Whether yourself or someone you know....friend/relative. "Fail" would depend on the person. I don't consider RE to be 'never working again', so for me 'failing' would be either:
a) I find myself regretting the decision to quit my final well-paying job.
b) I find myself taking a job for the $$ that I would not otherwise want.
If so, why do you think you (or other person) failed? Bad assumptions? Unexpected event?