I think it would be worse to retire just BEFORE a recession. In that case, you'd go off thinking your nest egg would be X, and then whammo...10% less immediately.
This is exactly what happened to a friend of mine. She quit at 62 assuming that her modest pension (cola=2% per annum) and social security (this year's cola=2.4%), augmented by modest savings (she's a simgle woman who did clerical work) combined with a frugal lifestyle, would be sufficient to last her the rest of her life.
If inflation had stayed in the 3%-4% range, she could have. But the unofficial inflation rate is about 8%, more if you factor in gas. She sold her car, trimmed all her expenses to the bone, and she still thinks she may have to ask her kids for money. It's killing her.
This isn't a case of a doctor wearing belts plus suspenders (in the financial sense), just a lower-middle-income single women who thought she could get by by living very frugally, and not making it. But I think the assumptions she made apply to all of us. Inflation and unexpected changes in our worldview (like the price of gasoline doubling or tripling) are what sinks retirements.
I've pushed back my retirement a couple of times ... now my husband is planning on retiring at age 58 (5 years) in order to get his full pension and benefits, and I am planning on retiring in 6 more years, to get my full pension. It's a huge setback for us (although we'll still be fairly young). I am not a doctor, miuch of my net worth is invested in real estate which has stagnated, and my investment funds are not doing great. I'd rather retire later and try to live off my pension for a few years in order to let my investments and real estate rebound.