When I was 58, I had a nice engineering position at a company that abruptly shut down. Since this came in December 2008, right as Great Depression 2.0 was coming into full swing, my investments had taken a big hit at the same time. With both sons still in college, I was not emotionally ready to retire, although in retrospect I might have been able to squeak by financially.

I chose instead to hang out my consulting shingle, and, after a lean 6 months to spool up my practice, I did well enough at that to avoid dipping into savings while our investments recovered. I have since cut back on my consulting activities and taken what amounts to about a 3/4-time position at a local university, where I am making less than half as much money as I used to, but having more than twice as much fun doing it. I work Saturdays to accommodate my grad students' day jobs, but I get Tuesdays and Thursdays off to help provide day care for my grandson. At this point I plan to keep working until age 70, and then re-evaluate the situation. One of my buddies is 75 and still teaching full time (and then some), because he enjoys his work and remains popular with the students.