Be Ready for Involuntary Retirement
You might be surprised to learn that the average age of retirement in the USA is 63 years of age. By Social Security and Medicare standards, that is early retirement. Many experts recommend that you should plan to retire later than the Full Retirement Age (FRA) for your age group because it increases your benefits. But what if people are retiring early because they don’t have a choice? We need to be prepared for involuntary retirement.
Just because we plan to work to a ripe old age, doesn’t mean we get to. Ageism is rampant in the workforce, partly because of the need to make room for younger, less expensive workers, and partly because of the perception that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. I’ve even been told that smaller companies avoid hiring older workers because it brings up their health insurance costs. 
Poor health is another factor in early retirement. According to the Center for Retirement Research (CRR) at Boston College, 37% of us retire earlier than we expected to and poor health is a big factor. A major illness could take you away from work for months on end, force you out of the workplace, or sap your will to maintain the crazy hours you used to work.
You could be forced to downsize earlier than expected. It might be prudent to have a strategy in place.
How a Leaky Toilet Changed My Life
I knew I had to make a change. My blood pressure was high when it had always been low. I got headaches on Monday mornings and I wasn’t sleeping well. My work felt repetitive and unimportant. I didn’t have time to read, let alone write.Then a water bill came for $700, the result of a leaky toilet valve that had been ignored while I traveled for work. I thought, “What if this happens when I am on a fixed income?” The week after that my tenants broke their washing machine again. The pipes in their kitchen ceiling sprang a leak. Every week a new disaster struck.
I was saving money every month, but with increasing expenses, I was saving less than I wanted to. I wanted to change careers, but couldn’t risk a financial hit.
When I looked around at people I knew, I realized that even though I was doing pretty well, involuntary retirement could strike at any moment. 
A few successful friends had taken buyout packages from their employers thinking they could easily replace the job they were leaving. Turns out they couldn’t. Other people were under employed because they hadn’t maintained their professional skills and struggled to qualify for jobs. Folks were being catapulted into retirement well before they were ready. It made me nervous.
I recognized that the best way to hedge against the unpredictable was to scale down my lifestyle. I couldn’t do it fast enough.
I Was Late to the FIRE
Although it’s way too late in the game for me to retire in my forties, I admire the FIRE movement outlined by Jacob Lund Fisker and thought a simpler, debt-free life could be less stressful.
After reading an article about a woman who found financial independence when she “bought a one-bedroom condo in an unfashionable neighborhood,” I sold my house and gave away half of my possessions.
Now I’m the one who lives in a one-bedroom apartment in an unfashionable neighborhood, but I’m mortgage free.
And You Know What? I’m Happier
I was quite proud of my house and garden and career. Now I’m equally proud of the fact that I don’t owe a dime to anyone.
The new place, though small, is so much better. I get my gardening fix on my large balcony without worrying about slugs or rats (this is a city after all). I’m close to bike trails and have a swimming pool nearby. My garage is heated and I don’t have to shovel the driveway.
Friends come over more often because there is parking. I can completely clean the condo in 45 minutes.
The best part? I don’t have to worry about losing everything if I don’t have a high-paying job or I can’t find good tenants.
What Can I Get for This?
One trick I use when deciding how to spend my money is to think of an expense in terms of equivalents. When I was very little, the local five and dime had a penny candy section. One little boy would slam his handful of change on the counter and bellow, “What can I get for this?” Then he’d decide between getting a few fancy candies or a whole bunch of cheaper treats.
I’m always thinking that way. I could spend $25 on a theater ticket or I could see two movies. Two nights out? Or One? It can work the other way around, too. Let’s say a friend wants to see a play and go out for dinner. Hmm. For that kind of money I could get a decent opera ticket (yeah, I’m a nerd). Or I could ask that we just see the play without dinner.
Enjoy yourself, but be selective. The idea is to be more conscientious every time you spend money. As we near retirement, money is less of a renewable resource than at the peak of our careers.
When I began downsizing, I looked at the equity in my house which contributed nothing towards lowering my expenses and thought, “What can I get for this?” Turns out I could get a condo, a car, and a good start on the road to financial independence.
You Can Work To 85 If You Want To
Ditching baggage and traveling light into the next phase of my life means I’ve already incorporated aspects of the retirement lifestyle before reaching retirement age. I’m looking for more satisfying work so I can enjoy my remaining productive years. 
Not long ago, a recruiter asked me a question I hadn’t heard before, “Why did you choose to work for each of the organizations on your resume?” It made me examine which companies I’d sought out and which I’d fallen into. I can afford to be more selective about the kind of work I do and who I work for now that I’m living debt free.
The people I know who are still working in their 70s and 80s do so because they love their work. Almost all of them found their current professions late in life and were forced to make career changes after involuntary retirement. Now, they’ve found a balance between work and leisure.
I want to be passionate about work again—no more Monday headaches. And I want to be able to say goodbye to full-time work when the moment feels right.
Conclusion
You might plan to work to a ripe old age, but it’s wise to prepare for involuntary retirement. When you retire, you’ll need to downsize in order to make your money last.
If you start living a retirement-scaled lifestyle while you’re still working, you can accelerate our savings, cut down stress, and increase your options. Not everyone could be happy in a one-bedroom apartment, but almost everyone can reduce their spending somehow. 
Up and running