Who is working PT in retirement

[ziggy29]

I have been working part time at the local post office for a while, but it has suddenly become a little less part-time than before. Back in January, the job I did (and had to reapply for to keep) became a union represented position. Well, with that comes required rules about promotions and conversions to "career" positions, which hit me a couple weeks ago. I had no choice; I had to take it or else just walk away from it all.

So now I am a "part time flexible" career clerk, working probably 20-25 hours a week on average, sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less. The pay is better and I get all the federal benefits now, but I'll work more hours and I'll have to do it at the next town over, 8 miles away, instead of three blocks away. We'll see how it goes. It's not like I'll accumulate a pension large enough to put the golden handcuffs on me, so it will still be easy to walk away if it starts to suck. I did immediately put 5% into a Roth TSP to get the full match, of course.

That said, getting the full benefits of being a fed employee for a 20-25 hour j*b isn't a bad deal. It's just a little more w*rk than I really planned for.

 

[harley]

Some folks are just not cut out to be ER people....

I worked with a couple of guys like that. They could have retired and had a higher income than if they'd stayed working but persisted on anyway. Made no sense to me but I supposed it made them happy.

Back in 2003 Megacorp made an early out offer that was accepted by so many more people than they expected that it nearly crippled the company. Sadly, I wasn't eligible (took me 3 more years to get out). But I knew a number of people that weren't going to take the offer until they talked to the financial advisors the company provided. The FAs pointed out that mathematically they'd be working for free for 2-3 years if they stayed. These people were all computer engineer types and understood numbers once they were explained. Every one of them ended up taking the offer. I'm sure a few got other jobs afterward, but I know two personally that once they got used to ER couldn't bring themselves to go back to work.

Sometimes all it takes is exposure to make an ER type.

 

[Fermion]

We just retired this year (mid 40s) but probably will end up doing some part time work as we love to build (both engineers) and building stuff is expensive unless you get paid to do it.

 

[BellBarbara]

We have been retired 3 years. My husband volunteered one day a week for Meals on Wheels. They liked him so much they created a job delivering meals 5 days a week every other week. He just makes about $750 and we get mileage reimbursement which pays for all of our gas on both cars. He likes the nature of the work - it's just about 3 hours a day.

It's not enough money to pay taxes on as we are living on cash saved. We haven't started withdrawing from IRAs yet.

Another guy works opposite him on the weeks my DH doesn't drive, and they exchange for vacations and time off so it's pretty easy. I am not interested in working at all.

 

[Hermit]

We just retired this year (mid 40s) but probably will end up doing some part time work as we love to build (both engineers) and building stuff is expensive unless you get paid to do it.

I'm building my house and I am actually saving quite a lot of money doing most of it myself and I also enjoy the construction stuff. Of course spending last winter sweeping snow off the floor of the half-finished framing may not appeal to all, but I didn't mind (except that last snow last week when it was supposed to be springtime. ) I certainly would not want a job with all the deadlines, etc. I will do volunteer work on maintenance and new construction at my favorite charity when my house is complete.

 

[Free To Canoe]

I work doing taxes.
I also work as a poll worker for the elections twice a year.


Doing taxes gets me out to meet people in this rural community. The poll worker thing is community service even though I get paid for it. I wish I haven't started it.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Free, I used to be a poll manager. Grew to dread elections, for sure. I started when I was 18 and lasted for about 15 years. It helps if you only volunteer for the smaller municipalities instead of the national elections. I was a machine clerk, which meant I could stay in the background, though because I was youngest always, I would volunteer to take the cartridges up to the election commission.
Thank you for your service to your community for sure!

 

[Free To Canoe]

Free, I used to be a poll manager. Grew to dread elections, for sure. I started when I was 18 and lasted for about 15 years. It helps if you only volunteer for the smaller municipalities instead of the national elections. I was a machine clerk, which meant I could stay in the background, though because I was youngest always, I would volunteer to take the cartridges up to the election commission.
Thank you for your service to your community for sure!

Glad that you could relate on the election thing. Thanks for the encouragement. Now if I can just find someone[-] dumb enough [/-]a capable replacement.