Expert shares how to cope with sudden job loss before retirement

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So far in 2025, more than 800,000 jobs have been cut in the US, including nearly 300,000 in the public sector. Many of those workers — displaced by buyouts, layoffs, artificial intelligence, or other factors — now face sudden retirement without the chance to prepare.

In a recent episode of the Decoding Retirement podcast, Elizabeth Zelinka Parsons, author of “Encore: A High Achiever’s Guide to Thriving in Retirement,” shared advice for those experiencing unexpected job loss. She urged them to focus on emotional and psychological steps rather than rushing into an action plan.

“We all, of course, get identified to a degree with what we do for a living,” Zelinka Parsons said. “But if you have no time to plan for an identity bridge, I call it, or a transition, it can be really existentially threatening because we often imagine so much of who we are is tied to what we do every day.”

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An important step for those facing a sudden retirement is to recognize they are not alone.

“I think many people imagine they’re going through this feeling in a vacuum, and they’re the only people struggling with it,” Zelinka Parsons said. “In part because we’re all told to look forward to retirement, and we imagine it’s something we should be celebrating and excited to embrace.”

“The truth is there’s a lot of letting go that has to happen,” she added.

Many American workers experience job loss earlier than planned. According to JPMorgan’s Guide to Retirement, 70% of people say they want to work until 65, but less than 30% make it that far, often due to circumstances out of their control, such as job loss, family obligations, or health reasons.

“So many life events can accelerate that date,” Zelinka Parsons said.

Given that unpredictability, she encouraged people to think about life in retirement well before it arrives.

“It’s an ongoing evolution,” she said. “And thinking broadly about what you’re working for and what purposes will fuel your life once you’re done, sort of trading time for money, is always a valuable exercise because we don’t always know exactly what that date will be.”

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Sometimes people joke about “failing at retirement,” Zelinka Parsons said, but the reality is more nuanced than the image of retirement as endless leisure.