While you might dismiss this as common sense, Newsday recently reported this “startling” fact, citing a recently concluded study by researchers at the University of Western Ontario and the Yale School of Public Health.

But seriously, the results suggest – as the researchers noted – that you might want to include psychological planning for retirement along with more traditional planning – such as financial planning, travel and activities.

The long-term study followed 394 retired folks from small-town Ohio for 23 years and concluded that those who said they enjoyed retirement lived almost five years longer than those who confessed they were unhappy in retirement (after adjusting for employment status, health and socioeconomic status.)

The important variable seemed to be a positive attitude toward retirement (or ATR, as the researchers dub it.) Those with a positive ATR lived a median 4.9 years longer while those with a negative ATR were 1.71 times more likely to pass away.

So working on building a positive attitude toward retirement (and aging in general) is a worthwhile investment. This might involve envisioning how you want to spend your retirement years, where you’d enjoy living, what activities you’d love to participate in, and what social activities you’d enjoy – and then taking steps to build these into your retirement lifestyle. The act itself can be a positive step to help you have good feelings about retirement; by planning to enjoy a meaningful and active retirement, you probably will.