Early retirement took off during the pandemic. An economic downturn could change that
Millions of workers left the labor force during the pandemic. Older workers have been slow to return, in part because many found themselves financially secure enough to retire.
Before the pandemic, no one would have guessed that Dean Hebert was headed toward early retirement, least of all himself.
He was enjoying his job as an academic adviser at the University of Maryland Honors College. He imagined he'd work at least another five years.
Then in the pandemic, Hebert reconnected with a woman he'd known years earlier who lived in North
