Early Retirement in this Economy

by Toni James
(Charlotte, NC, USA)

I've told this story to many people and they all look at me like "too bad, your mistake."

I made the "mistake" of retiring early in September 2007 and then 3 months after I retired there was the economy collapse, stock market losses and the mortgage crisis.

I knew I had to return to work immediately. I was employed by a major financial institution for 42 years and I was naive enough to think they would rehire me.

Over the past 3 years and 7 months of searching for a job I have finally given up. I would encourage anyone who is considering retiring early in this economy to reconsider, unless you are a millionaire.

We tried to sell our home once in 2008 and once in 2011 we are asking $175,000 less now and there are still no offers.

It is very scary out there for seniors right now. If I had to do it all over again, I would make a different decision.

Wendy: Downright scary! Right now -- I'm really into "thinking out of the box" and finding an income far differently from what you did all those years. I don't know what you did financially - but I wonder if you could write a website and earn an income via your lifetime of knowledge. If interested, I can explain more.

One idea -- Buy the "Too Young To Retire" book (top of right column), I am taking a class (taught by the author of the book) right now and it's putting retired life into perspective for me. I really think it will help you develop ideas for your own retirement.. lots of resources in it.

Hope this helps! Wendy