Early Semi Retirement part time work experiences

[fisherman]

For those of us that cannot quite ER yet but hope to SER by changing to part time work could you share any similar experiences. If you could include what the work was, how you found it, and if you would recommend it that would be most helpful.

[citrine]

I have a few years to semi-retire and I have three things that I will be doing:

Getting my Yoga certification so I can teach and stay in shape.
Taking tax classes so I will be able to work at H&R Block for tax season.
Painting and selling my art.
Subsitute Teaching.

I love the fact that all of the above can be done for part of the year which will lead to diversity (I hate boring jobs) and will provide me with satisfaction as well as an income.

[YVR-Terri]

I've been working PT for 6 months now, as a consultant in my normal line of work (project management). Pros - flexible schedule, can work from home or from other locations, multiple clients means that everyone assumes I am with another client when I don't answer phone or email back right away. Cons - people do expect you to be available for in-person meetings on fairly short notice so long trips are not possible, income is not always predictable, once in a while I need to put in a full time workweek (up to 50 hours).

I got into it through a good relationship with a former employer, who was happy to contract out one thing that I did well, that they didn't have time to take care of.

[In-control]

I have looked into PT work for the benfits - yes!!! Two companies (Barns & Noble and Starbucks), so far, provide benifits to PT workers, at least their web pages state they do. The pay is fun money as my primary objective is to get Health Insurance for my family, worth 12k/yr and meet new people. And I can FIRE anytime I want.

I am also enrolled and taking Boston Universities Financial Planning course. With the end goal of being certified. This is a great program(costs ~2K) and really serves multiple purposes, managing my personal portfolio and possible setting up a company - only taking the nice clients!!!

I have also considered approaching my management to do the work from home on Friday/Monday thing. I am working to get an offer from another company first - enabling me to put pressure on the company to allow me to do it.

Take care and good luck!

[janeeyre]

I teach (adjunct prof) PT in a local college. When I was still employed full time and contemplating ER within a few years, I started teaching one class at night. This early planning allowed for a smooth transition to a day time schedule of two classes over two days per week. Also, I have free full access to the college gym and exercise classes. It pays $3,500 per class.

[janeeyre]

Quote:

Originally Posted by citrine I have a few years to semi-retire and I have three things that I will be doing: Getting my Yoga certification so I can teach and stay in shape. Taking tax classes so I will be able to work at H&R Block for tax season. Painting and selling my art. Subsitute Teaching. I love the fact that all of the above can be done for part of the year which will lead to diversity (I hate boring jobs) and will provide me with satisfaction as well as an income.

Citrine: I am interested in pursuing pilates, tai chi and possibly yoga certification. What is the process for certification?