Retirement Planning

Story

Hit the road Jack.

Depression, Parkinson’s and hardiness are a surprisingly big part of retirement but a very small part of retirement planning. People don’t plan on getting sick. Yet most people don’t retire unless they are sick.

Historically, there was no such thing as retirement. People worked until they died. The trend is back. Many people who retire return to work. Some limit their hours, others work full time.

Retirement planning is easy: most people don’t do it. They don’t plan. And they don’t retire. In general, healthy people don’t retire or stay retired but disabled people do.

Here’s what is included in this lesson:

• Retirement
• Depression
• Elder suicide
• Parkinson’s
• Hardiness

Mind Map

Notes

Retirement

• Stop employment completely
• Semi-retirement = reduce hours
• Recent idea
  • Not historically common
  • Right of the worker?
• History
  • 1881, William the First, German Emperor
    • Bismarck’s urging
  • 1889, Bismarck implemented it
    • Bismarck was 74
    • Set the age at 70
  • 1916, German lowered to 65
  • 1934, US Railroad Retire System
    • passed by Congress
    • Age 65
  • 1935, Social Security
    • Age 65
• Why retire?
  • Pension
  • Disabled
  • Legal limits
  • Spouse
    • If wife retires, husband does
  • Wealth?
    • Inheritance only slightly more likely to retire
    • Don’t need to; lots of vacations
  • Health
    • Good health, work
    • Poor health, retire
  • People retire as early as the can
    • Even if working longer has higher benefits
  • Early Retirement
    • Lots of money
  • Can’t find a job
• How spend time
  • Volunteer
  • Travel
  • Grey nomads & Snow birds
  • Grandchildren
  • Hobby
  • Sports
• 6 lifestyle choices
  • Work full-time
  • Work part-time
  • Leisure activity
  • Variety of leisure activities
  • Return to part-time work
  • Return to full-time work
• Concerns
  • Rising cost, flat income
  • Health
  • Location
  • Where live
    • Retirement community
    • Retirement home
    • Care home
    • Convalescent home
    • Rest home
    • Intermediate care
      • Send back home
    • Skilled nursing facility
    • Nursing home
      • Doctor & nurses

Depression

• Major Depressive Disorder
  • Lasts for weeks at a time
  • Episodic
• Symptoms
  • Lack energy & pleasure
  • Helpless
  • Sad
  • Little pleasure from sex or food
  • Trouble concentrating
  • Trouble sleeping
  • Suicidal thoughts
  • Thoughts of suicide or death
  • Don’t enjoy usual activities
  • Feel worthless, sad, guilty
  • Pull away from friends
• Findings
  • React normally to sad images
  • React normally to fearful images
  • Rarely smile are happy images
  • Rarely laugh at jokes
  • Decreased response to likely reward
• Range
  • Long-term depression
    • More common to have episodes
  • Periods of normal mood
  • First episode longest
    • More intense first episode
    • Easier to start another
• Causes
  • 1. Genetics
    • Early-onset (before age 30)
    • More relatives with depression
    • Bulimia, irritable bowel syndrome
    • Alcohol or marijuana abuse
    • Anxiety & migraines
    • ADHD & OCD
    • Late onset (after 45 to 50)
    • Relatives have circulatory problems
  • 2. Infections
    • Viral infections in farm animals?
    • Borna disease; 1/3 have it
    • Infectious neurotropic virus
  • 3. Estrogen
    • More women than men
    • Postpartum depression
    • 20% of mothers
    • Recover quickly
  • 4. Brain Abnormalities
    • Hemisphere Dominance
    • Decreased activity in left hemisphere
    • Increased activity in right prefrontal cortex
• Treatments
  • Untreated
  • Recover within few months
  • Episodes
• Suicide
  • Elderly

Parkinson’s Disease

• Symptoms
  • First symptom is loss of smell
  • Slow movements
  • Resting tremor
  • Rigidity
  • Difficulty initiating movement
  • Cognitive deficits
  • Depression (no outbursts)
• But can follow visual cues
  • Follow parade
  • Climb stairs
  • “Step on the cracks” (sidewalk)
• Incidence
  • 1–2% of those over 65
  • 50% more men than women
• Progression
  • Gradual progressive death of neurons
  • Especially in substantia nigra
• Substantia nigra
  • When over 45
  • Neuron loss of 1% per year
  • Most have enough to spare
  • When reach 20-30% of normal, Parkinsonian symptoms begin
• Early onset
  • Probably genetic
• Late onset
  • More common
  • Not genetic
• Chances decrease if
  • Drink coffee
  • Smoke
  • Decaffeinated coffee & nicotine free cigarettes work just as well
    • Reduce damage to mitochondria?
• Progressive death of neurons
  • Gradual
  • Decrease in dopamine
  • Decreased neural activity
  • Atrophy
  • Cell death
• Treatment
  • L-Dopa Treatment
  • Precursor to dopamine
    • Crosses BBB
    • Hope it converts to dopamine
    • Not prevent continued loss
      • may contribute to neuron death
    • Harmful side effects
    • Effective in early stages?
    • Could do harm?
    • Doesn’t stop the disease
  • Other Therapies
    • Antioxidant drugs
    • Dopamine agonists
    • Glutamate antagonists

Hardiness

• Suzanne C. Kobasa
• Personality style
• Pattern of characteristics
• Healthy vs. ill under stress
• 3 related general dispositions
• Help resist stress
  • Commitment disposition
    • Involved in life
    • Curious about world
    • Interested in other people
  • Challenge disposition
    • Believe change in normal
    • Stability is rare
    • Look for personal growth opportunities
  • Control disposition
    • Believe you an influence world
    • Similar to Rotter’s internal locus of control
• Generalized mode of functioning?
• Sympathetic nervous system?
• Change in motivation?
• Cognitive reframing?
• Coping style?
• Self-efficacy?

 

Terms

• activities of daily living (ADLs)
• Alzheimer’s disease
• amyloid plaques
• assisted living
• assistive technology
• associative memory deficit
• autoimmune response
• average healthy life expectancy
• average life expectancy
• cataracts (p. 567)
• cerebrovascular dementia
• compression of morbidity
• dementia
• frailty
• functional age
• implicit memory
• instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs)
• macular degeneration
• maximum lifespan
• neurofibrillary tangles
• osteoarthritis
• primary aging
• prospective memory
• remote memory
• rheumatoid arthritis
• secondary aging
• selective optimization with compensation
• sleep apnea
• terminal decline
• wisdom

Quiz

• 1. Depressed people react normally to pictures that are:
  • a.           contented
  • b.           fearful
  • c.           happy
  • d.           all of the above
• 2. Which is a dimensions of hardiness:
  • a.           contentment
  • b.           challenge
  • c.           restraint
  • d.           rigidity
• 3. First symptom of Parkinson’s is:
  • a.           emotional outbursts
  • b.           action tremors
  • c.           loss of smell
  • d.           fluidity
• 4. Parkinson’s patients are able to:
  • a.           hold a glass steady
  • b.           dance fluidly
  • c.           climb stairs
  • d.           all of the above
• 5. People who summer in the north and winter in the south are called:
  • a.           retired roadsters
  • b.           elderly explorers
  • c.           commuters
  • d.           snowbirds

Answers

• 1. Depressed people react normally to pictures that are:
  • a.           contented
  • b.           fearful
  • c.           happy
  • d.           all of the above
• 2. Which is a dimensions of hardiness:
  • a.           contentment
  • b.           challenge
  • c.           restraint
  • d.           rigidity
• 3. First symptom of Parkinson’s is:
  • a.           emotional outbursts
  • b.           action tremors
  • c.           loss of smell
  • d.           fluidity
• 4. Parkinson’s patients are able to:
  • a.           hold a glass steady
  • b.           dance fluidly
  • c.           climb stairs
  • d.           all of the above
• 5. People who summer in the north and winter in the south are called:
  • a.           retired roadsters
  • b.           elderly explorers
  • c.           commuters
  • d.           snowbirds

Summary

 

Bonus

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash