I'm 68 With $3.1 Million and I Want to Keep Working, but My Spouse Says It's Time to Call It Quits
I love my job and I love my wife. Can't I have both?


A $3.1 million nest egg could buy you a pretty comfortable retirement. A recent Northwestern Mutual survey found that Americans think it will take $1.26 million in savings to cover their retirement expenses without stress. With $3.1 million to your name, you’re looking at about 2.5 times that amount.
Plus, on a basic level, a $3.1 million nest egg could result in a generous annual income when combined with Social Security. If you apply the famous 4% rule to a nest egg that size, it results in annual withdrawals of $124,000 without adjusting for inflation.
Social Security, meanwhile, pays the average recipient today $2,000 a month. If you’ve managed to amass $3.1 million, you may be an above-average earner who’s entitled to a larger monthly benefit than that.

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
But even if not, you’re looking at roughly $150,000 in annual income when you combine the typical Social Security benefit and $124,000 a year from retirement savings. That could certainly cover the bills and still allow for extra spending on hobbies, travel, and other things you enjoy.
But what if you’re not ready to stop working at 68 with $3.1 million and your spouse insists that it’s time to bring your career to an end?
It may be that your spouse has recently retired, is lonely and wants your company. Or, it could be that your spouse is worried you’ll work to the point where you won’t leave yourself with enough “good” years to enjoy retirement.
It’s a situation you’ll need to work through. And part of that means addressing your reasoning for wanting to continue working.
What's driving that persistence?
It’s not a bad thing to want to continue working in your late 60s. If you're still working at 68, you're surely not alone. As of late 2023, 19% of Americans ages 65 and older were still employed, says Pew Research.
Holding down a job in your late 60s and beyond has clear benefits, from stretching your nest egg to being able to delay Social Security past full retirement age for boosted monthly benefits.
Plus, many people enjoy working and find it fulfilling. If that’s the boat you’re in, you may want to keep working for mental and emotional health reasons, even if you don’t need to work for financial reasons.
But it’s important to nail down the reason for wanting to continue working. If it’s a fear of losing your identity, a counselor may be able to help you embrace retirement and find ways to continue feeling like a person in the absence of a job. And if a fear of running out of money is keeping you chained to your desk, that’s something you can work through with the help of a financial adviser.
You can also take some comfort in the giant nest egg you’ve accumulated to date. While $3.1 million doesn’t guarantee that you won’t deplete your savings in your lifetime, it raises the odds of your money lasting, especially if you’re careful managing that money.
Avoiding marital strife
You may want to continue working at 68 for perfectly healthy reasons — you like your job, you enjoy the company of your colleagues, and you have grandchildren or causes you’d like to help support with your extra income.
Take it seriously
But if your spouse wants you to call it quits, that’s something you’ll need to resolve jointly. The fact of the matter is that continuing to work doesn’t just dictate what you do with your days. To a large degree, it could impact your spouse, too.
If your spouse is retired and wants to travel, and they don’t relish the idea of doing it solo, the fact that you’re continuing to work could be getting in the way of your partner’s retirement dreams. And if they worked hard and saved diligently, they deserve to enjoy some of the upside, too.
Find a compromise, if possible
To that end, talk things through and see if you can arrive at a compromise. That could mean scaling down to part-time work or taking an unpaid leave of absence for a few months to travel and indulge your spouse.
Or, if you love what you do but your spouse wants you to have more flexibility, try seeing if your employer is amenable to having you work on a consultant basis. You’ll likely give up benefits like healthcare and a 401(k), but you can retain your paycheck (at least to some degree) and stay busy while potentially getting to do your job when and where you choose. Plus, at 68, you’ve got Medicare to fall back on if you lose your employer health coverage.
Remember, it can be frustrating to be the only one retired when you're part of a couple, though it's not uncommon. A recent Ameriprise survey found that among current retirees, only 11% of couples ended their careers at the same time.
Show some empathy for your spouse
So, try to consider the situation from your spouse’s perspective. It may be that they had to retire recently due to factors beyond their control, such as health issues or company downsizing. And now, they may be feeling lost without you.
This isn’t to say that you should rush to leave your job just because your spouse wants you to. But with a $3.1 million cushion, you should certainly have the financial flexibility to make changes to your current schedule. And you may find that if you change the scope of your job, whether by going part-time or doing it on a freelance basis, both you and your spouse can get what you want.
Read More
Get Kiplinger Today newsletter — free
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.

Maurie Backman is a freelance contributor to Kiplinger. She has over a decade of experience writing about financial topics, including retirement, investing, Social Security, and real estate. She has written for USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, and Bankrate. She studied creative writing and finance at Binghamton University and merged the two disciplines to help empower consumers to make smart financial planning decisions.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Climb More Walls of Worry
Volatility is back in a normal range, and the trend for the main equity indexes remains positive despite specific and general headwinds.
-
How Capital One Venture X's Travel Perks Make the Fee Worth It
Travel Cards Travel cards, like the Capital One Venture X come with a sizable annual fee. Here are four ways to offset it.
-
The Rule of 240 Paychecks in Retirement
The Rule of 240 Paychecks can help you plan for a lifetime of withdrawals. Because, like any good boss, you need to pay yourself wisely.
-
Two Estate Planning Issues You Should Never Overlook
This estate planning attorney explains why proper asset titling and beneficiary designations make a big difference when it's time to transfer your wealth.
-
Worried Social Security Benefits Will Be Cut? This Is How Much More You Need to Save to Be Safe
The Social Security trust fund will be insolvent in 2033 and by 2035 will have to reduce benefits by 17%. Here is now much more you need to save to cover the potential shortfall.
-
The Odd Couple: Renting Out a Room in Retirement
Whether you're more Golden Girls or Felix Unger, renting out a room in retirement might make financial sense. You might even have fun.
-
How to Be Your Own Consumer Watchdog
Big changes are afoot at federal agencies. Make these moves to protect yourself financially.
-
The Three Retirement Tax Issues I Nag My Clients About
A financial professional highlights areas of tax planning that retirees should have on their radar as they finalize their retirement plan.
-
How to Age Gracefully: Learn from Bill Gates, the Who and David Attenborough
Getting old isn’t nearly as bad as many people think it will be. Nor is it quite as good. Maybe it’s somewhere in between.
-
I'm 60 with $4 Million — Can I Have a Luxury Retirement?
With inflation and volatility, how careful should I be?