When many people reach the age of 50 and have worked all their adult lives, they begin to think about that light at the end of the tunnel called retirement. And many of those individuals start to dream of retiring early.

A survey conducted in 2014 by the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America, a financial services provider, found that 37 percent of Americans plan to retire before age 65.

When I turned 50, retirement was not in my immediate plans. I had worked almost 30 years in education to that point in my life, but only 20 years in a pension system. I figured I could weather any employment storm and wait until I was 65 which, at the time, was the age you could collect full Social Security benefits.

But other factors came into play which changed my mind about retirement. On my 52nd birthday my wife, Maria, gave me a gift certificate for massage therapy. One of the ladies she swam with in the mornings was a licensed massage therapist and sold her the certificate. Well, I put it aside and forgot about it. About a year later, I was cleaning my desk and discovered the certificate. It had recently expired. But I contacted the lady and she agreed to honor it. So I went to my first session. I was anxious at first as is the case of many who had not yet had the experience. But I came away feeling refreshed and started to think about that particular profession. It fit in with my lifestyle of being physically fit and would provide me with the opportunity to educate others, which is what I had been doing as a teacher and school administrator. So with Marias blessing, I located a school that offered the requirements for a license.

I attended the Onondaga School of Therapeutic Massage in September 2000 which was in Rochester. I attended nights and weekends (22 hours a week) for a year. Upon completion, I took the New York State Board Examination and passed it.

A year later, at age of 55, I convinced Maria it would be financially feasible for me to retire and begin to collect my pension while I established a full-time practice.

I became part of that TIAA statistic of early retirees.

When it comes to retirement, not everyone will have a choice in the matter. Job loss, health problems or family responsibilities can disrupt the best-laid retirement plans, forcing people out of the workforce sooner than expected. According to 2016 reports from the Social Security Administration, the average age at which people retire today is 63.

If youre lucky enough to have control over when you retire, its worth thinking through the pros and cons before you make any rash decisions. Even if you can afford to retire early, you might not want to.

Favoring early retirement

Here are some arguments in favor of retiring early.

It could be good for your health. A British study in 2002 of British citizens with high-level jobs saw an improvement in mental health, possibly because they were no longer subject to work-related stress.

nYoull enjoy more time for travel. The earlier you retire, the more years youll have before health issues begin to limit your mobility.

nIts an opportunity to start a new career like I did. If you dream of switching fields or starting your own business, sooner may be better than later. Youll be a more desirable job candidate to many employers the more years you have ahead of you. And if you want to be your own boss, youll have more time to get your business off the ground. A business you launch at age 60, for example, could easily keep you intellectually challenged.

Waiting to retire

Here are a few arguments against retiring early:

nIt could prove to be bad for your health. A 2008 analysis from the National Bureau of Economic Research reported that retirement leads to declines in mental health and mobility, and increases in other poor health outcomes, such as heart disease and stroke. While thats one argument for delaying retirement, those problems arent inevitable. The report also concluded that retirees who remained physically active and socially connected were less likely to suffer any ill effects.

nYour Social Security benefits will be smaller. You can calculate the difference by contacting the Social Security website. It has a calculator you can use. The sooner you start to take Social Security, the lower your benefits will be. If you were born in 1960 or later, for example, and you start taking benefits at age 62, the earliest age at which youre eligible, your monthly benefits will be 30 percent less than if you wait until age 67, which Social Security refers to as your full retirement age. For each year you postpone from age 67 to 70, youll receive an additional 8 percent in your monthly benefit. After age 70, theres no further bonus for delaying.

nYour retirement savings will have to last for more years. If you retire at age 62 and live to 90, your IRAs and other savings will have to cover you for 28 years. If you retire at 70 and live for the same length of time, however, your savings will only have to last for 20 years. Working longer also means youll have more years to contribute to a 401(k) or other retirement plan, and the money in your plan will have more time to compound.

nYoull need to find health insurance. Unless your ex-employer provides it, youll have to pay for health insurance on your own until youre eligible for Medicare at age 65.

Fortunately for me, I negotiated with my last place of employment. As part of my retirement, they agreed to cover 70 percent of my health care benefits including my family.

Making the call

If you dont want to retire early because you are afraid that youll regret the decision but also dont want to wait so long that you miss out on the pleasures of retirement, there are ways to have the best of both worlds.

For example: you could do some of the traveling youve been saving for your retirement years while youre still working. Or, you might be able to negotiate a reduced work schedule with your employer and enjoy the life of a retiree on your days off. This is referred to as phased retirement.

The bottom line is that deciding when to retire is a difficult and complex decision. It isnt just a question of money. Other factors to take into consideration are your health, family obligations and individual temperament. Perhaps most important is thinking about what you plan to do with your retirement years, however many of them lie ahead.

Lou Lombardo is a state licensed massage therapist, nationally certified and certified in orthopedic massage. For questions, comments or more information you can contact him at (585) 734-2200 or at lombardolm@aol.com.

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