I turned 61 last October, as did my wife. On her 61st birthday, my wife decided that she could no longer continue working at her job as a nurse. I am in full support of her decisions as she's been diagnosed with MS and rheumatoid arthritis for about 15 years. It's amazing that she's been able to continue this long. She has filed for disability, and we haven't a clue whether or not she'll be approved. 65-70% of first time applicants for disability are denied, and of those that are approved are no brainers, like amputees and terminal diseases, but MS is a huge red flag and my wife has an armload of MRI's, specialists opinions, and prescription medications, so who knows. We should find out sometime next month.
If my wife is successful in getting on disability, I might hang it up, too. I have severe arthritis in my left knee to the point of having to get steroid injections to manage the pain and stiffness, and we are desperately thin at my place of employment, requiring me to take on more responsibilities and be more physically active than I normally would. I've told my employer about my limitations, but there's not a lot they can do about it, at least not within the next 6-8 months. I have to apply heat to my knee before work, ice it afterwards. My doctor told me that I'm about 5 years away from knee replacement. My wife and I are in very good financial shape, shouldn't even have to touch my social security until I turn 70, allowing it to grow out to its full amount. But no matter how much money you have socked away, you always wonder whether or not it will be enough, what would happen to us if the stock market crashed or if we had another 9/11. It's a big decision, in my case bigger than the decision to get married as it is an irrevocable decision as once I pull the plug they will not hire me back.
The original plan was to stick it out until the end of 2016, pay off the wife's new car and replace the heat pump HVAC system before we punched out. But it's going to be difficult to go on given my work requirements.
Anyhow, I wasn't necessarily asking for suggestions or opinions, although I would welcome both. I'm just spilling my guts a little bit.