The Mortality Effects of Retirement: Evidence from Social Security Eligibility at Age 62

It uses data from the National Center for Health Statistics’ Multiple Cause of Death, the Health and Retirement Study, and the Social Security Master Beneficiary Records and Numident Files. Critical components of the analysis include the regression discontinuity framework and the use of detailed objective health outcomes. Key limitations of our estimates are of the effects on mortality net of any anticipatory changes in health investments, the difficulty in knowing whether the results extend to retirement at ages other than 62, and a lack of available data on other objective health outcomes.

The paper found that:
•Many individuals decide to claim Social Security as soon as they can after turning age 62.
•There is a coincident increase in mortality soon after turning 62.
•The mortality increase is robust for males but not for females.
•The increase in mortality seems to be more connected to stopping work than to claiming Social Security itself.