Thoughts on retiring - update!

[Croney]

3. Absolutely! Do it!

We have a lot in common. I quit work at 60 to take care of my daughter's baby, and she had another and another, and they never had anyone but me taking care of them while she worked.

Fast forward... Those kids are now 13, 11, and 9, they don't need babysitting, but we are extremely close.

I started SS at 62, knowing I'd get more if I waited, just because I wanted to. My husband is younger and has worked until now. He just set 1/1/19 as his retirement date and we've chosen a health care plan, which is scary because what if we chose wrong?

He starts SS in January and also starts a monthly withdrawal from his company funds, managed by Fidelity. We moved the money to a safer risk percentage, but still -- the stock market!! I've always kept my own little pension in the most secure option, earning little but losing nothing. I think he should do that too.

Like you, we don't have debt. We paid off our house. We have other grown kids and lots of grandkids, and even great-grandkids, but the only ones who live near us are the daughter and her husband and three kids I see almost every day.

You will be a huge help to your daughter, and the kids will be very lucky. Time flies, we don't know what lies ahead, and you will be a happy person hanging out in a t-shirt and no make-up. You are an extremely valuable person, and can choose to give yourself to the office, or to your family. So exciting! Do it.