A lot of baby boomers took their retirement up front.
That’s exactly what happened. They also choose to disconnect from their children by putting them in day care, because their own careers was the most important thing in the world. Consequently, their children learned to not need their parents, so they rarely contact them.
I’ve known some early retires who took their retirement funds in a cash payout. They then had to pay taxes on it, then went on a spending spree and are now dead broke.
Since they are not old enough for social security they are having to work at what jobs they can find.