Life transitions don't always go perfectly smoothly, even with the best of planning. Sometimes events happen that will force you to make adjustments to the grand plan. You may think you have all your ducks in order to leave your company at age sixty-five with a pretty good nest egg. You may have been disciplined, saving enough funds to enable you to live work-free and go on safari, fund family reunions at Disney, or chuck it all and sail around the world. This plan might be ditched when, in your late fifties but well before retirement, you experience any of the following sudden events:

• Your company has massive layoffs, you included.

• You become disabled, limiting your mobility drastically.

• You have to assume guardianship for a family member.

• Your 401(k) investments are wiped out.

As devastating as any of these situations would be, you can work your way through them, or any other setback, developing a Plan B. Americans, and particularly young aging Americans, are blessed with a broad streak of optimism. If you suffer a major financial setback in the years encroaching upon retirement, you may panic thinking that you do not have enough years left to recoup what you have lost. The financial loss may mean you have to abandon plans for your gilded retirement life. It might further mean you have to defer your departure from the ranks of the rank-and-file for a few more years. Depending on other resources available to you, including social security and other savings, you may be able to proceed with your retirement timeline, but find you will be swimming at the community pool and not at the beaches of Antigua. Look at the bright side — you will not be tied to a job.