If you want to retire, but feel you cannot afford to...take heart, let's make lemonade out of lemons. It isn't all that bad. You are 50-plus, have a little saved up, and would like to retire when you can get another income stream set up. That is a good thing. Why? The work you do to supplement your retirement income should be one you actually enjoy doing. If you have the basics of food and shelter covered by your retirement income...that is a good start to reaching your retirement goals. Good...because you do not have to look solely at income in choosing a supplemental line of work. Your next work can be fun. Let's say you are a devoted angler, and know a lake or stream well...become a fishing guide. A fishing guide will make $200 to $300 a day for doing what he or she (there are some excellent lady guides) loves to do. Be paid for what you love doing is the essence of how a second "career" is more enjoyable. The best part is your client, who is doing what you were doing, before you retired, stuck in the rat race...they will invariably say, "You have got it made...I wish I could do this." You can...If you don't know fishing from baseball, that is not a problem. Identify what you enjoy doing and look for ways to make money at it. If you do work at something you enjoy, it is not really work. Let your imagination work overtime...if for instance you like to cook there are ways to earn besides working at the Golden Arches. There are ways to turn hobbies and passions into money. In 2002 a study was made for an aerospace company that found that workers who took early retirement at 50 lived to be 86. Those workers that worked until 65 lived an average of 18 months. I draw two conclusions from this study. One, this company must work its workers awfully hard; and two, the ones that retired at 50 took second jobs doing something they enjoyed. The reduced retirement income at 50 was enough to cover the basics...they did not need to make a lot at job two.