Look for a person who was unaffected by the pandemic, and you may be unlikely to find anyone. Many of us have experienced some manner of change to our financial situation, lifestyle, career, and a number of other areas of life. But for older workers, those in the final stages of planning for retirement, we believe the past year has been rough. We’ve found that many of you fell into one of the following categories regarding your retirement plans.

You opted for an early retirement. Covid impacts those over 60 the most, and so it’s no surprise that older workers felt the most concerned about their health throughout the pandemic. If your job did not allow you to work from home, the concerns might have prompted you to decide upon an early retirement. This may have been especially true for those with pre-existing conditions that increased their vulnerability to the virus, or those whose spouses have pre-existing conditions.

You were forced into an early retirement. Unfortunately, a number of businesses closed their doors forever over the past year. If you found yourself unemployed in a tough job market, the prospect of starting over at this point in your career might have felt daunting. Some of those who were near retirement anyway decided to go ahead and make the leap.

You sort-of retired, but you don’t want to stick with it. Perhaps you became unemployed, and decided to go ahead and give retirement a try. But either your unemployment benefits or your retirement income don’t feel sufficient to cover your lifestyle for the rest of your life. Or, maybe retirement doesn’t feel like a good fit for you right now, due to boredom and restlessness. If you don’t feel “done” with your career, you’re looking to come out of your temporary retirement and get back to work.

You’ve postponed your retirement. The stock market took several tumbles over the past year, but did mostly recover by the end of December. Fortunately, only 16 percent of older workers say that their retirements must now be delayed due to damage to their portfolios. But if you fall into that group, you might be wondering what to do now.

If you fall into any of these categories, how are you feeling about your current situation? Do you feel that your retirement plan now needs some adjustment? Give us a call to discuss your concerns, and we’ll help you decide upon your next steps.