She wants to retire, but he’s not sure

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February 18, 2021 - 9:48 AM

Dear Carolyn: I work a boring, demanding, but well-paying technical job. My joy and passion is my art. I make a little money selling commissions online, and I’ve been dying to do it full-time for years. There’s a nearby shop willing to do consignments for me if I can commit to a regular schedule, which I can’t while working full-time.

When my husband and I paid our house off two years ago, we talked it over and agreed if I could save a significant amount of money out of “my money” (we use a “yours, mine, and ours” system) then I could retire early and do my art full time. It took a lot of sacrifice and hustle and I’m nearing the “magic number.”

Now my husband is stalling. He’s pointing out all the things that could go wrong and asking me to keep working until at least age 60. I’m devastated, but I don’t want to do this if he’s not on board since he would be the one working full time at his equally demanding job, for health insurance and to keep paying into our retirement nest egg. Doing my art full-time would cut my salary by a factor of 10, but I’ve been so looking forward to this.

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