Minimal Work

[obgyn65]

It is likely I keep a part time job after I FIRE, on top of my volunteering activities.

 

[FreeAtLast]

I am semi retired and work 18 hours a week which is about 4 half days. I started there full time and we both agreed to the reduction in hours during the past 5 years. I do computer programming so it keeps my mind alert. I have flexible hours and can work from home and it pays my health insurance.

I am getting to the point that I just don't want to do it any more. I am thinking of full retirement within the next year.

 

[dessert]

I retired April 1st of this year. So far I have not even thought about w**king at all. Actually I'm busier than I thought I would be. Each day seems to be filled with things to do. I went three months before I even talked with anyone that I left behind where I worked. I went 4 months before I talked with my replacement. We met at a fishing tournament and the conversation eventually got around to "the job". My position is that no matter what is going on where I w**ked, it's none of my business so I am not really concerned about it. Been there, done that and now I certainly don't want to stick my nose back into it. I don't miss working at all and whenever I talked to my old w**king buddies, it reinforced my decision to leave it behind.
I would not like to "stay in the game" because I'm no longer associated with the players or the game itself. I have moved on.
This freedom thing is very underrated.

 

[GregLee]

I am getting to the point that I just don't want to do it any more. I am thinking of full retirement within the next year.

Sounds like you're getting pretty chummy with management. Maybe they'd prefer doubling your salary and making your working life more interesting, to losing you. Time to challenge them a little?

 

[scrabbler1]

I worked part-time at my old job for 7 years before I ERed 3 years ago. In those 7 years, I had 3 different part-time work arrangements. The first was a mostly work-from-home deal in which I went to my office one day a week for about 6.5 hours and worked from home the rest of the time. That lasted for just over 2 years until the company ended such open-ended arrangements. I knew at the time that this would be my eventual undoing.

The next deal, after the work-from-home gig ended, was that I had to report to the office to fulfill the same 20 hours I had been doing before. I went to the office 3 days a week and I hated every minute of it. I did that for about 3.5 years. Juggling my nonwork life with the awful commute was becoming more and more difficult as I was feeling like I was already retired, or at least semi-retired.

But it was the third deal which I knew would likely lead to my ER. I cut my weekly hours from 20 to 12. That took me down to 2 days a week and 6 hours a day. [I had to forgo eligibility in my company's group health plan so I went on COBRA which lasted me 18 months.] At that point, my minimal work had become a nuisance interfering my a somewhat freer nonwork schedule with the extra day off compared to before. That deal lasted for 17 months before I had had enough of working altogether. Also, the value of my company stock holding, the only thing really keeping me there, had grown to the point I needed it to be so I could actually ER. The other pieces had fallen into place in those 17 months, too.

The one thing I did not want was to be working and still have to go out and buy my own health insurance. COBRA was okay because it was far less expensive than buying my own. I tried to convince my employer to let me remain eligible for it even if I paid 100% of the premiums, but they balked at it. If they wanted any chance of keeping me around a little longer, I told them in my exit interview, they had to let me remain enrolled in the plan (or stay on COBRA) even at 100% of the premiums.

Things worked out just fine. I left nearly 3 years ago and never felt better!

 

[jebmke]

Retired in December 2007 but kept getting called back on a consulting basis through last spring (virtually done now). The cash flow helped avoid having to draw retirement resources during the last downturn. I was lucky to be able to pick and choose assignments so I could avoid getting dragged into the abyss of my former job. This work is nearly at a permanent end now which is good. Even picking the assignments was awkward as the CFO is a close friend and it is hard to turn down friends that need something.

Now I am pretty busy with the TaxAide program. Starting my fourth year, this has become nearly a part-time job managing two sites and doing technical support for 10 sites. The heavy lifting is in winter when I generally have more time since outdoor activities decline.

 

[travelover]

Technically retired yes - but in a situation with immense potential - Life is looking very good.

Welcome Ewan. Why don't you post an introduction in the "Hi, I am" forum?

Hi, I am... - Early Retirement & Financial Independence Community

 

[dm]

Ive been retired since 2007. Yesterday I made $5 in the golf club skin game, does that count? I'm pretty sure I'm down for the year though, I need to put more work into making more birdies.

Other than that, NO.

 

[flyfishnevada]

Every time I think about working and earning a few extra bucks, I remember I'd have to work and that is pretty much the end of it. I'd take a job if it was the right fit. Enjoyable, comes with perks, flexible, etc., but otherwise no thanks.

Like Nords, I'm working on a book or three and I'd rather do that and develop some kind of passive income. I'm my own boss, I set my own hours, I work when I feel like, plus I enjoy writing. I'd do it anyway. That's the nice part about being retired. I can take chances trying to write a book and make a little money without worrying about supporting myself. If I fail, I fail and I had fun doing it.

 

[Finance Dave]

I have several ideas when I FIRE in about 12 months. Landlording, writing finance articles, and possibly start a web blog. Still researching a few things, but the idea is no more than 20 hours/week with something I really enjoy and no demanding bosses!

 

[cj]

I do a little part-time w*rk now, but in a completely different area from my career. I was in a technical field for 25 years; I now teach knitting classes 2-3 times per week.

ksr - that sounds great! Do you teach at a local yarn shop or elsewhere?

I have a consulting contract at my old job (which I mostly did like) though in over 4 months, I've put in a total of about 11 hours. It's just here or there, whenever they need my expertise. Totally works for me, and it's good for pocket change!

I also volunteer at PetSmart 3 hours on Tuesday mornings with the cats. I like that gig. I'm not opposed to a part time job if the right opportunity presented itself, but like many others, knowing that I don't have to makes it all OK.

 

[ksr]

ksr - that sounds great! Do you teach at a local yarn shop or elsewhere?

Yes, I'm teaching at a local yarn store and it has worked out very nicely. The owner has been great about letting me choose my schedule and classes, and I really enjoy doing it. I started by teaching one class a week while still w*rking full-time, then ramped it up to 2-3 classes per week once I ERed.

 

[Chuckanut]

I would like to go back to my college part-time job - window washer at a female only gym.

 

[FreeAtLast]

Sounds like you're getting pretty chummy with management. Maybe they'd prefer doubling your salary and making your working life more interesting, to losing you. Time to challenge them a little?

It has been a pretty flexible arrangement over the past 8 years but business is not good since the recession and benefits are being cut. The owner is trying to hang on to his lavish life style which was supported by the business when times were very good. Good people are leaving every couple of months.
I don't think that rational decisions are being made by the owner.

 

[Birchwood]

After 30 years being solo medical practitioner, and that after two residency programs. when I plan to quit next year, I do not have any intention of going back to medicine. I realized that there are a lot of things I plan to do in what is left of my relatively healthy life, and working just will inhibit me from doing most of it. Working part time will pull me to full time! There's a lot of liabilties, lots of bureaucracy and stress. I'll be FI, live frugally and enjoy whatever I save. I may have to compromise or economize a bit, but with what' going on in medicine nowadays, I consider myself blessed being able to walk away from it with my mind and body intact.

 

[Dreamer]

I retired from a federal gov job in 06/06. I started working as a receptionist for a glaucoma specialist in 03/10. It is a stress-free job and I work 24 hrs per week. It is 3 miles from my home and I like the people working there. They let me take a little over a month off this summer. I am having 90% of my pay go into the 401K. I need to work for 3 1/2 more years to finish getting my social security credits. I don't know if I will make that goal or not. I am taking it one day at a time. It is still a job with a schedule and I can't do as much traveling as I would like. I keep thinking about doing tax returns for one of the local places (they are running their ads that they will train you for this tax season), but I am happy where I am right now.

 

[freebird5825]

Nope.

I did technical w*rk for somebody else for over 25 years. I got totally saturated with it, at least in the bureaucratic environment I was forced to psuedo-Engineering w*rk in. Blech. The more I tried to stay hands-on, the more contract management and oversight they threw at me.

I do, however, use my techie skills for my own benefit now.

 

[deserat]

Hubby is retiring on 1 Dec, but has already found another j*b.....however, it is part-time and will make him happy, so I guess I don't mind too much. I am semi-retired.....have a consulting business that is part-time and finishing up my Reserve years. We are definitely transitioning into a different part of our life....exciting but scary, as usual with larger changes.

I find that some of the hobbies I thought I wanted to pursue more are now less important. However, I am truly comfortable with the looser time arrangement, i.e. I almost break out into hives when I have to go somewhere, wake up at a specific time and show up looking all polished to interact with people - I've definitely made that transition to "I own my time and want to do what I want to do when I want to do it." The consulting is usually done remotely and/or is via written reports.

I've found I sometimes spend too much time cruising the web now.

 

[Nords]

Like Nords, I'm working on a book or three and I'd rather do that and develop some kind of passive income.

I still think this "grow rich through passive blogging income" craze bears a suspicious resemblance to work. Even the "Smart Passive Income" blogger admits that content triumphs SEO. I'll enjoy figuring out how to do it, but I'm not sure I'm in it for the long haul of maintaining & tweaking.

I can see doing a second edition of "The Military Guide" (with chapters on SBP and other insurance) but I guess for the next six months or so I need to keep making sure the first edition is selling.

Spouse and I have been kicking around some book ideas, but I'm not convinced that they'd be worth more than the fun of writing. The lead candidate is "Why We Raised You The Way We Did", which would have an audience of one or possibly two readers.

Navy.TogetherWeServed.com has an interesting series of questions called "Reflections" intended to get you to write your service memoir. But again a lot of mine is classified, and the unclassified parts are of interest only to fellow recovering nukes.

Scott Berkun on WordPress' PostADay2011 has an interesting idea: Topic #238: "For each year you have been alive, write a single sentence about the most important thing that happened to you that year. If you don't want to get too personal, write a sentence about the most important historic event, or event most interesting to you, that happened in the world that year."

Hubby is retiring on 1 Dec, but has already found another j*b.....however, it is part-time and will make him happy, so I guess I don't mind too much.

I think he'll make the transition on his terms, and it sounds like he'll do just fine.

"Europe travel blogger"?

I've found I sometimes spend too much time cruising the web now.

Hey, I can quit any time I want!