Goodbye Early Retirement

Filed in archive Retirement on September 29, 2008

© Sofia Brightsea

I once dreamed of early retirement, then I woke up today and watched the stock market plunge once again. Certainly not the first plunge it's taken, and given the fact that this bailout is uncertain, and is not any guaranteed Elixir anyway, it may not be the last plunge.

For those of us who feel like we've played the financial game the right way, it's more than a little disheartening. Yes, history tells us to ride it out and eventually the market rebounds, but this has been a long downturn. And there has never been more money in the markets, as the rise of mutual funds has made more and more people every year into stock market investors, even if it's only passive investing as far as they are concerned. Either way, prices go down, their nest eggs go down.

While I recalculate the chances of me retiring before age 84, my heart goes out to those in their late 50s or early 60s who hoped to use the stock market as their means to grow their money before riding off into the sunset. Many of them will be working at Walgreen's at age 70 instead of relaxing beachside.

Not sure of the point of this post other than using it as a frustrated, long-winded way to say "This really sucks!"