- Joined
- Nov 17, 2015
- Messages
- 14,054
On the other hand, she just got a PhD so I don't know why she wouldn't work after I retire. She pays car maintenance, fuel, car insurance, her food, her vet bills, and her apartment (she works at a university out of town).
She might want to continue to work, quite likely since you have such independence built into your marriage arrangement (her food though?). But there are plenty of stories of one spouse retiring first, and the other seeing that life in front of them every day and then getting the itch.
As long as they don't then feel like they must keep working while their spouse gets to enjoy ER, it's fine. If they feel trapped and feel "if you'd just stayed working X more we could have sailed off at the same time but now I have to keep working all by myself and the house is still a mess" ... that sort of thing. And I'm avoiding genders specifically as it happens both ways.