I was laid off from my IT job at the university due to state budget cuts. 18 months from my retirement goal. I did all the configuration/quote/order of everything from laptops and desktops to all of the servers and heavy network equipment.
Officially, I'm unemployed, but after being off closing in on a year and sending out countless resumes, it appears nobody is hiring old guys. Can't blame 'em when there's such an abundance of younger workers.
I'm fine with this situation. When unemployment runs out, I will be officially retired instead of officially unemployed. :)
Best thing we ever did was start seriously putting money away for retirement starting way back when we were much younger. So, financially, we're fine.
Word of advice to younger folks who are still working. If you haven't started making a big impact on saving for retirement..... start NOW and be ready to not have as much "stuff" as your colleagues, but also be ready to comfortably retire while they're still paying for all their stuff. :)