Retirement is usually described as the moment purpose disappears. A quasi-experimental study of 8,113 older Americans found the opposite: leaving work raised their sense of purpose...
The best causal estimate available finds that retiring raises sense of purpose, with the largest gains among less well-off people leaving unsatisfying jobs. The decline measured across later life tracks health and lost roles rather than the act of retiring, and a European analysis suggests the familiar honeymoon pattern shows up in life satisfaction but not in measures of agency.
