The study tracked 1,712 smokers working and retired ages 50 years and older over a six-year period and found 42.5 percent of those recently retired were able to quit smoking -- compared to 29.3 of those still employed and 30.2 percent of those already retired.

"Retirement is one of the great transitions in life, which is why a greater proportion of people may find it easier to make significant changes elsewhere in their lives at this time," study leader Dr. Iain Lang of The Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry in Plymouth, England, said in a statement.

"Retirement is a point of life at which people have a whole range of opportunities to do things they haven't previously felt able to do."

The Peninsula Medical School researchers suggest retirement as a catalyst for health improvement for employees.

"Preparing them for a healthy retirement is good human resource policy -- and quitting smoking will be an important part of that," Lang said. "However, anyone who isn't planning to retire just yet shouldn't put off quitting. The sooner you quit the sooner you will experience the benefits."