I'm curious about your comment: "I don't want him to go full-time unless he knows he's going to be working steadily with no layoff, and if not, then I'm definitely going to retire." If your concern is financial, I suggest that you figure out what your total income might be with your retirement income, the SS payment and you husband working part time as he is now...then..live on that income - banking any extra. You'll soon see whether you can, or even want to, live on that amount of money. At the very worst, you'll end up with money in the bank to splurge on. at the very best, you'll know for sure what you can do on that amount of money...and feel more confident in retiring.