Co-worker qualified for the early retirement package, which included 1 year of pay and insurance premiums paid for the next 10 years or until you qualify for Medicare, whichever comes first. He did not take it. :(
Same co-worker complained about how much he will hate being here for the next five years until he retires. I asked him why he didn't take the package (he could even go work elsewhere, just not in our industry), and he said that he couldn't afford it, b/c he's paying for his daughter's college.
Nice sentiment, and she is smart, getting a useful degree, and going to a state school, but I often wonder about the finances.
To save money, his wife cuts his hair, and she doesn't do it frequently. It grows way out of shape, and then she shears him like a dog in summer, lol!
They both have solid careers - she's a nurse, he's an engineer. House was purchased new close to 20 years ago, so the mortgage, if any, should be pretty small. But he does go out to eat every day, and every year he trades in his Kia for another one. I'll bet the wife and kids cars are on the same plan.
Their son is a (self-imposed) drain on them - barely made it through high school, repeatedly dropped out of college, just recently married and got the wife pregnant already, and the parents are still covering car insurance, cell phone, and probably some rent too, at this point.
Sad to see someone make such solid choices in some areas, and poor ones in other areas. I can't imagine being in my early 60's and hating the next five years of my life.