Been there ... done that, Bill -- highly recommended, with the caveat that your boss may turn out to be a real SOB.

I hung out the consulting shingle at age 58, when my employer of 7 years abruptly went bankrupt and shut down. The timing was arguably the worst possible -- end of December 2008, heading into the depths of Great Depression 2.0, aka "The Great Recession." During the first 7 months of 2009 the only job I held was a 3-day stint I found on CraigsList, teaching basic electronics to a small group of Navy SEALs (great bunch of guys -- we all had a blast), but after that I rode a steady string of contracts: 10 months, 8 months, and 2 years. From there I morphed into my current encore career in academia, with a workload which averages about 75%. I plan to work 4 more years, then re-evaluate the situation when I turn 70 and have to draw SS and IRA RMDs.

I have been told there are four phases of Santa Claus: 1) you believe in Santa Claus; 2) you don't believe in him; 3) you are Santa Claus; and 4) you look like him. Likewise, I have determined that there are three phases of work: 1) you work because you have to (e.g. my elder son and his wife); 2) you work because you want to (my current scenario); and 3) you work because you still can (UCSD/Scripps oceanographer Walter Munk, age 98).