Regrets

[InTheSticks]

This question is for those that have already retired. Did anyone regret not going part time after your could RE?

I will be in a position to retire next March. I'm thinking of asking my employer if I can go to half time.

I already work from home. The type of work I do would appropriate for this. I am a software developer.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[BBQ-Nut]

Former engineer here - no regrets in FIRE so far (9 months in).


I have volunteered for some things, but have signed up/joined several clubs and orgs for things from audio to animal tracking and am loving it.


However, if you have doubts of going 'whole-hog', part time may be the way to ease into it. And if you are s/w developer, maybe the part time gig would be easier/better than 'full time' retirement and having to come back 'rusty' if you change your mind.


I think it really comes down to how much thought and planning you've put into what you want to do with your free time. If you have not thought about this you may go crazy at home with a sudden change to no structure.

 

[pjm-7]

No regrets. I thought about going part time, but I still would have had the full time BS.

 

[rodi]

Perhaps I'm misreading your question but here's what I did... I was an "older" mom and negotiated part-time work when I had my oldest son at age 39. I dropped from full time to 3 days a week. Later when I transferred locations, I had to move up to 4 days a week. I retired when my oldest was 13 years old - so my last 13 years were part time.

I still managed to retire early - at age 52.

Do I regret going part time - not in the slightest - it was the perfect balance between family and work commitments. Did it impact my RE plans? Not really - as an engineer I still made more than household median wages, and did the LBYMs thing. I probably could have retired a few years earlier if I'd stayed full time - but would have also been more burnt out and stressed.

Did I want to work part time after retiring - heck no!!!! I like being retired....

 

[MichaelB]

Regrets? I've had a few. But then again, too few to mention.

 

[Chuckanut]

No.

 

[InTheSticks]

I'm concerned that I'll miss the work and the structure.

My wife is retire and she seems to work full time not to be bored.

 

[rodi]

Regrets? I've had a few. But then again, too few to mention.

Now how did I know someone was going to post this.
(I admit - I started humming it as soon as I saw the title of this thread.)

 

[W2R]

This question is for those that have already retired. Did anyone regret not going part time after your could RE?

I will be in a position to retire next March. I'm thinking of asking my employer if I can go to half time.

I already work from home. The type of work I do would appropriate for this. I am a software developer.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

On the contrary, I think I would have deeply regretted taking a part time job, because personally I would not have been able to fully experience retirement in the same sense that I have thus far. For me, unwinding from a career involved shedding layer upon layer of stress, like peeling an onion. It also involved months of sleeping whenever I wanted to, doing whatever I wanted to do whenever I wanted to do it, and letting it sink in that nobody but me had control over how I spend my time. It took me a couple of years to sort through all this and shed all the stress. I don't think I would have even begun doing it had I had a part time job.

Different strokes for different folks, though! Sounds like you really, really want to work part time, so I'd say "go for it".

 

[Bamaman]

When I retired, I really hung it up.

If I want to work now, it'll be working on mission teams building and repairing houses for the poor. Or, I'll be taking on projects for our children--or taking care of grandkids.

If you've spent your life working and building the finances to take care of yourself, don't have second thoughts about working part time. The company will somehow do without your talents.

And life goes on. . . . . . . . . . . .

 

[Fermion]

Try to live life without regrets....unless you happen to have a time machine.

 

[InTheSticks]

The job is not that stressful. There is not much deadline pressure. So, I wouldn't be shedding much stress. I think if they would let me work on average of 20 hours per week, it would give me the time I need to get the stuff done that I want to do, including travel.

It's just a thought.

 

[travelover]

None yet, but it has only been 8 1/2 years.

 

[Live And Learn]

I worked part time for 2 years several years ago. I loved it. If that were an option again I would have done that for 3 more years rather than fully ER at age 52. I love retirement but (a) I worry that my initial WR of 3% is too high since 90% of my budget is rather "fixed" and (b) I haven't found enough afternoon activities to satisfy me and find myself a bit bored at times between 2pm and 5pm.

You could always try P/T initially and then decide if it is putting constraints on you before you go full ER.

 

[InTheSticks]

I worked part time for 2 years several years ago. I loved it. If that were an option again I would have done that for 3 more years rather than fully ER at age 52. I love retirement but (a) I worry that my initial WR of 3% is too high since 90% of my budget is rather "fixed" and (b) I haven't found enough afternoon activities to satisfy me and find myself a bit bored at times between 2pm and 5pm.

You could always try P/T initially and then decide if it is putting constraints on you before you go full ER.

I've thought about trying P/T and I could always pull the plug, if it put too much constraint on me. I don't know that I would have option to retire and then go P/T at a later date with the same employer. I don't want to do a job search for a P/T job, if I don't have to.

 

[Rustic23]

None for us.

I would think this answer would hinge on several things:

1. How much of your social life dependent on your job
2. How financially close is your retirement
3. How much do your enjoy your job/skills
4. How much of you is defined by what your are or do
5. How much do you value control of your time
6. Are you happy working now, but just want a little more free time

I will say free time is addictive! It seems like the more I have the more I want. I have gotten to the point that I don't even like things scheduled against my time that I enjoy!

So, no regrets for us. Our retirement is well funded, we are who we are, and are ok with it. We enjoy our freedom. Do we miss friends from work, yea, a little, but not enough to go back!

 

[Chuckanut]

Try to live life without regrets....unless you happen to have a time machine.

Actually, I do have one, but it is broken and the replacement parts I need won't be made until 2064.

 

[brett]

Don't look back.

Look forward.

 

[AllDone]

It depends how flexible the part-time job is. My aunt (close to my age, not her sister's age) works when she wants to as a locum tenens. I wish that I had set that up, but I wouldn't want to be locked into showing up at an office two days a week. My aunt can say, "Sorry, I'm not available in August."

 

[CaliforniaMan]

None for us.

I would think this answer would hinge on several things:

1. How much of your social life dependent on your job
2. How financially close is your retirement
3. How much do your enjoy your job/skills
4. How much of you is defined by what your are or do
5. How much do you value control of your time
6. Are you happy working now, but just want a little more free time

I will say free time is addictive! It seems like the more I have the more I want. I have gotten to the point that I don't even like things scheduled against my time that I enjoy!

So, no regrets for us. Our retirement is well funded, we are who we are, and are ok with it. We enjoy our freedom. Do we miss friends from work, yea, a little, but not enough to go back!

Wow, is that ever true for me! I was a software developer too, addicted to my w*rk. Now after 17 months of retirement I am as addicted to retirement as I was to my previous profession. I cannot imagine a scenario where I would return to what I did previously. And part time seems even worse. You are not here nor there. Part of what I love about having my free time now is that I can go and do what I want any time I want. When my wife and I want to take a road trip, we hop in the car and go. If I want to spend the day in the hammock and read, I do (well, of course after I have completed the chores my lovely wife has given me). I just felt that I had nothing more to prove in my career, and not as much to contribute as in the past when I had more passion for it. IMHO when you jump in the water, you don't partly swim. It's more fun to really splash around.

Retirement really can be much better than what you did before. Why do it halfway?

 

[InTheSticks]

It depends how flexible the part-time job is. My aunt (close to my age, not her sister's age) works when she wants to as a locum tenens. I wish that I had set that up, but I wouldn't want to be locked into showing up at an office two days a week. My aunt can say, "Sorry, I'm not available in August."

The arrangement would have to be very flexible. I don't know that I could be gone for months. But, to be able to work more when it's too hot or too cold to be outside. And work less, when the weather is nicer. I would like to get an arrangement where I worked an approximately 1,000 hours/year.

 

[Which Roger]

The arrangement would have to be very flexible. I don't know that I could be gone for months. But, to be able to work more when it's too hot or too cold to be outside. And work less, when the weather is nicer. I would like to get an arrangement where I worked an approximately 1,000 hours/year.

I'm from the "get out and never look back" camp, but my situation was different from yours. Given what you've told us, as long as fear of retirement is not driving your decision (and it doesn't seem to be), part-time seems like a good option for you.

 

[InTheSticks]

Also, my employer is hiring programmers like crazy and that also makes me think they open to such an arrangement.

 

[Animorph]

I was happy to do some part time and short duration full time work when the opportunity arose. Even picked up a new patent for it (assigned to the employer of course). But I wouldn't have missed it if I had turned it down. DW was still working, so it was an interesting way to pass the time and look like I was doing something useful.

 

[Options]

None for us.

...

I will say free time is addictive! It seems like the more I have the more I want. I have gotten to the point that I don't even like things scheduled against my time that I enjoy!

So, no regrets for us. Our retirement is well funded, we are who we are, and are ok with it. We enjoy our freedom. Do we miss friends from work, yea, a little, but not enough to go back!

Emphasis added

+1
Odd. I was having this very conversation this morning with a retired attorney. One thing he said, which I found quite funny, was that he had tried to work PT after retiring, only to find he had no interest in being "supervised" anymore by some "kid" 15 years out of law school, or witnessing all the politics. Once you cross that [retirement] line, he said, it's hard to go back.

I had planned to work a few weeks a year over the next couple of years, but have been surprised how quickly that idea has wilted. I have only one thing to do today, and cannot believe how emancipating that feeling is.