I think that not having a bachelor degree, nor a "real career" made you more attractive is not being too "overqualified." And, I think that the emphasis was on losing on the way to retirement.
From above:
Even just a few months out of work or living on a depressed salary without benefits can strain a senior’s finances as he struggles to cover mortgage payments, health care and other routine expenses. When a job is lost late in life and it takes a long time to find a new one, it can push back retirement by years or even erase the prospect of retirement completely.
Here are some examples from above
Greg Miller, 65 years old, a former environmental engineer and contract administrator, was laid off in 2017. He recently gave up looking for full-time work after sending out more than 400 résumés. “The heartbreak and the discouragement were just unbearable,” said Mr. Miller, who lives on Social Security and a part-time job. He shares a ranch house in Lansing, Mich., with three other men. “I am kind of working without a net here,” he said.
and..
Jill Short, 59, of Columbus, has an M.B.A. and previously worked for the federal government, a local utility and a technology subcontractor. The financial crisis made it tough to re-enter the job market after she took time off for foot surgery in late 2007. She had a few seasonal positions, but didn’t find another full-time job until 2012 and was laid off in a restructuring 4 ½ years later.
and..
Lisa Borthwick, currently age 60, was working as a graphic designer for a group of real-estate magazines when the financial crisis hit. She lost her job, then her Hernando, Fla., home, then her savings. She has no pension. She took on student loans to pay for her degree. A decade later, she is still struggling to recover.
“When I was sitting for interviews, they offered me $10 an hour,” she recalled. “They said most people your age only need supplemental income.”
Now living in the Midwest, she recently landed two part-time jobs—as an operations manager for a nonprofit and an administrator for a real-estate company. She said both jobs are fabulous, but she can’t afford her own apartment in a neighborhood where she would feel safe and doesn’t receive health insurance or other benefits. For the past two years Ms. Borthwick has rented a bedroom from a couple she met when, on the verge of homelessness, she put her dog up for foster care.
and..
Michele Langdon, 55, had worked for several startups and was employed by Hewlett Packard for nearly 20 years. In 2016, she was let go after the company sold the unit she worked for. Divorced and with two children, Ms. Langdon ran up $50,000 in credit-card debt. She relied on unemployment insurance, food stamps and a state program that helps the unemployed pay their mortgages during her 18-month job search.
Ms. Langdon figures she applied for roughly 500 jobs and eventually had to settle for a short-term contract position. A few months later, she was offered a full-time job as a program manager for a new data-center business at a different company. But the lengthy time out of work means she now expects to work until at least age 70.
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