I'm 63 and raising four of my grandchildren. Money is very tight, and I haven't once thought about retiring.

"I have four daughters whom I raised myself. They were 3, 2, 1, and my last I was six months pregnant with when I became a single parent. I dated on and off throughout the years, but having four daughters, I was very careful about who I wanted to bring into their lives. I decided that I didn't want anybody who wasn't ready to commit to raising them."

"I remarried, when the girls were 11, 10, 9, and 8, but that marriage only lasted two years due to severe abuse. That really triggered a lot for my daughters when they were teens. They started getting into alcohol and drugs."

"I worked in corrections up until 20 years ago and decided that wasn't my calling. I started at the Yukon Women's Transition Home for women escaping domestic violence. I work full-time managing a building for second-stage residents, meaning they're over their trauma but still are in need of safety before going out into the community."

Cindy Chiasson, 63, raised four daughters as a single parent starting when they were ages 3, 2, 1, and unborn. She pursued higher education and worked in corrections, later transitioning to managing a domestic violence transition home. Her daughters experienced trauma from her remarriage to an abusive partner and subsequently struggled with addiction. Her eldest daughter had her first child at 18 while unprepared, followed by two more children. Chiasson now raises four grandchildren ranging from ages 9 to 24 while maintaining full-time employment and having no retirement savings.

Read at Business Insider