In your sixties and retired? Do you think you could find a job in your old career if necessary? (conversation, relatives)
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My brother, now retired, lost his executive position in 2013, as a Customer Service Director at age 60. He had been with the same employer for 24 years and was not familiar with the complexity and difficulty of finding a job in the 21st Century.
So... if that would have happened to you in your career field at age 60, do you think you could find another full time job in your old career field at a similar salary to your last job? Do you think my brothers experience not being able to find a job after being laid off at age sixty is common or unusual?
Nope! Not likely. My career field was politics and public policy, not as a politician but behind the scenes as a lobbyist for my former state and a political and legislative analyst. Being successful in that field, as both my wife and I were, requires two things of paramount importance. You must have name recognition and you must have access. By the time each of us had been retired (or is that "retarded?") about six months, if not fewer, we'd lost those. It's the "out of sight, out of mind" syndrome writ large in the political arena. It takes years to cultivate them and health issues would have derailed us again anyway.
DH was the transportation manager for a large company. His field is no longer taught in schools any more and his job basically doesn't exist any more, so, no, he couldn't go back to work in his field.
I'm a medical transcriptionist, a field in which the jobs are being outsourced to India/Pakistan, and am making less now (paid per line) than I made back in 2004 when I started doing it. It's a dying field as well. I have another year before I can retire and I'm counting the days.
I could pick up where I left off in my career or any number of similar positions. And most likely find a job in any state in a heartbeat. But I would rather drive screws into my toes. I did my time in a high stress environment (prison) and have no inclination to return. No, thank you.
I sure would not want to hire me after even a 2 year hiatus. One of the joys of being in a STEM field is that you must not only do your job, you must keep up to date on huge amounts of literature and minutea in your area of expertise. I surely have not done that. (I have only kept up with major developments, and just for pleasure.) In addition, by the time one has experienced the 'retirement life', I would hazard to say he/she might develop an 'attitude' and not be so easily pushed and prodded by managerial forces. Trouble makers!
I am a software developer with 35+ years of experience, mostly PC/Windows and database. If I want short assignments for far less money than I currently make I would have no trouble staying busy. A couple of former coworkers tell me that they started doing small projects for corporate clients, bidding the job and billing on delivery and are actually doing better than they did full time. That means you need to be able to work Jan-March and not get paid for it until April for example.
When I retired in 2008 (at 60), the housing/employment outlook was heading south and I said to myself, "only retire if you are confident you can do so without having to go back."
The employment market may have improved since then, but, I think my timing strategy still makes sense. The notion that one who is 60+ can always find comparable employment if retirement doesn't work out - is a risky, lifetime decision. Also, working part-time in 'retirement' is not really retirement, but, 'semi-retirement.'
In my case, I had plenty of other activities and, even though I could have returned as a consultant or to a similar position, I didn't retire so I could go back to work!
Yes, its hard to believe that someone would actually turn down money.
But I do know someone who turned down a severance package. His company was having a tough time and offered it to quite a few of their senior employees. He was offered several months pay, health insurance until age 65 for both him and his wife plus 2-3 years added to his age/service so he'd qualify for his pension.
He had been with the company for more than 20 years, felt safe in his job, turned the offer down, three months later the deal was off the table and he was fired (along with a lot of other people), got 2 weeks pay. He couldn't find a lob anywhere, eventually lost his house.
Word to the wise: when you get a memo, letter or email like that - addressed to you - that (like a PIP) is the handwriting on the wall. YOU'D BETTER TAKE IT - the company is not doing this for YOUR benefit. The company is doing it for THEIR benefit.
By not waking up and smelling the coffee - and by acting out of emotion in a business environment - the OP's brother lost. In business, you have to observe the rules of engagement: "he who acts on the basis of emotion loses".
Ergo, be very, very careful how you frame your arguments, and how you interpret corporate messaging.
Just MHO, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
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I did my time in a high stress environment (prison) and have no inclination to return. 
No, thank you.
