We're 55 and 54. Our portfolio is ready for us to retire, we hit our "number". We're ready to retire, but our two older dogs and one nearly 92 year old parent....are not. Our plan has been to be nomads in short term rentals for the first ten years or so of our retirement....longer if we're feeling good. But we can't travel with our two older dogs who both have significant health problems. And my 92 year old FIL just lost his spouse of nearly 70 years last year (my MIL). Soooo....we decided to keep working for now. DH gets a lot of time off....6 weeks plus holidays. I own a small business and have managed to cut my hours back to 30-35 hours a week so I can volunteer more at the ASPCA and our town's food bank/community "soup kitchen". We're traveling more, spend time every weekend at our beach club and so the summers here are like a staycation.
So, while we're itching for a new adventure....as long as others depend on us, we'll remain in a holding pattern. We figured we might as well continue to work while we're standing by. These are our best earning years and with the ability to max out all retirement accounts in the "catch-up" years....we can save and invest as much as ever in those accounts. It's also an excellent time to pile up cash with current rates. And every year we continue to work is a year we're not having to pay for private health insurance and gets us a year closer to medicare. We've agreed that no matter what, we stop at age 60.