Maybe more vacations?. Not really yet. Spouse is still working (we have separate finances)
G-dog, I'm curious how that's working out? I'll be in the same boat come May 2019, and while the wife has begrudgingly accepted the fact that I'll be retiring, she's expressed occasionally that she's going to be jealous and that she hopes "you don't think you'll be running off for weeks at a time like your friend ______ _______." I have some trepidations about how she's going to handle my freedom.
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You are so close - congratulations!
Spouse was nervous in the weeks leading up to my last work day. I was the primary breadwinner for our entire life together except the first year out of university. I made close to 50% more than him in the last years. We haven’t split bills 50:50 - when he was in graduate school and post-doc’ing I paid all household expenses. Things have shifted since then, but I don’t know the exact split now. So, I think he feared the fire hose of cash going away.
Spouse likes his job, for the most part, so is not jealous regarding that aspect.
Do you plan to run off for weeks at a time? If not, you can reassure her that that won’t be happening. But yeah, just being able to get up every morning and not even think about going to work is GLORIOUS!
Does she have any timeline for her retirement? Are your finances shared? IMO mostly she needs to deal with her feelings and communicate with you. But you can do things to help her feel less upset - even just having coffee ready for her in the morning, or something that makes her morning easier will help. Making her nights after work easier is great too.