It's taking a lot of getting use to but I find that I have so much work to do around house and farm that I am certainly not bored.

If your local SS office is like ours it would be best to make an appointment. Ours opens at 9AM and there will be a line outside the door starting at 8AM. Another bit of advice is to have your phone silenced, have no sharp items or firearms in your possession and no food or drink. The guard at ours is really sticky about the rules. And I am glad guns and knives are not allowed.

check until mid-May. Since my insurance ends on 4/15, I'm just going to risk it until Medicare picks up with the first SS payment.

I know just how you feel. I have also had this worry about when to retire and if I could afford it. And I have no pension, so it was even more of a worry.

I have an "early retirement" now, because I lost my job of 12 years on my 61st birthday in September. I have not had any luck finding another job even though I have had many interviews, so I have decided that it is fate and I will just call this retirement now, come hell or high water. I can't get SS for another 6 months, but I have made the transition to thinking of myself as retired. It is a good feeling, even though I will never stop worrying if I have enough to live on in the coming years. I have found that I need a lot less money now though, and I am sure you will be surprised at that too.

Enjoy the grandkids. Nursing is a hard job, and takes a toll. It will be great for you when you get used to retirement. I no longer miss it.

My timeline almost identical to yours. First job at 15, nursing 33 years, retired at 63. I'm 70 now. Not one minute of regret. As busy as I want to be. Have been free to to travel, enjoy the grandkids, my garden, read a good book.

Congratulations! Enjoy!

instead of fear, panic and anxiety........starting to get excited!
The books I'll finally read, road trips, sew a quilt, stay up late watching old movies. I thought you could apply for SS online? Have to be in person?

Retired WonderWoman

I am looking at the next few years to make the move. Work is becoming more difficult with more and more being piled on each day it seems.

I stopped working nearly a year ago, and at the time I thought maybe I'd do temp work for a little more money, but I so love not working that I haven't been willing to do it.