s a fitting acronym, given she’s cool, brimming with life and remains enthusiastic about running her store, Curiosity Jewelers in Cresskill, New Jersey.
Angeletti told New York’s ABC News affiliate that “If I retire, I would die.” [1] This is not a surprising attitude given her current lifestyle is clearly working for her despite her age.
In fact, working is pretty much all Angeletti’s known. As a child, she dropped out of school to put in hours at her family’s Brooklyn grocery store. She opened her jewelry store in 1964, when she paid just $85 in rent for the retail space, and it’s still going strong today as a multi-gen family affair shared with her daughter and granddaughter.
But Angeletti didn’t last this long by virtue of luck. She outlined her six secrets to longevity and success while standing as the living antithesis of FIRE.
While many dream of an early retirement, her refusal to retire at all raises important questions about what is beneficial in the long run. Studies have said for years that retiring early isn’t necessarily better for your health, or your wealth.
The effects of early retirement on health
Angeletti revealed her six secrets of success to ABC: get up, shower, eat, take care of yourself, exercise and “if you don’t like what you’re doing, then change.”
They’re largely the basic elements of self-care — though the routine works for her, so who are we to quibble? Still, Angeletti’s most important secret might lie not in what she does, but what she doesn’t do. Namely: retire.
That’s, of course, not to suggest that retirement is bad. But in terms of the FIRE movement and retiring early, numerous studies from around the world, dating all the way back to 1973, have shown that early retirement is associated with an increased risk of everything from cognitive decline to cardiovascular issues to overall worsening health to mortality rates.
That last study, focused on mortality rates, found in 2016 that “early retirement may be a risk factor for mortality and prolonged working life may provide survival benefits among U.S. adults.” [2] It includes the incredible stat that delaying retirement for one year is associated with an 11% lower risk of mortality.
Read more: How much cash do you plan to keep on hand after you retire? Here are 3 of the biggest reasons you’ll need a substantial stash of savings in retirement
“Our theory is that a later retirement may actually delay when your physical and cognitive functioning starts to decline,” due to the physical and mental stimulation work provides, Chenkai Wu, one of the lead researchers of that 2016 study, told the Harvard Business Review. [3] “If you stay active and socially engaged, it helps maintain your cognitive and physical abilities.”
However, other studies have shown that early retirement “has beneficial effects on cognition” [4], which isn’t necessarily at odds with Wu’s findings.
“The takeaways are really not about the work or retirement age per se — they’re about what those things mean,” Wu explained. “If you can find something that brings you the same benefits work does, that’s what’s important.”
Which means — as evidenced by Angeletti’s own life and work as well — that whether retiring early or not, remaining physically and mentally engaged is a key factor to increased longevity.
How early retirement impacts your pocketbook
Of course, even if you manage to reap health benefits of early retirement, the FIRE method could end up burning through your savings if you don’t plan properly.
Experts warn about the pitfalls of retiring early, from absorbing the cost of your own health care and insurance — when you’re too young to qualify for Medicare but don’t have employer coverage anymore — to the toll things like inflation, volatility in investments and the cost of housing can take on your nest egg when you have little or no additional income coming in.
That said, if you decide to forego Angeletti’s strategy and retire early — or at least ahead of your 101st birthday — there are ways you can plan to ensure that your health and wealth last.
The financial planners at wealth management firm REAP Financial say that, “No matter when you retire, the most critical number in your retirement plan will be your budget. You need a concrete budget and guardrails to help you avoid overspending, so your portfolio lasts as long as you do.” [5]
Speak to a financial advisor to come up with the right asset allocation for your investing horizon and a withdrawal rate that will ensure your portfolio lasts as long as you need it to.
Investment manager Vanguard provides a retirement checklist to consider as you prepare, which advises, among other things, coming up with a withdrawal strategy — both how much money you think you’ll need at your disposal each year, and where you’re taking it from. [6] They also suggest “lifestyle planning,” which means accounting for the cost of everything from hobbies, trips or continuing education you may want to embark on in retirement, to possibly downsizing to “free up some extra cash to put toward your retirement goals.”
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Article sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
ABC 7 New York (1); J Epidemiol Community Health (2); Harvard Business Review (3); Journal of Health Economics (4); REAP Financial (5); The Vanguard Group (6)
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