OMG, I’m picturing a CC member cruise!!! Can you imagine?! How fun (or interesting!)!!!
Someone needs to start a thread about THAT!!!
That would be fun! However, if we brought our spouses/significant others, they would be so confused…,
They would just walk around with nametags like, “abasket’s H” or if you brought your kid cause you were a helicopter parent…“abasket’s DD”!!! 
That sounds like a very fun idea!!
book worm -habitat for humanity does womens builds
Isn’t that often around the age range when risk tends to get higher?
http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/is-retirement-good-for-health-or-bad-for-it-201212105625 indicates that there has been some research on the health effects of retirement.
@bookworm - here is an older (2013) article from the NYT on single travel. Some of the names they mention may still be around!
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/travel/singled-out-for-the-single-supplement.html?referrer=
Good article. A patient of mine mentionedTaulk tours, which are pricey, but don’t charge a single as though she is 2 people. I will seriously look into something for next summer.
53 year old solo-practicing estate/trust attorney here. No plans to retire until I’m at least 70, though I do hope to cut back my hours a bit over time. I love my work but also would like to have a bit more time to dive, hike, and just chill. I work a lot right now, I guess I’m sort of a work-a-holic, but hubby is too (also self-employed and loves his work, has a luthier), so we just work and commiserate about our business woes, while we enjoy his gourmet cooking.
My sister just retired for the second time, and has started her third career - as my assistant. She’s 63 and has gone from being a full-time teacher (so, like 60 hours/week or more), to working about 25 for me, in a much less stressful (she says) position. I think she’ll do that until she’s 70 or so. then fill more of her days with gardening, sewing, diving, building stuff, and other things she loves. I need to find more things to do (other than work) before I could fill all my time with non-work activities.
I am 51. I love the people I work with. I love my job – it’s the only one in the world that combines my background in two very different fields. I don’t know if I could ever find that anywhere else, yet since it is a startup company, change seems inevitable. I have been “retired” – at home with school-age kids for about 10 years – so am happy to work (for pay) for the foreseeable future. And like you @Sweetbeet, I have a spouse who is a workaholic, so what would I do, just sit at home?
DH has no plans to retire. Sigh. He loves his 70 hour workweeks and two hour daily commute. He doesn’t have any hobbies and is not handy around the house, so it might be just as well. Having him underfoot would drive me nuts. OTOH, I have two medical strikes against me and he has several health issues, so I am of a mind to carpe diem and travel now while we can.
I’m effectively retired due to my medical issues, but am very busy quilting for charity, volunteering at our synagogue and clearing clutter out of here. Would love to move to a single level house before mobility becomes a problem, but there aren’t many of those houses around here, and those that are going up are beyond what we would want to spend. I’d be willing to move in closer to DC to ease DH’s commute, but he’s not crazy about that, and 3BR condos are insanely priced as one gets closer to town. Downsizing will cost more than selling our current house will bring. Sigh. If we had bought a larger/more expensive house years ago, we’d have more equity to throw at downsizing, but we spent the $$ on college instead. Still think that was the better investment.
If DH retired, I wouldn’t mind moving somewhere less costly, but there are resources here that I need (docs, etc.). No idea where S1 will wind up in the long run, S2 is likely to stay in this area. Being close (or an easy trip) to see grandkids would be nice.
Yup, yup yup. Things change. In my primary career field, things have changed a lot which makes it harder to do what I like to do and afford to do it. So I semi-retired a year and a half ago (didn’t think when I was in my 50’s that I would) and love the slower lifestyle. Have picked up another part-time career, and between the two, its fine for now. Add to that that the kids are on the other coast and I’d like to see them more often.
Retirement was an easier target before the recent stock market debacle… 
A year ago H had no thoughts about retiring. Now he has changed his mind and is thinking he will retire in 3 or 4 years which would make him 64. He works in health care administration and he said the stress with all of the health care/insurance changes is getting to be too much. I was a SAHM so I guess I am retired now that the girls are launched! Wish that I could retire from cleaning the house! 
I am always busy with reading for two book clubs, photography and scrapbooking workshops, traveling, Bunco and card club and working out. We entertain quite a bit, too.
Depending on your field, you may not be able to NOT retire. In other words, before you come up with a retirement plan that involves working well into your 70s, make sure you have a likelihood of working to that age, including possible health issues, changes in the job market, changes in your workplace, or even dread memory or other issues. Not everyone can possibly work into their 70s, not everyone is going to find an employer that will keep them on (the days of seniority and company loyalty to their employees and even the advantages of keeping you on so they don’t have to pay you a pension … all are long, long gone). You need to really be able to come in bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and competitive with cheaper, younger talent with families to support to stay employed … and again, not everyone is that blessed.
I have noticed that folks I know in their 50s are retiring, but to many that is just a nicer way of saying they were laid off and aren’t looking for work in a shrinking job market on a daily basis (if job prospects improved, I bet many would return full or part time). Some of them are really valuable employees, so I would like to see them come back (although with the dwindling job market, their absence makes my career longer).
It would be fine (preferable) for me to retire while H is still working. I have a lot more interests than he does and am more social so I have no issue keeping busy while he is working.
I would like to start winding down around 60 and work at a second “career/job”. I don’t know what that would be but it should be enjoyable. I have to start thinking about that soon. I do like gardening and also traveling. It is my ice breaker when meeting people at conferences. So where are you vacationing or where are you from? etc… I am that person who actually wants to see your vacation or garden pictures.
That said, I don’t think we will spend our retirement years traveling as much. We prefer to do this while we still have the energy to do so. It also gets very expensive. We have traveled extensively for work and leisure and I already see a difference in energy from just five years ago. I have also developed an anxiety with flying, probably due to the confined spaces we are now subject to. DH is happy to sit on the beach and he does not like to fly. I love to explore cities. Just this spring, my daughters and I took a trip to the UK and DH opted to stay home. DH and I also like to go on walks/hikes. When we retire, our travels will probably involve visiting exotic tropical beaches and maybe a river cruise. Nice and easy. DH wants to rent an RV and drive across the US. I am not sure about that,
I would love to work with kids that need direction, such as a guidance counselor. A friend of mine runs an international initiatives program at a college and has done some great work with minorities that need career/educational direction. She has also gone abroad with students to work on certain humanitarian projects.I am fascinated by her work but she does have an international education degree and many years of experience I don’t have any education credentials but a friend told me that one can sign up for volunteer work and that may push me in that direction. I am not sure if that is completely true but worth exploring.
I do like what I do now but the corporate world is making me roll my eyes more frequently these days. If they just let me do what I do best, it would be fantastic.
I have about 8 years with 4 years of kids college tuition to go.
I think a lot of times the decision on if you want to retire comes down to the relationship you have with your boss.
I love my job but if I get a new supervisor that could change in an instant
Tom, those are exactly my husband’s thoughts, although I doubt he will retire within the next 15 years.
l loved my job, I totally love my profession. I never could imagine retiring, had no interest in even discussing it seriously, certainly not in my 50’s, LOL. I am 64. Until February of this year, I had every intention of working to 66. Things changed. Instead of being “fun”, every day became torture. So, please don’t chastise me for being excited to be getting out. My place of employment has become …a nightmare. Truly, I have nightmares about it.
@VaBlueBird: Things change. Time to move on.