I would keep the job but part time. I work in a school and there's so much BS. I want to keep working with the kids, but get out of some of the meetings and time-wasting. Or I would volunteer my time doing similar work.

Yes but I would do it part time. Full time is a lot.

Not right now. I’m a single parent to elementary kids and would much much prefer to stay home/not have them in aftercare. I would probably volunteer a bit and when they got old enough to be independent do something part time. But I need my salary now and in the future which is why I didn’t take five years off when they were babies even though I wanted to them too — I was scared that if I left I wouldn’t be able to get a job in my field.

I don’t think I’d get bored because I’d probably acquire volunteer stuff and hobby commitments very quickly; that tends to be what I do in my almost nonexistent spare time these days.

Note: I would only do this if I magically had the money to do so, not if I had a spouse making enough to cover it. Spouses can die/become disabled/divorce.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would never want to SAH while DH worked. If we could both f off and travel together, then I'd quit in a second. But I'd never leave him to bring in all the bacon.

This is us. I currently work, so does DH. Both in high pay jobs. Neither of us has to work at this point, and we could comfortably retire on what we've saved. But if we keep working we'll be mooooreee comfortable. And there are days when i'm not busy, or work wraps up by 4:30 and i'm bored and restless. And i remind myself that i would go insane doing that for two weeks by myself.

I also don't know how some people sleep at night, letting their spouse go off and work all day while they, well, don't work. Every day I have worked is one less day my spouse has to work.

But i do look forward to retiring by 52 or so, with DH, and getting to do the second half of life that way.

And yet you’re both still working when by your own admission neither of you has to. Sounds less like some altruistic you jump I jump partnership and more that you have zero idea who you are or what you’re interested in outside of your paid employment.

Why the hate for a supportive spouse? They sound young-ish with many years left to live, perhaps what they have now isn't enough to sustain for the (hopefully) long life they'll have.

Probably because of the “I don’t know how people sleep at night” part of their comment. Super judgmental.

I don't have to work and I do, and a very intense job. I'm an idiot.

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t work if I didn’t have to but I would be very active in volunteering instead. Purposeless breeds depression and anxiety.

And how exactly is not working purposeless? I can think of lots of ways that people can pass the time without working or formally volunteering.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would never want to SAH while DH worked. If we could both f off and travel together, then I'd quit in a second. But I'd never leave him to bring in all the bacon.

This is us. I currently work, so does DH. Both in high pay jobs. Neither of us has to work at this point, and we could comfortably retire on what we've saved. But if we keep working we'll be mooooreee comfortable. And there are days when i'm not busy, or work wraps up by 4:30 and i'm bored and restless. And i remind myself that i would go insane doing that for two weeks by myself.

I also don't know how some people sleep at night, letting their spouse go off and work all day while they, well, don't work. Every day I have worked is one less day my spouse has to work.

But i do look forward to retiring by 52 or so, with DH, and getting to do the second half of life that way.

And yet you’re both still working when by your own admission neither of you has to. Sounds less like some altruistic you jump I jump partnership and more that you have zero idea who you are or what you’re interested in outside of your paid employment.

Why the hate for a supportive spouse? They sound young-ish with many years left to live, perhaps what they have now isn't enough to sustain for the (hopefully) long life they'll have.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would never want to SAH while DH worked. If we could both f off and travel together, then I'd quit in a second. But I'd never leave him to bring in all the bacon.

This is us. I currently work, so does DH. Both in high pay jobs. Neither of us has to work at this point, and we could comfortably retire on what we've saved. But if we keep working we'll be mooooreee comfortable. And there are days when i'm not busy, or work wraps up by 4:30 and i'm bored and restless. And i remind myself that i would go insane doing that for two weeks by myself.

I also don't know how some people sleep at night, letting their spouse go off and work all day while they, well, don't work. Every day I have worked is one less day my spouse has to work.

But i do look forward to retiring by 52 or so, with DH, and getting to do the second half of life that way.

And yet you’re both still working when by your own admission neither of you has to. Sounds less like some altruistic you jump I jump partnership and more that you have zero idea who you are or what you’re interested in outside of your paid employment.

I wouldn’t work if I didn’t have to but I would be very active in volunteering instead. Purposeless breeds depression and anxiety.

Anonymous wrote:If my spouse works, I work. We are on this path together.

If we were both ready to retire, or independently wealthy (multimillionaires) then no.

Gonna throw yourself on the funeral pyre someday as well?

I don't work but you can't not work without people asking if you are working or going to work. People just assume that everyone has to work when they don't. We're also brainwashed by corporations to think that we have to buy things all the time.

I'm a DH who doesn't work. I run the house. Started during covid and it works for us.

Anonymous wrote:If you'd asked me a decade ago, I'd have said yes. Now I'm in my late 50s, and I am looking forward to wrapping things up -- creating a handbook for whoever takes my job over, providing a timeline that will allow for a smooth transition, and saying "See ya!"

I would still like to work or volunteer part time, but I am looking forward to doing things I enjoy in the amounts I enjoy them and not worrying about how much I'm getting paid.

This^. Life is short and I don't want to spend whatever is left on the alter of a job.

I don't think I would. I like my job well enough, but I hate the politics (academia). I might offer classes on my own with the realization that I probably wouldn't turn a profit. And volunteer. But I'd keep it to 15-20 hours/week.

I do not work and we don't have that high of an income. It's just what makes sense for us.

Over the years, I've volunteered for various organizations.