I retired early and am financially comfortable despite divorce and market downturns. I want young people to know you can recover from misfortune.

Bernita Clark, 82, has lived comfortably for 18 years in her retirement.Michael Starghill, Jr for BIThis as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Bernita Clark, 82, who retired 18 years ago and has been financially comfortable since. Clark, who lives in Texas, said she never expected to retire at all until she reached her late 40s after years as a single mother. Through years of careful saving and long-term planning, she retired a few years before retirement age, though she took on part-time work in her 70s. Her words have been edited for length and clarity.I'm not wealthy, but I'm not poor either. I own my home. I don't have a mortgage. It's in a great neighborhood, and the college students nearby are very helpful. I'm still fairly healthy, and I'm not spending time in the hospital.Everyone in my age group worries about the end of life, but nobody knows what will happen. I'm wealthy from the perspective that I can run my life the way I want to.I was the first in my family to go to college. My parents grew up in the backwoods of south Arkansas in a cabin that had no electricity, water, or gas. We had a lot of mosquitoes, though, when there were endemic diseases like malaria. It was a difficult place to live, and opportunities for jobs were not there. We want to hear from you. Are you an older American comfortable sharing your retirement outlook with a reporter? Please fill out this quick form. We are especially looking to hear from people 80 and older. My father worked very hard and managed to pull the family out of that and support four children. All of us have had careers that supported us.I went to the University of Arkansas, where I finished my degree in medical technology. I had three years of pre-med, but I didn't go to medical school. I went to med tech schools instead.I worked in neonatal research at the university for a couple of years and got married. This was during the Vietnam War, and my husband at the time was up for the draft. Instead of the draft, he went to the United States Air Force, and they transferred us to several different cities. I worked in medical technology during that time, mostly in clinical chemistry.After the Air Force, my husband went to work for a pharmaceutical company in sales, and his career moved him frequently. We moved every year, staying somewhere for between 10 and 16 months. I worked off and on part-time.Recovering from a divorce and a housing market downturn to retire earlyWhen I turned 40, we divorced. At that point, I went back to school for computer science. I wasn't able to finish that degree because life interferes. Still, I got a job at an innovative firm that gave me a lot of opportunities in computer science. I was doing computer support for them for five years until they went bankrupt.In 1985, I had just bought a house, and my children were reaching 18, so I didn't need help with child support anymore. Unfortunately, the housing market went down in Texas, and we weren't getting help from anybody. I was underwater on my mortgage. I also had lots of debtI was 46 and struggling, so I looked for a job with a defined pension plan. I worked with Burlington Northern Railroad as a computer systems analyst for almost 20 years until I retired.At 64, I was tired. I had developed congestive heart failure, so it was difficult for me to work a stressful job every day. I really wanted to retire. I'd planned to retire later, but I lost my sister, and I realized life is short.As a single person, you don't have a fallback, so I was reluctant. It's a scary decision to make, but I felt like I could do it. Turns out, I was in a better financial situation than I realized, and because of my retirement income, I have more expendable income now than I did at any other point in my life.My costs are way down. I own my home outright with no mortgage, and I have no debt. My property tax was cut in half when I turned 65, and then cut in half again by the Texas legislature. My auto insurance rates went down because I drive much less and moved away from a high-traffic area. Texas also has no income tax.Sometimes, you don't have to pay the ultimate price for everything you did that was a mistake. I've gotten to the point where I feel I can do pretty much anything I want to.After I retired, I spent a lot of time just hanging out and having some fun. I had hobbies that I wanted to get back to doing. I tried painting and gave that up, but I got really into photography. I did some genealogy work. I started sewing things for myself and my friends.Michael Starghill, Jr for BIAfter a couple of years, I decided to go back to work. I worked part-time at Tarrant County College in Fort Worth, training railroad dispatchers.Though I really liked the job, some personal family things happened that caused me to realize I needed to be close to family. I moved to College Station to be closer to my daughter and her family and went to work part-time for Texas A&M University in their admissions program, reading the essays that applicants submit.Michael Starghill, Jr for BII was kind of like a checkerboard, working here and there and holding several different careers, including being a wife and mother, which, in my opinion, is a career in itself.Nowadays, I don't do too much. I talk with a few friends on the phone. I'm the coordinator for a group of neighbors scheduling lunches together once a week. I have dermatology and cardiology appointments. I still pursue my hobbies.I would tell younger people that they will make mistakes, but most mistakes are recoverable. They should love their families and put them first.Still, you should always put on your own mask first on the airplane. I know several caregivers who had part-time careers, but not enough to earn a decent retirement, and they live in poverty. We need to do more to take care of the people who take care of us.Read the original article on Business Insider

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