Feel like I should retire but why? Talk me down. Or up!

[worstofbothworlds]

I'm in my 50s but my DH is considerably older. Teenage DCs who we had later in life so still at school. I should retire but I feel like I still have loads left to do!
I haven't had a grant over 50K in the last 10 years (I'm in STEM) and I've just been rejected yet again.
I feel like I could just spend 5 years writing up papers and then retire.
But I still have research questions I haven't answered.
I want to do both - spend more time with the DCs and DH but also have a full time research career with funded projects!

@worstofbothworlds there will likely be another round. Just keep going for now.

I've got some retirement coaching company links in my work in-box and will see if I can fish them out next week when I'm back.

I am retiring shortly - not an academic and am thinking of:

Book club
Political activism
School governor
Trustee/non exec roles

Good luck with whatever you decide.

How old are the kids? You could take 4 weeks per tears oer child if under 18.

They are early secondary and early teen. I don't want to take time out in the Uni vacation or I won't get any of the work I actually like done, and I don't fancy my chances of getting parental leave approved in term time (plus I will still come back to a backlog).

I have thought about volunteering but my area is one where well-meaning volunteers do a lot of damage and I would rather help people/society/the planet through my work where I am an expert and know how to do things rather than through selling things in a charity shop or pulling up the wrong plants in a park or listening to children read.

(Volunteering as in - something to keep me busy when I retire. I would actually quite fancy doing something like VSO as a retired academic, working in overseas universities, which they used to do, no idea if they still do, but a considerably older DH plus two children still in school is not going to make that possible for a while).