What If You Can’t Work as Long as You’d Planned?
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Here’s a question for today: Are you preparing for the possibility that you’ll have to retire earlier than you planned?
We’ve talked a lot over the years about retirement savings, career planning, and work-life balance — but I’m curious how many of you are thinking about the possibility that your working years might end sooner than you’d like.
Between layoffs and the possibility that AI will dramatically change (or eliminate) some jobs, it feels increasingly uncertain whether the decision of when to retire will be entirely ours to make. (Not to mention the usual reasons, including family members whose caregiving needs don’t exactly respect your career plans — rude!)
And of course, there’s the particularly scary prospect of losing your job in your 50s. We’ve heard so many stories about experienced professionals struggling to find new jobs, sometimes despite decades of experience and impressive credentials… about how AI agents are filtering out older applicants, and I’ve seen a lot of stories recently about how women are having a particularly hard time getting hired in their mid-50s and beyond. (Actually, that last linked article’s title is “Are you over 45 and female? Sorry, you’re not getting a job.” Yay!)
Are you doing anything differently because of that possibility? Saving more aggressively, trying to pay off your mortgage, developing a side hustle, or thinking about a second career? Holding onto a dud job even though you’d really like to quit? Are you making a special effort to stay current with technology or keep your professional network strong?
Or are you reasonably confident that you’ll be able to work as long as you want to?
For my own $.02… it is not a great time to be a content creator! I’m grateful that Corporette is still doing OK, but we’ve never been hit this hard by Google changes, and almost every blogger I know is struggling thanks to AI answers that don’t send traffic back to publishers. It’s led to a lot of self-reflection about what the next 10–15 years might look like.
In the past, my husband and I have always prioritized saving in retirement accounts, but considering that it may be years before we can access that money, we’ve started prioritizing other forms of savings that will be accessible before age 59½.
At the same time, we recognize how fortunate we are that no one in our family currently needs extensive caregiving that only we can provide. We’re trying to prioritize travel and experiences while we’re healthy and have the freedom to do so.
Over to you guys! Readers, how much are you planning for the possibility of an involuntary early retirement — and has that changed your financial or career decisions?
Stock photo via Pexels / Yan Krukau.
I’ve been on the FIRE path for years and will stop working completely by 50. But my retirement number, while a solid 7 figures, would horrify some of you because there’s no way you could live on it. I think a lot of this is personal. What does your lifestyle cost? I am not worried about AI taking my niche lawyer job. I am concerned about AI tanking my investments at some point, but I’ll have 2 years in cash and will hopefully ride it out.
I’ve been thinking about this a LOT lately. My financial planner says if I need to retire I can, but I have a few issues weighting on me:
– my mortgage isn’t paid off yet (I’m working on this – I just turned 57 and am targeting to pay it off by 60, or at least have the cash set aside separate from existing savings, which I’m holding in case I lose my job)
– my dad is showing signs of dementia, and his mother lived to 101, so I may need to try to work to help support him if his savings isn’t sufficient
– I think it would be unhealthy for my marriage to suddenly not be working. My husband essentially retired super early, so I’m the breadwinner and I haven’t developed “what’s next”
– I’m not sure the ACA insurance plans are going to survive to get coverage pre-Medicare, and I don’t know that Medicare / Social Security are going to survive, so if I can I’ll continue to work until we have more information and/or my savings exceed my comfort level
– I’m focusing on gathering cash to help buffer these various issues
Thanks, it helps to not feel alone in this…
This is something I think about A LOT as someone who is late 50s and still working full time. My main concerns are paying for health insurance til I’m 65 and have a young adult child who is intellectually disabled. Our money has to last beyond my lifetime and into theirs. I’m hoping more commenters respond and share their perspectives. Even if I weren’t in this situation, 50 feels too young to retire fully.
I am within shouting distance of retiring at the end of this year, but I have lately been thinking with gratitude how fortunate I am that my career held until I feel ready to retire, and that no other life circumstances derailed me.
This is me! I got laid off earlier this year and am about to turn 50. I have a JD, but my career has been in non-lawyer roles in BigLaw. I’ve been applying for related roles and have had several screening calls, but no offer yet. It’s hard out there! I recently earned a coaching certificate and am considering starting my own consulting/coaching business, but that’s hard too.
My husband is slightly older, and I’m thankful he isn’t thinking about retiring yet. But with two kids in college, a third starting in a few years, a mortgage, and a mother-in-law we help support financially, I’m worried. We have a healthy-ish retirement plan, but it assumes I’ll be bringing in an income for at least another 10 years. I’m choosing to stay optimistic!
This is on my mind a lot lately. I turned 50 this year, and suddenly I’m looking down the hill to retirement. I’m saving aggressively now, but I didn’t start making 6 figures until the last 8 years, and as a single mom of two with a financially un-reliable ex, I’ve had to cover the bulk of supporting my kids. I’ll have two in college for the next 3 years, and then I’ll shift those savings over to retirement and paying off my mortgage. But I will need to work at least another 15 years with agrees of savings to really be confident I can retire. And the idea that I can’t actually control when it ends is terrifying. I’ve considered that my next career move may well involve a pay cut just to remain employed.