We weren't ready to retire! My wife is 63 is not working and just finished an accounting program to add income for the next few years, now this is unknown! I'm about to turn 62 and had recently completed a cybersecurity certification as a CISSP, look it up, and I haven't been fully employed for 16 months. As COVID occurred it has made finding employment matching our skills very difficult. In addition for the last 20 months, I've been aiding my aging parents further taking away from my employment focus!
Were we ready to retire? HELL NO!
Because of all the changes we have a few options, one is retiring and move elsewhere where our equity will purchase a home outright and we survive on limited income until we can take our full retirement and live more comfortably. We can't afford to live in the home we've had for 20 years much longer. The question is where would we go?