I’ve seen a variation on #1
Friends/acquaintances who formerly made good money who were not financially or emotionally ready for retirement… finally conceding to early retirement at a standard of living far below what they planned.
In both cases – the person qualified for either a small pension (smaller than if they waited till full retirement age) and were old enough to take withdrawals on their 401k/IRA money. But dreams of traveling in retirement, etc, were squashed out. In both cases the spouse will work longer than originally planned to help make up the income loss.
