(MONEY Magazine) – Roxanna Milbury had, by the late 1990s, become intoxicated by the numbers. "Some months, I'd open my statement and I'd made $7,000, sometimes $27,000," recalls the 55-year-old algebra teacher. "It got so that if I only made $1,000, I'd consider it a bad month." After 18 years of investing, she'd amassed a $350,000 portfolio--and saw no need to save more. For four years, Milbury took trips to South America, Africa, Europe and the Arctic Circle, put a new roof on her house in Rahway, N.J. and let the market take care of her retirement. Then the funds that had delivered those intoxicating returns sobered up--Morgan Stanley Cap Opportunities, up 63% in 1998 and 125% in 1999, down 36% in 2000 and another 39% last year; Morgan Stanley American Opportunities, up 31% in 1998 and 46% in 1999, down 10% in 2000 and 27% in 2001. Overall, her portfolio has shrunk by 50% since early 2000.

Though Milbury won't give up traveling--Greece, Bulgaria and Hungary are on her summer schedule--she has a recovery plan, including taking advantage of new IRA limits that will let her deposit $3,500 this year.

The other major adjustment Milbury expects to make is her retirement age. A teacher for 23 years, she once thought a quarter-century the perfect length of time to work. Now she expects to wait until "at least 62, but more likely 65."

Is she unhappy about her extended stay in the classroom? No. For one thing, teaching longer will increase her pension. For another, Milbury loves what she does. "I probably will teach or tutor even after I retire." As long as that leaves her time to complete her world tour.

--JOAN CAPLIN