My husband retired at 58 - (Thank God we had twenty years to enjoy it) and the first year was sheer hell. Hate to say it, but...................everything changes but the bills!!!!!! The salary dropped way down. I had to wait until I was 62 until I could put in for SS and that was 14 years ago and I only make $304.00 a month now - started at $198.00.. Thank God for my husband's pension. Be sure of what you want when you retire, who you want your health insurance with, the best you can get, etc. Also, if you retire at 64, you will not get the full benefit of SS that you would if you waited until you were 65. Even if it just a few weeks.
You will be cutting back quite a bit, you may not think so, but you will be getting less and the heating prices go up, food goes up, gas goes up, and your raise from your pension or SS does not amount to that much. It gets a lot better after the first year, because you have gotten yourself into a groove and you will do just fine. I am just saying that every case is different and you have to figure this out what is best for YOU. As it turned out my husband was on full pension and when he died, we had it set up to take a lower pension while he was alive and I would get 75% of his pension when he died. That worked out just fine and I flowed into it with no problems.
There are things you will want that you can't have, but you can save for them. That makes it so much more rewarding. Good luck to you, enjoy your retirement and your first grandchild. They are such a blessing and don't spend a lot of money on the baby. They outgrow everything. Hate to sound callous, don't save for his college education either. Give your love to him, which is so much more important, and your time to him/her, equally important. Save for his first bike!!!!!!!
Edie