This study aimed to examine whether retirement is associated with greater life satisfaction and if this association differs by sex and type of work. This is a cross-sectional analysis of 13,645 active and retired civil servants, attending to the second visit of the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health cohort (ELSA-Brasil, 2012-2014). Retirees due to disability were excluded. The explanatory variables were: (1) current occupational status (not retired, retired); (2) work engagement after retirement (not retired, retired and working, retired and not working); (3) time since retirement (not retired, > 0-3, > 3-8, > 8-15, > 15 years). Life satisfaction was obtained from the Satisfaction With Life Scale. Associations were estimated by multiple linear regression. After considering sociodemographic and health indicators, life satisfaction was higher for retired individuals (β = 0.50, 95%CI: 0.32; 0.68) than not retired. Retirees who were not working (β = 0.56, 95%CI: 0.33; 0.78) seemed to be more satisfied than those working (β = 0.46, 95%CI: 0.26; 0.66). Life satisfaction was greater among those who retired: > 0-3 years (β = 0.57, 95%CI: 0.33; 0.81), > 8-15 years (β = 0.66, 95%CI: 0.34; 0.98), and > 15 years (β = 0.51, 95%CI: 0.27; 0.74) as compared to active workers. These associations were not modified by gender or type of work. In this Brazilian cohort, retired civil servants from teaching and research institutions seemed to be more satisfied with their lives than active individuals. Results suggest that life satisfaction may vary with time after retirement and whether individuals keep working afterwards, although the variations overlap.