Early retirement dangers

Maureen and her husband, Tom, are 63 and they took early retirement in their mid-50s to enjoy life. Their four children had grown up, left home, married and had families of their own. Their passion - apart from each other - had always been boating, so the first thing they did was buy a cabin cruiser.

"Nothing ocean going," laughs Maureen, "Tom was not that adventurous, but it was big enough and comfortable enough to live on occasionally and chug around in up and down the river."

They named the boat, Tommau, to celebrate their long and successful marriage.

"The boat was a hit with the kids and the grandkids," enthuses Maureen. "Every weekend there would be a huge family outing, and every week Tom and I would fill our time preparing for it."

"Preparation involved stocking up the galley with adequate supplies of food and drinks; charting the course of the next cruise; keeping weather records; and making sure the video camera was in good nick."

"The video camera was another great purchase," says Maureen. "We now have a huge library of family films at home. Every week of our early retirement was recorded."

What Maureen and Tom had may not be everyone's idea of living in the lap of luxury, but it was the epitome of luxury for them. They never thought about money. They just spent it on whatever took their heart's desire.

Unfortunately, Maureen and Tom's accountant and lawyer invested their money unwisely and they lost most of their retirement funds.

"We had no recourse but to get back to work," sighs Maureen, "but after five years of leisure we had lost touch with everything."

"Except for an annual exchange of Xmas cards, we hadn't kept in touch with our old work colleagues," explains Maureen, "so we had no ready network of friends to help us, and we had no marketable up-to-date skills whatsoever."

They did the rounds of the agencies, being told time and time again that they were far too old to be considered for a job, and because they had no skills they were unsuitable even for temporary placement.

"We were too proud to ask for welfare," says Maureen, "and to make matters worse Tom suffered a minor heart attack because of all the stress and I thought I had lost him. At that point I didn't care whether we had money or not, because losing Tom would have killed me, too."

Finally, through a boating friend they both found work as packers in a factory. At 63, neither Maureen nor Tom really has the stamina to do such work - particularly Tom with his heart troubles - but it was the only type of work they could get.

"We're resigned to sticking at the job as best we can, for as long as we can," says Maureen. "We are far better off working than scrimping on welfare."

On reflection, Maureen and Tom don't regret retiring early, and they don't blame their accountant and lawyer for what happened to their money.

"We had a wonderful five years," laughs Maureen. "It was the sort of stuff that dreams are made of and ours came true. We have enough happy memories to last us for the rest of our lives!"

"We still have the family house and our beloved boat, Tommau," says Maureen, "but most of all we still have our family and each other. Taking everything into consideration, we consider ourselves to be very lucky."

Their attitude is admirable, but their career transition from a life of early-retirement in luxury to the bottom of the working heap is a common scenario for many early retirees.

Read more of Maureen's story: global financial disasters