Seems like just a few years ago that best-selling books and magazines were telling us we could not only retire early but rich, too. Now they're saying we may be lucky to retire at all. In the words of the great Cuban economist and bongo player Ricky Ricardo, "Wha' hoppened?"

Well, the stock market tanked, for one thing. But more important, I think, some people actually did the math. When they plugged in down-to-earth assumptions about future stock-market returns, inflation, and the rest, they found retirement could be a pretty expensive proposition--and early retirement all the more so.

This column doesn't aim to rain on anybody's early-retirement parade; if you want to and can afford to, by all means do. But for the rest of us there's a lot to be said for toughing it out in the trenches as long as possible. Here are just some of the reasons:

1

Health insurance.
"This is the biggest single issue for early retirees," says Mark Wilson, a certified financial planner in Newport Beach, Calif. "You have to somehow bridge the gap between the time your employer coverage ends and age 65, when you're eligible for Medicare. We're finding that a high number of people who try to buy private insurance in that situation are being turned down."

COBRA allows workers who have lost or otherwise left jobs to stay on their ex-employer's health plan for a while. That's one option, but it usually lasts only 18 months, 36 months at most. Taking a part-time job that provides health benefits is another possibility, although finding one may be a challenge. Wilson says for many of his married clients the answer is for one spouse to keep working, just to maintain health coverage.

2

A plumper pension.
If you're fortunate enough to have a traditional defined-benefit pension coming to you, staying in the rat race can make you a richer rodent. That's because pensions are typically figured using a formula that multiplies your years of service by some percentage of your salary. Not only will more years mean a bigger pension, notes Bill Ramsay, a certified financial planner in Raleigh, N.C., but since your salary will probably rise each year you stay on the payroll, that too will boost your total.

3

More time to save, less to spend.
When you retire at age 55, say, instead of 65, you're actually punished on two fronts, Wilson notes. "You'll be adding 10 years to the period your portfolio will have to support you," he says, "and on the flip side, you'll have 10 fewer years to put money away. Every additional year you work is one less year on the back end and one more year to save."

4

A bigger Social Security check.
You can begin collecting benefits as early as age 62, but they'll be less than you'd get at what the government considers your "full" retirement age (66 for those of us born between 1943 and 1954, for example). And once you've elected to take a reduced benefit, you're stuck with one, even after you reach full retirement age. If you can wait longer, you'll get a little bonus for every month you postpone, up to age 70. Waiting, of course, only pays off if you live long enough for the extra you get at 66 or older to exceed the payments you gave up by not retiring early.

5

You may actually miss working.
Even if you have abundant income and assets to support yourself in retirement, Ramsay says, you may regret giving up the daily routine and camaraderie of a job. "There's a tendency to think of retirement as what we're all striving for," he says. "But many people find it isn't what they expected. We've had numerous clients who retired and then went back to work for reasons that had nothing to do with money."

6

You could find it hard to get back into the workforce later.
Some surveys indicate that companies may be making a greater effort to keep older workers--as opposed to the traditional corporate practice of putting them on an ice floe and setting them adrift. But keeping a valued older worker is one thing, and hiring a totally unfamiliar one is another. So if you think there's any possibility you'll want to return to work, your best strategy may be never to leave. As a compromise, you might be able to negotiate a reduced workweek, the current buzz phrase for which is "phased retirement."

7

Your significant other might strangle you.
Even if your sweetie, suffering from too much togetherness, doesn't end up killing you, retirement itself just might. A study published in the British Medical Journal last fall found that people who retired at 55 were almost twice as likely to die within 10 years after retirement as those who stuck it out at work until 65. While ill health among some early retirees could account for part of that, the researchers structured the study to eliminate that variable as much as possible.

So, paradoxically enough, if you put off your retirement until later, you may be able to enjoy it longer.