Six Months Into My Forced Retirement

I have to admit that just like everyone else, I had never expected that my life would turn out the way it did, especially as it relates to what my retirement was going to be like. I never thought that I would lose my job and  I never expected that during the first couple of months that I would have to place my mother in a nursing home and visit her on a daily basis to help her get through the day.

Family circumstances led to my having to work until at least 66, my full retirement age, but then the prospect of a higher monthly check and looking after my mother, my plan was to continue working full time until age 70 and then ease my way into retirement by working part-time at half my salary for two additional years. I had also learned this year that I was entitled to my husband's Survivor Benefits and despite the fact that I had lost about 2-1/2 years in benefits, I was still entitled to another year and a half and that was going to be "gravy" on top of my salary or so I thought. But life had other plans in store for me

On that fateful day in March, my boss called me into the conference room and told me that he had to let me go because my position was being eliminated.  I can't say that I was happy about it, but being 68 I wasn't in the same financial position when I lost my job two times previously. I also didn't know that the months following my being let go that I would have my mother in the hospital three times and then placed in a nursing home as well as experience a financial loss approximating $80,000.

I decided that I needed a change today so I will soon be making a lunch for my mother and then heading out to Walmart for a distraction.

What I still need to do is put together some kind of plan to better utilize my time. Yes, I do have to work on decluttering my home and I have 3 e-books in various stages of progress.  I also have my websites to work on and my digital graphics and painting in addition to TV, movies, and puzzles. I will attempt to start re-planning my life both financially and time-wise in the next several weeks and hopefully by Jan 1, I will find more solitude to being where I am at this point in time.