Although I "retired," went back to school, and now work in a career where I make less than my 30 year old son, I do not feel guilty. Why should I feel guilty when our money has been earned through our own hard work and education?
Although teaching is not thought of as a high paying career, I was making a high five figure salary when I quit. Believe me, I did have a problem giving that up. Not because it meant changes in my lifestyle, but because mentally, I knew I could damn well take care of myself. And that was very, very important to me. For the last five years or so of my teaching career, I never thought once about spending money on something for myself. All of a sudden, I felt dependent on someone. I am over that, now, but it was a very big deal at the time. Like Emily, I was bored all of the time during the one semester I was doing nothing, and that played into my whole illness thing which happened at the same time. I even went back and did a long term sub job the next semester, which really solidified my decision to go back to school. I went on the interviews and got accepted into the program while I was doing this job.
If people want to be jealous because we can live the way we do on my DH's salary, so be it. His path to a highly paid professional career was very untraditional and involved owning his own business when we met (a lunch truck), going back to school at the same time we were young marrieds, had a baby, and a nice new house. The semester before he graduated, he sold his business to finish school and stay home with DS #1, Financially, it set us back for years, but it was so worth it. When he got his first professional job in 1983, I was making more money, as a teacher! Things were good, until we moved back here in 1990, where it again, took us years to catch up, and involved living in a community with schools that weren't so great and definitely feeling like we didn't belong. Finally, in the late nineties, things started coming together. By the time DS #1 went to college we were debt free, which was our goal. We sacrificed so our kids could be brought up the way I was brought up, and this played a huge part in the decision for us to move back to MA. Life was very easy for us in AZ, where not every person has a masters degree and family money.
I see my career as my "giving back" career. Although teaching falls squarely in the human services area, I spent a lot of time taking classes, away from my young kids, to maximize my salary when I needed it. And, I definitely would have burned out if I had been counseling as a young person. I don't see how a younger person could do this without some life experience perspective. I've had several clients verify my thoughts here, too. While they don't know how old I am, they know I have adult kids.
I am so much happier having a flexible schedule. I can ride my bike during the week, go out for coffee with a friend, and schedule a hair cut on Monday mornings. I work very hard 3 days a week, and just a little 2 days a week. It's perfect for me.