Twenty years ago, people in their 60s and 70s who were still in the workforce were actually looked down upon. Clearly, they must have done something wrong or they would have already retired.
Then came the dot-com bust, 9/11, a recession and a bear market that wiped out almost half the value of the broad stock market indexes. People who were planning on retiring early had to rethink their plans. And just about the time the economy had recovered and they were again going to retire, the Great Recession hit and, perhaps permanently, changed the investment landscape.
The financial meltdown of 2008–2009 was not only devastating to many people's portfolios, it seems to have changed our way of thinking, too. Many retirees had to either alter their standard of living or seek some sort of employment. And many soon-to-be retirees began to question if retirement was really what they wanted.
I certainly like to help people get to the position where they have the financial resources so that work is an option and not an obligation. Financially speaking, being at a place where one doesn't have to rely upon one's labor to make ends meet is wonderful. But nowadays, just because someone has the resources to retire doesn't mean he or she will.