Thinking about working part-time - 2nd opinion needed...

chubsta

I am in a bit of a dilemma, and am looking for a 2nd opinion to help me decide the future...

I have been employed full-time on shifts for 26 years, and earn just under £40,000. As I have got older the shifts have become harder and harder to do, and it has not been helped by my employer changing the shift-pattern so that although the shifts themselves are shorter, I have to work more days to make up the hours, this has meant i am pretty much constantly tired and my health has taken a bit of a hit in the last year.

Last April, on a whim, i decided to start up a small business from home and this seems to be going well, the average income from this is around £800 per month, although sometimes much more, and due to its nature i can only see it increasing in the future. It takes up very little time, and is risk free, even if i actively stopped doing it i would continue to get revenue, perhaps for years.

Anyway, I am at the point now where i feel i should drop the number of hours i work which would allow me to enjoy life a bit more, and hopefully start to feel better. I don't want to drop many hours, just 8 a week which would give me an all-important extra day off a week. There is no problem with my employer about me doing this, although they have said that once i do it it is unlikely in the near future that i would be able to increase my hours again.

So, financially it would have no impact on me - the drop in wages of £200 a month is easily over-ridden by my other job - my employer is happy for me to do it, and i really think it would be better for my quality of life...

So why can't i seem to do it? Having been with the same employer since i left school i guess i have always loved the security of it, although i have done many different roles in this time, and this seems like such a huge step for me, but i cant work out why. Even if i didn't have the other income i would still be ok financially so i cant use that as an excuse but i cant help feeling that if i dropped to the part-time money and my other business stopped etc that i would be in trouble, even though on paper everything looks fine. I have thought about continuing as i am and using the money to pay my mortgage off early but at the moment i am just feeling like death by always being at work...

Any advice appreciated, even if it is only to tell me to not be so bloody indecisive!!

whitewing

Yes, speaking from experience, you should drop the hours. There are plenty of reasons to do so and pretty much no reason to continue as you are.

I was self-employed and employed when I was setting up my business. Over a period of 4 years I gradually reduced my employed hours, and then got made redundant (simplified version). I am now only self-employed. It was scary but I never regretted any cut in hours.

Mr.Mulla

I agree with Whitewing. I also wouldn't hesitate dropping a few hours. After all it wouldn't really have any big effect on your financial status because of your revenue from your second job. And most importantly, you should do it for your health.

williacg

I agree with the previous 2 posters, go for it. You are in a win win situation, as you are financially secure and also have the backing of your employers, it's rare that you get the 2.

What's actually holding you back is fear of the unknown and change, which is perfectly natural when you've been working for the same employer for such a long time.

I did a similar thing a few years ago, and although it took a while to adjust, it's the best thing I ever did.

Go for it and good luck.

getmore4less

From what you have said do it.

Other things to consider,

Do you have a defined benifit pension(final salary), that would be less due to under crediting for future years.

Holidays should go down.

**curlywurly**

I can thoroughly recommend working part time, if you can afford it. A few extra hours to yourself a week is a lovely luxury. The only thing I would say is, depending of course what sort of a job you do, if you are part time, career progression/promotion in many industries is very difficult for part-timers as opposed to full-timers.

chubsta

Thanks for all the advice, really just telling me what I already know!

I agree that it is just fear of the unknown, i'm sacred stiff that i wont be able to cope financially if anything bad happened in the future, but of course, it hasnt happened so far and may not either... I have made sure that apart from my mortgage, which isn't huge compared to many people (20% of my current monthly take-home from the main job), I don't have any other debt at all - no cc/loans etc. I therefore feel that I will never be in a better position to do this than now...

The drop in salary will affect my pension as it is a final-salary one, but i intend to save like hell over the next few years to counteract that, i would also have the option of making voluntary contributions. Career progression is a non-issue because i have worked at the higher grade for a few years and hate it!

I guess the time is right to take a step back from the main job and spend more time on my second one, which is very much up to me how much time i spend on it - i plan to double my efforts so that it becomes, in effect, my main job according to income by the end of the year. I'll never give up the main job because i enjoy it and work with good people, and the buffer of the pay, which will still be around £2200 take-home per month means i should be ok...

Its funny though, writing it down like this - good job that i enjoy and is quite well paid, 2nd job working from home which is on the up and up, and no debts, makes me realise just how much better off i am than so many hard-working people who have had their lives kicked from under them these last few years, and who post on this site to try to get proper help.

Makes me feel like a bit of an idiot for stressing so much over this...