Build FIRE

"Unretirements" are coming back: The share of retirees returning to work is approaching levels not seen since before the pandemic.

Why it matters: The pandemic drove millions of Americans into early retirement. Getting some of those folks back to work should increase the labor supply at a time when companies are still struggling to hire.

"Continued strong demand for workers, and vaccinations, are allowing folks to step back into the workplace," Nick Bunker, economics research director at jobs site Indeed, tells Axios.

By the numbers: 2.8% of the workers who said they were retired in January 2021 went back into the labor force by January 2022, according to data Bunker pulled from the census bureau's Current Population Survey.

These numbers started picking up in the second half of 2021 and continued their climb even through Omicron.

The big picture: Retirement isn't quite what you might think. Yes, there are folks who walk away from the workforce and disappear into a happy new life golfing or doing stuff in Florida — but there has always been a small percentage of people for whom retirement doesn't quite take, or who just need some cash.

What is an emergency fund, and why is it important?

As the name indicates, your emergency fund, also known as emergency savings, is to help you weather unplanned life circumstances and emergencies. Having a stash of cash to fall back on when "life happens" means you won't have to rely on credit or rack up debt to resolve your situation.

It's the difference between having your car break down unexpectedly and leveraging cash you had already put aside for this exact purpose versus maxing out a credit card and figuring out how to pay for it later.

The latter scenario means an additional or higher credit card payment, more debt, and more money woes to worry about. And more importantly, you are now further away from your financial goals. This can be majorly demotivating.

So essentially, you can think of your emergency fund as a form of insurance. An insurance policy that you create for yourself that keeps your financial goals intact.