2930: Heart Health and Your Retirement Well Being by Kathleen Coxwell on Cost of Healthcare Expenses

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[00:00:40] This is Optimal Finance Daily, Heart Health and Your Retirement Well Being by Kathleen Coxwell of NewRetirement.com. And I'm your host and personal finance enthusiast, Diana Merriam.

[00:00:53] This is where I read to you every day covering all things money. But on Sundays, I share an article with you from a different podcast in our network. Today's episode is coming from Optimal Health Daily. You can find that show wherever you're listening to this. So with that, here's Dr. Neal with the post and commentary as we optimize your life.

[00:01:19] Heart Health and Your Retirement Well Being by Kathleen Coxwell of NewRetirement.com.

[00:01:26] With retirement, most people worry about having enough money and funding healthcare. But did you know that your heart health should really be at the top of your list of retirement concerns?

[00:01:36] Humans often worry about the wrong things. And there is significant evidence that heart health doesn't get anywhere near enough attention from retirees, or anyone for that matter.

[00:01:46] Heart disease is the number one killer, but not top of our mind for most.

[00:01:52] Putting the pandemic aside, research has shown that the media puts far too much attention on causes of death like terrorism and homicide,

[00:02:00] and not nearly enough on the actual number one killer in the US, heart disease.

[00:02:04] An article written by Our World and Data clearly shows the significant disconnect between what we are worried about and what will actually kill us.

[00:02:13] In 2016, over 30% of all deaths were caused by heart disease.

[00:02:19] However, heart disease made up only 2% of all Google searches and around 2.5% of media coverage.

[00:02:26] It really does appear that we are worrying about the wrong things, but that's not the worst of it.

[00:02:31] Your risks of having a heart attack increase after retirement.

[00:02:36] A study by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found that retirees within a year of transitioning from work

[00:02:42] were 40% more likely to have had a heart attack or stroke than those who were still working.

[00:02:48] The increase was more pronounced during the first year after retirement and leveled off after that.

[00:02:54] The researchers gave several reasons why they saw a dramatic jump in heart attacks after people left work.

[00:02:59] For example, retirement affects different people in different ways.

[00:03:04] For people who had a stressful job or whose job was emotionally unfulfilling or draining,

[00:03:09] retirement may come as a relief.

[00:03:11] But for people that identified themselves closely with their jobs, like university professors or doctors,

[00:03:17] leaving work can be extremely stressful.

[00:03:20] Also, retirement can shake up your social life.

[00:03:24] People who spend decades in the same job, whether they identify with the job or not,

[00:03:28] will socialize with the people at their jobs more than anyone else.

[00:03:32] Leaving that environment is like losing your entire social circle at once.

[00:03:37] And strong friendships and personal connections can be a necessary aspect of being healthy.

[00:03:43] And transitioning from work can diminish your sense of purpose.

[00:03:48] Work engages our minds as well as our bodies.

[00:03:51] For professionals, leaving work leaves a hole that used to be filled by mental challenges.

[00:03:55] Work also structures your life with goals and milestones.

[00:03:59] Once that's gone, it's possible to feel like your boat has lost its rudder.

[00:04:04] Yep, surprise, retirement can be stressful.

[00:04:08] These stressful life changes are why retirement is listed as a top indicator of health breakdown

[00:04:14] in the Holmes-Rehi Stress Inventory Test.

[00:04:16] Heart disease in its many forms can be exacerbated by the shock of transitioning from working to retirement.

[00:04:23] Part of your retirement plan should be saving for health-related expenses,

[00:04:27] but an equal part should be preventing health problems now.

[00:04:30] A good retirement will be one in which you're active as well as free from money stress.

[00:04:36] Just like you, hopefully, put aside some money from every paycheck for retirement,

[00:04:40] you should take steps today to make sure you avoid poor health in the future.

[00:04:44] 1. Make your diet heart-healthy

[00:04:47] This is easier said than done, but there is absolutely nothing you can do,

[00:04:52] with the exception of our next tip,

[00:04:54] that will prepare you for a healthy retirement better than establishing good eating habits now.

[00:04:59] A lot of common wisdom and official advice has changed over the last 20 years,

[00:05:04] which means old advice about how much alcohol you should drink and how much sugar is okay

[00:05:09] may not be what you learned as a young adult.

[00:05:11] 2. Get regular exercise

[00:05:14] This isn't breaking news either.

[00:05:17] Dr. Harvey Simon, an associate professor at medicine at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital,

[00:05:23] did a meta-analysis of 22 studies that showed moderate exercise,

[00:05:28] like walking at your normal pace for an hour a day,

[00:05:31] reduces the risk of heart disease considerably.

[00:05:34] In one study, just 15 minutes of moderate exercise

[00:05:37] led to an average increase of life expectancy of three years.

[00:05:41] 3. Find a purpose for your retirement.

[00:05:44] The Health and Retirement Study found that,

[00:05:47] In English, that says the more purpose you find in daily activities,

[00:06:01] like volunteering, starting and finishing new projects,

[00:06:05] and cultivating new friendships,

[00:06:07] the lower your chance of heart attack.

[00:06:09] And 4. Have a detailed written retirement plan.

[00:06:13] Only 30% of Americans have a long-term financial plan

[00:06:17] that includes savings and investment goals.

[00:06:20] However, research finds that people who have a formal written retirement plan

[00:06:24] are more likely to feel confident and less stressed.

[00:06:28] In fact, they are more than twice as likely to feel very prepared for retirement

[00:06:32] when compared to those without a written plan.

[00:06:35] Less stress equals better health.

[00:06:37] A well-written retirement plan equals better health and wealth.

[00:06:42] An ounce of prevention.

[00:06:44] Heart disease is both the leading cause of death in the U.S.

[00:06:47] and the most preventable.

[00:06:49] If you've taken the time to think about caring for yourself

[00:06:52] and your loved ones after you stop working,

[00:06:54] you should also think about how to protect your health,

[00:06:57] particularly your heart health, for them as well.

[00:07:00] It's just as easy as putting money in your 401k or IRA,

[00:07:04] and the dividends you get are priceless.

[00:07:11] You just listened to the post titled,

[00:07:13] Heart Health and Your Retirement Well-Being,

[00:07:15] by Kathleen Coxwell of newretirement.com.

[00:07:19] Dr. Neil here for my commentary.

[00:07:21] I want to talk more about this idea of how the recommendations about sugar consumption

[00:07:25] may have changed over time.

[00:07:27] Today's author, Kathleen, mentioned this when discussing the first tip,

[00:07:31] making our diets heart healthy.

[00:07:32] It's hard to believe that sugar has any effect on the health of our hearts.

[00:07:37] We always think about fat being the problem.

[00:07:40] Well, it turns out both sugar and fat are a problem.

[00:07:44] Why sugar, though?

[00:07:46] Well, when we consume processed forms of sugar,

[00:07:48] like in our fizzy drinks, for example,

[00:07:50] this form of sugar gets processed by the body differently than, say, the sugar found in fruit.

[00:07:56] So, what happens is, after we consume this processed sugar,

[00:08:00] it gets absorbed into the bloodstream very quickly.

[00:08:03] Sometimes, the body doesn't know what to do with all of this sugar that it received all at once.

[00:08:08] One thing that can happen is that these sugar molecules start to form bonds.

[00:08:13] They basically connect to each other and then form a chain.

[00:08:16] If the body connects three of these sugar molecules together,

[00:08:20] along with a couple of other compounds, it's now become a fat.

[00:08:24] So, processed sugar can become converted to fat pretty quickly.

[00:08:29] This fat is potentially dangerous fat that can end up clogging our arteries.

[00:08:34] But let's say this sugar doesn't get converted to fat and instead stays in the bloodstream.

[00:08:39] So, instead of getting absorbed or becoming a fat,

[00:08:43] the sugar just sits around in our blood.

[00:08:45] Well, this isn't good either, because this can lead to damage to our blood vessels too.

[00:08:50] So, does this mean we can never drink a soda or ever have ice cream or any dessert ever again?

[00:08:55] No.

[00:08:56] It just means that if we can cut back, even by a little,

[00:08:59] it may help our hearts stay healthy.

[00:09:02] Alright, that'll do it for today.

[00:09:04] I hope you have a great Tuesday.

[00:09:05] Thank you so much for listening, and I'll be back here tomorrow as usual.

[00:09:09] So, I'll see you there where your optimal life awaits.