Advice re switching to part time

23rdspiral

Sunnyday wrote: »

Just a thought but if you are considering staying with the same employer would a job share be a possibility?

You could keep the number of hours that you need and the rest of the hours could be advertised internally or externally so both of you sharing the job get as many hours as you would both like IYKWIM

Someone where i work did this and although i don`t know much about it both people seem happy and i think that they both keep the benefits of full time employment, ie sick pay and any perks.

HTH

SD

I did this - but i'm the new person in the job share arrangement! the other person went from full time to 2 days a week and i do 3. it was really odd at first, but we got on well and we both got the benefits of sick pay, proportional bank holidays ect... they have now left and whilst i cant go up to 5 days, i have been able to do overtime.

good luck with your decision!

anguk

I would definately say go for it, I've known too many people who have worked until they're 60/65 just to protect their pensions only to become too ill or disabled to enjoy their retirement.

I'd second the idea about living on a part-time wage while you're still full-time. It'll give you an idea of what you can live on and any excess can go to boost your savings.

Penelope_Penguin

Savannah02K wrote: »

I'm currently working full time but am now seriously thinking of going part time, say three days a week. My house is paid for, ditto my car, I'm reasonably savvy on things like checking my savings are getting the best interest, using up ISA allowance etc

I'm 54 and single, don't have expensive lifestyle at all

I've picked out what looks most important

I'm nearly 47 as is DH. We were plannning to finish work completely at 50 (sell up and buy a smallholding :T ) but since Treasury rules on drawing pensions changed, DH will try to go PT at 50 with a view to finishing at 55 :T

So I'd say - go for it :j

As this thread has strayed away from Old Style, Savannah, would you like it moving to the Over 50's Board, or the Employment Board?

Good luck, whatever you decide!

Penny. x

gratefulforhelp_2

Um, good luck, but consider that if you are part-time, the employer can vary your hours without reference to you, by a certain proportion.
If you were three days, say, and thats the least you can manage on, but the employer wanted to cut costs and made you two days, how would that sit?

Consult an expert on this, please!

LJM

good luck im sure as you sound great at saving you will adapt quickly and easily to the change, as long as it feels right for you id say do it but make sure you do explore all the ins and outs first of what you will lose monetary wise as you may have forgotten something

Bitsy_Beans

Well if you wanted to experiment before you actually make the decision try a couple of months of living on a reduced income - stick the excess money into our savings account and try living for the month on the reduced wages. If you feel you couldn't do it long term then perhaps that's your answer?

penelopedee_2

Life is short, you need to live it. I went part time last year - scared the pants off me as OH's job wasn't particularly secure. In the end his work dried up.

But - it was the best thing I've ever done. I've worked full time since I left school at 18 and I'm 39 now. I do 22 hours across 4 days and as DH isn't bringing much in I do a second job to make sure everything gets paid. I love it despite 2 jobs. Things are much more flexible and I enjoy going to work when I do. I have a day off mid week when DS is at school and I can do anything I want to (and there are plently of things to do that cost nothing if you look hard enough).

You seem to have your head screwed on regarding finances. You just need to decide whether you want to be rich(ish) moneywise or if other things matter more. One thing that helped me was that both of our parents have retired the last few years, after working and paying pensions all their lives, and their pensions are rubbish. My Dad really wishes he just hadn't bothered and is now looking for a bit of part time employment himself. Oh and I still pay a little into my small pension pot so I haven't got my head buried in the sand.

foxgloves

I went part-time last year, cutting down from 37 to 18.5 hours per week. My partner remains full time. We'd done all the maths before taking the plunge but I still wondered if we'd regret it. So far, we haven't had a single regret. We got rid of most of our debt while I was full time and it has shown us just how much of my salary must have been going into debt repayments before, which has been a real eye-opener! I have more time to spend on growing veg, on batch cooking for the freezer, experimenting with economical recipes, preserving and crafts (I make a lot of presents & things for the house) & have mroe time for shopping around & planning so we are tending to spend less than we used to. Because I can get the chores done in the week when I'm off, my partner & I no longer find a large proportion of our time at the weekend is spent doing them, so we get more quality time together, can go out more or partner gets to spend time off cooking or gardening which he enjoys. Because our income has dropped by a quarter, we have become more aware of the need to avoid being tempted by credit/loans again so have also started regular saving to provide an emergency fund. I have just accepted a few days overtime over the next couple of months as it was an opportunity to boost the emergency fund, but I would now be very reluctant to return to working full time. It does feel like a leap of faith at the time, but it can be done if all the sums add up. I sometimes think it must be easier for us 'old-stylers'.....

Pink.

Hi savannah,

Now that you've had some input from the Old Stylers, I've moved your thread over to the employment board so that you can get more advice.

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].


Pink

glitter123

I've been looking for part time work for years. Whenever I have been for interviews, the job has been so hotly contested.

If you can get your current employer to allow you to change to part time/job share then grab the opportunity.