Retirement

My husband has decided it is time to retire. He will have been in the Air Force for 20 years come the end of December. It has been, for years now, the plan for him to retire, and me to go back to work. He has taken care of us for over 10 years, and will become a SAHD (stay at home dad)...something we both want for our family. I have taken care of the family and home for over 10 years, and it is time for me to follow my career...something I've been preparing for and wanting for a long time.

I have spent the time with my babies, watching them grow and nursing them, and guiding them into this stage of their lives. Now that they are almost all in school, and nearly weaned, it is time for me to move onto the next part of our lives.

I will, at best, have an associates degree that is, essentially, useless in the workforce. I haven't worked in over a decade. I have to write a non-existent resume. In an economy that is in the toilet, I have to try to prove myself to an employer that probably isn't hiring. A few years ago, I couldn't get hired at WalMart. Everyone can get a job at WalMart--except me. And I'll have to put off school after December, too.

With my husband retiring, we will lose a paycheck, free medical insurance, life insurance, dental...all of that "important" stuff. This is especially worrisome because we have one child with serious medical issues, and 3 others that, well, can't go without insurance. I'm also thinking of having the last of a couple surgeries that I need in the next few months as well. I don't know if I'll be able to have them that quickly, but I'll have to try. I'll lose my medical as well. I have a few chronic conditions that can't be left untreated, but they will have to, now.

We can pay for insurance, but with virtually no paycheck, that will be much harder. And, because most of us have pre-existing conditions, we either won't qualify, or will have to pay FAR more than the "normal" person.

Of course, we could put our one son on disability. He's qualified before, and benefited from it, but we go to a point where we didn't need it anymore, so discontinued using it. And I HATE having to ask for help from, or answer to the government (of course, if they actually took care of the people that served and their families, this wouldn't be an issue, but that's opening a whole 'nother can o' worms).

And my husband will be on disability through the VA. Although, there's a good chance he'll still be able to work. Which, given the right opportunity, we could both pull off working. Even with him working full time, he would still be home more than he was before.

There's just SO much change about to happen. I'm worried. We knew this was coming, and have tried to prepare for it, but I just don't think we've done enough. We will deplete all our savings within a few months, unless his retirement check comes in on time, which, knowing the military, is quite unlikely.

Is this really the right time for him to be retiring? Well, yes. He has to. Yes, there are stipulations about staying longer than 20 years, and it is possible...for some. It isn't an option for us, so we're going to make due with what we can.

Its a scary thing, change. But hopefully everything will work out for the best. I can only hope that this won't be as difficult and scary as we're making it out to be.