Hi from CT. Dreaming of part-time work.

[webdevmom]

Hi. Been lurking for a while but just joined so I can take part in conversations! I am 33 and my husband is 39 and we have a 2.5 year old son. I would like to switch to a part-time, more laid back job in a couple of years. DH loves his job and will probably stay put until he's 55 or so. I think both of us will definitely want to be fully retired at 55!

Current salary:
Me: $110,000
DH: $135,000

Account balances:
My 401k: $167,000
DH 401k: $213,000
My Roth: $34,000
DH Roth: $4,000
Taxable: $130,000
Home equity:$226,000 (value: $450k?)
529: $56,000
--------------------
total $830,000

Other: we have each been with our company for 10+ years and each expect at least a $1K/month pension when at age 55ish.

We currently "live" on about $40K a year. The rest going to savings/retirement/extra mortgage payments. I would like to "downsize" my job in 2 years when my son starts Kindergarten so I can be home with him in the early afternoon and have time for all his (future) activities. And maybe take some classes to learn something new! The possibilities are endless and I dream about it often. I think we're on track to make it happen. Looking forward to learning from the members of this board!

 

[Calgary_Girl]

Welcome! It seems like you could actually downsize now rather than wait 2 years. After our first daughter was born, I went back to work part-time and after our second daughter came along, I decided that work was over-rated and I decided to be a SAHM.

 

[robbridg]

It sounds like you have a solid plan. Congrats!

 

[webdevmom]

Thanks for the welcome! Calgary_Girl: Although I threaten to quit at least once a week, I think I would feel guilty doing it now. I feel like we are doing so well with paying down mortgage debt and saving for college since we have the dual incomes. It would be tough to just stop saving! If we could get the mortgage down to just 100K or so, I would feel better about cutting our income in half. That's where the "2 years" comes from: guilt.

 

[Webzter]

Have you consider working from home? I assume, from the name, that you're in web development...

If you're not already, you might be able to line up remote work with at least a more flexible schedule (say, 3/4 time, partial pay cut or no pay cut). Or, consider the prospects of consulting work where you might be able to keep a similar salary but work less. If DH is at a company with health benefits then you striking out to do 1099 or invoice work wouldn't be bad at all (if you can line up the work, of course)

 

[webdevmom]

Hi Webzter. Yes my megacorp company is very flexible. I work from home a lot already. I haven't looked into part-time with this same company though... good idea, something to ask around about. I don't know how good I would be at consulting, another thing to consider! As you can see, I haven't put too much thought into NOT working full-time. LOL.