One lady I'm our office only works bc she loves shopping and so she puts her paycheck towards that.
Her 1 kid is in 10th grade and involved with sports so he's not even home from school until 530ish.
It's a win-win for her.

Why can't you go back to work, any type of employment, when Dd is in ES?
What would you be doing from 9 to 330?

I'm 48 and rapidly coming to the conclusion that this might be me. Part of the reason is money -- we have quite a bit so anything I make both faces a high marginal tax rate and is a drop in the bucket relative to our overall assets. A job also would tie me down and I'm finding that I need to travel a lot. We've got aging and sick parents in the midwest and west coast that require my attention, plus my late teens are going all over the place for college and athletics. I also have one child left at home.

I have found interesting hobbies and some highly skilled volunteer work (right now I'm managing a website for an organization and on the advisory committee for a large non-profit endowment etc). The volunteer stuff keeps me engaged, and is somewhat intellectually satisfying. I prefer the volunteering to paid employment because of the flexibility and limited hours. Good luck!

If you didn't want a job when you had a 17 year old, why would you want one when you have a 19 year old? it isn't like looking after a 17 year old is a full time job!

I am probably doing this. Money is not an issue, though, so I have no fears about finances.

Get way more life and disability insurance.
The last think you want to do if your husband passes suddenly is worry about trying to go back to work immediately.

I will be in that situation.

I'm not in this position but I recently hired an admin/project manager who is coming back to work after raising two kids. She doesn't need the money and is way over qualified (based on prior career before kids and masters degree) for the position but we're the sort of office where everyone contributes ideas and it's often all hands on deck. She's excited to be apart of the team and I think we're lucky to have her. Her goal is not to get back to level she was at pre-kids but to fill her days with something she finds interesting.

Anonymous wrote:I'm 53, my youngest is 15 years old. 3 more years at home before he's off to college. I keep batting around returning to work but it's been nearly 18 years for me...yikes.

If I go back sometime between now and when we have an empty nest when I'm 56, I have to really think about the value in returning to work. At 56 I won't exactly be looking to start a new career. It would be strictly for the added income and it wouldn't be for that long, maybe 5 years? I've never approached working with quite that view before so the answer as to whether to go back or not isn't that obvious to me. Still debating....

Isn’t is obvious that you won’t be going back to work after two decades of living a life of leisure? Please, spare us the dramatic waffling.

I'm 53, my youngest is 15 years old. 3 more years at home before he's off to college. I keep batting around returning to work but it's been nearly 18 years for me...yikes.

If I go back sometime between now and when we have an empty nest when I'm 56, I have to really think about the value in returning to work. At 56 I won't exactly be looking to start a new career. It would be strictly for the added income and it wouldn't be for that long, maybe 5 years? I've never approached working with quite that view before so the answer as to whether to go back or not isn't that obvious to me. Still debating....

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am 57. DD is 17. 1 1/2 more years of school for her and then she is off. I did work 20 years b4 I had her and then became a SAHM.

Not sure what is next.

Are you happy about your decision? Do you feel like you missed out by not working, but now are too mature to go back (if you wanted to go back)?

NP in a similar situation and no, absolutely not. But I'd likely feel differently if we were in a bad financial situation, obviously. But no, I became an empty nester at 55 and had zero desire to go back to work in the traditional office setting / 9-5 sense; very happy with my decision.

Im 45 with 2 under 7. I started staying at home when first was born.

My advice is to just keep doors open and your outside interests alive. I did this and was inspired to start a very small, surprisingly successful home business -- tangentially related to my previous career -- 5 years ago. The hard work was up front and the ongoing maintenance is minimal. The money comes in handy, as does the satisfaction when home has me feeling drained. I only work a small handful of late-night or early-morning hours/week, when I originally had plans to work none until kids were much older.

If something were to happen to my husband, yes, there would be life insurance or disability income. But not enough for the rest of my/our years -- especially if kids are still dependents -- so I would have to go back to work. I do worry about that from time to time. I worked in tech, so am too far out of touch to jump back in at my previous level in that world.

If all goes as planned, once kids are grown I will return to school for a PhD in a field I wish I'd been able to enter as a younger person but was prohibited due to life circumstance.

Anonymous wrote:I am 57. DD is 17. 1 1/2 more years of school for her and then she is off. I did work 20 years b4 I had her and then became a SAHM.

Not sure what is next.

Are you happy about your decision? Do you feel like you missed out by not working, but now are too mature to go back (if you wanted to go back)?

I am 57. DD is 17. 1 1/2 more years of school for her and then she is off. I did work 20 years b4 I had her and then became a SAHM.

Not sure what is next.

I'm a first time mom at 43 (!) with one and only DD. I'll be 62 by the time she goes to college. I've had a 20-year career, and am most recently C-level at a large company. I feel like I've achieved the highest point of my career, and I could be doing the same thing for 20 years before retiring. Or start my own company, which would have its own trajectory. Obviously I've wanted DD for a long time, and love spending time with her. When she gets older, I could go back to work PT, or freelance, or volunteer. Has anyone go from SAHM to retirement and any tips?