Encouraging people to retire early can mean a longer life.

A study by the Tinbergen Institute at VU University Amsterdam found that retiring early reduced a man's risk of dying within five years by 42.3 percent.

The study looked at a policy change that went into effect in the Netherlands in 2004, where certain age groups of civil servants were offered the opportunity to retire as early as age 55. The standard retirement age in the Netherlands is 65, but the actual average age of retirement has been considerably lower because of the widespread use of early retirement arrangements in virtually all sectors of the economy.