S/O retirement, when did/ will your parents and ILs retire?

[ourbabygirl]

My parents are 71 and still working... mom has cut back to part time, but fills in her time with watching grandkids, multiple book clubs, volunteering, etc. She's mentioned retiring, but likes having the income for trips... I think my dad's planning to work until he dies (he basically said that to someone). It would be nice if they were around more to get together with us and the grandkids, but I can't really imagine them hanging out at home together, taking the grandkids on outings, etc. My dad is definitely not into that.

MIL had health problems and had to stop working around age 50 or so... FIL quit around 55 or so and has been living off his pension, supposedly...

How about your families?

[MSWR0319]

My mom just retired from teaching K at 65. She couldn't handle all of the red-tape teachers have to deal with and the kids were getting more unruly each year. She also struggled a bit with having to use all of the new electronics in a classroom. She's not super tech-savvy. She's driving me nuts though because she needs something to do but won't admit it. They currently have two houses and she needs to get the other one cleaned and emptied so they can sell it, but she's not doing that. Instead she sits around on Facebook and has no clue what she's doing!

My dad is still working and probably will for awhile because my mom will drive him nuts otherwise

[StantonHyde]

My dad semi-retired in his late 50s--would take the whole month of October off--but otherwise worked. He retired at 66 and ended up spending 3 weeks in the psychiatric hospital and ended getting ECT. He was severely depressed.

My mother retired at 64--she was university professor. She had a wonderful life planned around gardening and her grandchildren. She dropped dead on the kitchen floor 2 months later. It was awful.

[NCGrandma]

Oops, double post!
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[NCGrandma]

Since I’m probably the age of most BBB'ers' parents ... here’s what I did. (I should point out that I didn’t really have a plan and mostly played it by ear. And for context, I was a single parent since DC was 5, so I wasn’t coordinating plans with anyone else.)

I was teaching in our med school and I knew that I wanted to keep working instead of retiring at the first opportunity. I also knew I wanted at some point to move to the same local CCRC (retirement community) where my parents had lived until their deaths in their early 90s. Serendipitously, when I turned 65 and became eligible for the CCRC, I was offered a very appealing apartment there, and at the same time, my department was amenable to my gradually cutting back from full time to 75% to 50% to 25% to total retirement. So, over the first 3 years, I made many new friends and got increasingly involved in many really rewarding activities at the CCRC while I gradually disengaged from my career. When I finally retired, I was ready because I was so busy doing rewarding things at a CCRC where residents take significant responsibility for planning and carrying out all sorts of stimulating activities. Almost 10 years later, I’m as busy as ever but with more variety and much less stress.

I’m close to my family but not geographically so although I can’t do regular child care etc, we find ways to keep in touch in addition to visits. (8-y.o. DGD2 has just mastered video chat!)

And yes, I do realize how fortunate I am!!


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[melrose7]

My dad retired at 64/65 as it was a better option for him, otherwise he was going to lose money/pension something if he continued. He’ll turn 75 this year. So easy decision. He is busy watching all grandkids sports, runs a monthly family website for over 10 years, walks 5 miles a day, gardens, and is currently building a cage bar (18th century bar-the style of my parents house) in my parents basement. My mom worked a few years while I was growing up. She taught aerobics a few nights a week when I was little. When I was in high school/college she worked 15-20 hrs a week at JoAnn fabrics. She volunteers at church, local women’s club, book club, wine club, I swear she is busier than I am with 3 kids. They both attend all my kids events plus my niece and nephews. They also travel once a year/every other year.

My FIL has been retired since 2004, shortly after I met my husband. My MIL was back in school for CPA at that time. She is 15 years younger. She is retiring in November!! She helps out with the kids (they live next door), plays tennis multiple times a week, while my FIL, reads, watches TV, and naps.

[georgiegirl]

My mom retired at 66. She worked for the county and has a nice pension. She has health issues. But she does work a few days a month and she takes those classes (OLLI) for retired people. My stepdad retired not too long before her (he’s 5 years older so he was eligible for Medicare.)

My dad has not yet retired at almost 73. He can’t afford to financially due to some bad luck and poor choices (big spender). I think he will need to work forever. My stepmom is 64 and works full time. She loves her job and needs the money.

My ILs retired a while ago. FIL (now deceased) wasn’t able to hold down a regular job after the fall of communism (they in Eastern Europe, former communist country). He had mental health issues. MIL retired maybe around 62 or so. Retirement age is younger in her country than in the US. We moved the ILs here 7+ years ago, and FIL passed away 4.5 years ago. They sold their condo when they moved here and MIL is very frugal and lives on very little money.


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[essnce629]

My mom is 63 and up until 3 weeks ago was still working full time as a dental lab tech (makes and repairs dentures). She was actually let go 3 weeks ago but has no plans to stop working and is looking for another full time lab tech job, hopefully near me. She loves her work and has been super bored the past week with nothing to do!

My dad is retired Air Force, but still works full time. He's 62. He lives in TX (parents divorced since I was 10).

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[niccig]

My parents retired in late 40’s. Dad was eligible for a war veterans pension and mum got a carer pension, this is in Australia. My sisters and I had graduated college by this point. They keep busy with volunteer work, gardening, tennis etc. Finances were tight until mum inherited money from her parents. I think it’s tight again. They’ve never been great at managing/planning money. They do have access to various services to help with Dad’s health issues, but they won’t use them yet.

FIL retired at 60 for health reasons. MIL kept working and did consulting until about 70. They have planned for retirement, moved and downsized etc to make things easier for themselves. I tell DH we need to model our retirement after his parents.


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[gymnbomb]

My mom retired unexpectedly in her late 50’s. They moved for my father’s job and there were hiring freezes that prevented her from getting a job in her field. Financially they were fine, so there was no reason for her to get another job outside her field just to have a job. She wasn’t ready to retire and it was rough for her. She did a little contract work for a year or so in there somewhere, but sitting all day at a desk was hard on her due to back/health problems.

My father retired from the army with a pension and lifetime medical benefits for him and my mom when I was in middle school, then had a second career that he retired from when he was around 62.