Misty Miller, a 67-year-old former California Housing Finance Agency staff services manager, has retired a second time following a 3.5-year return to the workforce. Miller initially left her job at age 58, but financial anxieties, high living costs, and a lack of personal purpose prompted her to re-enter employment before ultimately stepping away again.
The timeline of Miller’s career shifts highlights a difficult financial adjustment in early retirement. After submitting her retirement paperwork in 2017 with $500,000 saved and an abated mortgage—having worked her way up and paid off her mortgage while maximizing contributions to her 401(k) retirement plan—she moved from a small downtown home costing about $800 monthly for everything to a larger property with a $2,600 monthly rent, double the size, sitting on a 1,700-square-foot lot in the Sacramento area. This move brought higher utility costs for air conditioning and heating, alongside a gardener whose fee rose from $70 to $280 a month, compounding mounting gardening expenses. Fearing she would run out of money two or three years into her retirement and live to be 100, and facing out-of-pocket medical costs even though about 75 percent of her medical expenses were covered, Miller sought to return to work because she was rich in real estate but cash-poor, realized early retirement would have been her biggest mistake, felt a lack of purpose in life, and spent too much money.
Return to the Workforce and Career Progression
By February 2023, at age 63, she was appointed as an agency division chief.
Although the return initially provided satisfaction, an $88,000 Roth IRA balance, and financial security, Miller eventually found the supervisory duties, overtime, and daily commute exhausting. She had previously stated in 2024, The people say they have to go to work. I say I get to go to work,
and added, I plan never to retire.
However, work drained her energy more than she had expected, more than she anticipated.
Life Surpasses Expectations After Recent Departure
Reflecting on the journey from her initial 2017 exit to her recent departure, she currently enjoys a lifestyle that surpasses her previous expectations, feeling much better than she ever could have imagined and having very few things to worry about.
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