If only I could retire!!! I'm 59 1/2 and been working 41 yrs - 8a to 5p as a secretary.
My husband is 61 and looking for work again. We've been married for 8 yrs and he's never kept a job longer than a few months. Seems like with a BA in Political Science and a MA in Bus. Admin he could find some kind of work! He was in siding, roofing and home remodeling sales, commission-only, when we met and was making good money, but with the economy most people can't afford any kind of investment in their homes right now. He decided he wants to become a high school math teacher, but of course, he doesn't know much math, so he decided he wanted to learn it so he could teach it. Now he spends his days at home on self-study online courses in the hopes of being able to teach. Why doesn't he just teach anything, be a sub or just get some sort of job.
In the meantime, my daughter and her two little girls live with us. The GDs dad is a bum and doesn't pay any child support. DD is in cosmetology school and hopes to be done and take the state boards to be certified in July. Until then she's working a couple nights a week at a restaurant but doesn't even make enough to pay her daycare and is now $1100 behind. I babysit the GDs after working all day. When I picked up the GDs from daycare yesterday, the owner took me aside and said if she doesn't pay up then she will have to take the kids to a new daycare. All of this is really got me so stressed-out.
In the meantime, I've been at working at the same company for 20 yrs and at the company before my current one for 21 yrs. I have a 50 mile one-way commute every day so I leave the house at 6a to miss the traffic. I'd love to retire but with DH being out of work for so long now, and my DD struggling with no one else in the family to help out, my bills are starting to pile up because my salary doesn't cover everything. It will take years before I can retire, if ever!
Sorry, I had to vent....>