Troy, I retired at almost 65 with a full pension. DH can't retire until Feb 2020, so I went back to work part time when I was invited by a former boss. When she retired two years later, I retired for the second time. If you are retiring together and enjoy spending time together, you should be fine. If people in your family live long lives and you enjoy your jobs, you might want to switch to part time. My parents both worked into their 70s, but I don't recommend waiting that long!

In a nutshell, when to retire depends on how well we have prepared for our retirement/none working years.

Off and on I had worked on my retirement planning for years. Last year, I drafted retirement plan with Fidelity Investment retirement planning tool, and enlisted my Fidelity consultant to walk through the entire plan. As I have been working with the consultant for almost 10 years, he is familiar with my situation. The advice he provided and the trust between us are invaluable.

I listed every single potential expenses and worked through different scenarios and contingencies. I took conservative approach, using higher amount for required expenses, and lower numbers for project return, or income. Because of the plan, it convinced me that I needed to adjust my investment allocation. The plan maps out details until age 97, with left over to carry me over age 100 plus and pay for my own funeral expense. I also used Vanguard Retirement planning tool to verify my plan, it generated similar reports.

I am a worrier, finishing the retirement plan has given me peace of mind. Since retirement is an uncharted water, I will revisit the plan during my semi-annual meeting with my Fidelity consultant to make sure I am on track. We will make adjustments when time comes, such as if I need to use investment vehicle to generate additional income...or if I still could afford to take planned safari trip....etc.

Perhaps since it is federal TSP/401 it is different but recently I decided I needed to start drawing money from it. Husband is in a nursing home and once my car is paid for I can live on what I have. He must sign a wavier for me to withdraw money or automatically 50% will go to purchase an annuity for him. If he dies before me I will be able to draw half of what he would receive. Power of attorney will not work. Several years ago I asked if he could sign the waiver in advance because he had early stage dementia and was told that it had to be signed when I applied for the withdrawal. Because the way guardian/conservatorships are in this state new separate accounts for splitting income had to be setup. He can live on his income but maintaining house etc. I am finding it hard. Power of attorney would have helped if I had physically drug him to an attorney but not for this.

How are you paying for the nursing home? Is it coming out of your retirement money? Aren't you afraid you will run out of money for your own care in the future?

I seem similarities for my future and wonder how you are managing this.

Thanks,

Jane

My husband's pension, SS, Deferred Comp covers most of it. He had US Savings Bonds that will take care of the rest for several years. The Deferred Comp still has a MRD which is less that what he receives. I have my pension and SS. I have used most of my savings bonds but still have about $10K of them. I am not managing very well. I was counting on the information that I had received as early as last year when I asked about the signature. This week I have changed my phone, internet, and cell phone plans to cheaper ones where I could. Just all of the things that I could think of to trim expenses. Edit: I am trying to do what I can. I will need to access my 401 in the future but will first see what reducing my utilities and other living expenses will do. As far as my future if/when I need nursing home care I will have to just wait and see. It is the time between being independent and being in a nursing home that is problematic. Many people face this but they do not talk about it even to their best friends. One of the reasons that people, especially women, are blindsided when it happens. Which is the reason I post some of the personal things that normally would never be posted. Finding a job is still an option if I can find one.

One thing I would consider in your plan is if working only 3-4 days a week really is in the cards. You didn't say whether you worked at a larger organization or had your own business, though I'm guessing it's the former. At many companies, higher-level positions don't exist at less than full-time. Job-sharing (if it exists) can be complicated by today's 7x24 work cycle. And sometimes 3-4 days a week turns out to be more like 4-5 days on a regular basis. As for your wife, can she pull back through cutting back on her course load or by job-sharing or by becoming a substitute teacher? I don't write this to be a Donnie Downer; it's just that what we hope for and what actually can happen require some investigation and maybe negotiation/compromise.

You also need to think about Plan B: you do end up working 3 days a week and then Acme Corp. buys your company and it all changes to full time or (worse?) no work. Do you have a contingency plan for that? Might not hurt to sketch one out.

DW and I both plan to retire from the workforce by 60 (two more years). Both of us are working on side businesses/freelance opportunities which (we hope) will keep us as busy as we want to be till we're 66-67 and could (wouldn't have to) retire fully. We, too, have seen too many friends or parents of friends dash all their retirement dreams because of a sudden illness or injury rendered their plans obsolete. Good luck!

"How are you paying for the nursing home?"

Jane, good question! Not sure whom you ask this question, but assume you don't mind anyone provides inputs.

Paying for nursing home is my biggest concern. I planned to pay for my own care out of my retirement fund as I have not done any research for potential assistance in the future, and I want to be conservative.

In Fidelity retirement planning tool, it provides projected nursing home expenses. I entered the one associated with my situation and planned for 7 years, in spite of I heard usually nursing home stay is around 3-4 years.

Recently I learned that I might "double dipping" in my plan, as I also planned for regular living expense at home for the last 7 years. Conceptually, these two type of expenses are mutually exclusive, so the "staying at home living expense" would be a buffer. In addition, since I did not plan to sell my last home when I go to nursing home; in a pinch, I think getting the home equity would be one more source of funding.

Be aware that most nursing home policies can increase the premiums yearly. This is why many that originally purchase them do not have them when needed. A 25% to 50% yearly increase in the cost of premiums is not unheard of. Think about saving the equivalent and investing in an index based mutual fund. Even putting the amount in a low interest rate account and not touching in could give you the additional needed to pay for nursing home care.

I guess the OP is assuming that #4 child will have a job when he or she graduates.

Lucky kid.

And you got paid for, "I would attempt to steer visits towards things that inspired clients?"

Did clients return for a second (paid) session?