Part-time working before retirement

Sunsh1ne54

Hi, I bit the bullet and have just begun working part-time (same job) after working full-time all my working life. I plan to retire in the not too distant future. Anyone else here do the same and what was your experience? I’d be interested to know how you found the transition to part-time, any issues etc, and how long you worked part-time for before you fully retired. Thanks

indiasign

Hi Sunshine - I’m in the same position, I dropped my hours from 5 to 4 days this April, and intend to drop down to 3 from next April.

My thinking was to ease myself away from the working routine and into retirement, rather than hit a “cliff edge”.

4 months in, and it’s going OK, for me, at least - the other half isn’t too keen on seeing me sit around the house, so my garden’s had more attention in that time than in the previous 15 years! I’ve also taken a couple of photography courses, with a view to developing that as a hobby.

My wife is a couple of years younger than me, so she’ll start doing the same from next year. After that, it’s a question of “wait and see” as to when we both finally pull the plug, other finances permitting

Organgrinder

Just about to do exactly the same. Language course about to be booked. Looking forward to it.

Sunsh1ne54

indiasign said:

Hi Sunshine - I’m in the same position, I dropped my hours from 5 to 4 days this April, and intend to drop down to 3 from next April.

My thinking was to ease myself away from the working routine and into retirement, rather than hit a “cliff edge”.

4 months in, and it’s going OK, for me, at least - the other half isn’t too keen on seeing me sit around the house, so my garden’s had more attention in that time than in the previous 15 years! I’ve also taken a couple of photography courses, with a view to developing that as a hobby.

My wife is a couple of years younger than me, so she’ll start doing the same from next year. After that, it’s a question of “wait and see” as to when we both finally pull the plug, other finances permitting

Hi indiasign - you sound much more organised than me with your time. I’ve not made any solid plans yet, thought I’d see how it feels to have spare time first, but I do worry that I might end up drifting a bit if I don’t make any plans. 

Sunsh1ne54

Organgrinder said:

Just about to do exactly the same. Language course about to be booked. Looking forward to it.

Hi Organgrinder - That’s also very organised!  Enjoy!

RetiredTaz

I went part time for the last two years prior to retiring. Down from 5 shifts to 2 or 3 a week. It worked really well for me. I now have a bank contract (NHS) and just do a couple of shifts a month. I feel going part time certainly eased me into retirement. 

Nebulous2

I retired two years ago and quickly found I wasn't ready. I then took a part-time job, doing 2-3 days the first year, since reduced to 1-2 days. Avoiding that cliff edge was necessary for me to adjust my lifestyle. I've sometimes said, instead of jumping off the cliff I've climbed to a ledge halfway down. It's going well so far, and stopping 8 years before state pension age it has meant I haven't had to draw upon my capital in the way I expected to when I stopped work.  

My previous job didn't lend itself well to part-time work. My line manager went to 3 days a week and then was asked to attend a regular management meeting on one of her days off. That was a common pattern, people who went part-time regularly found themselves working bits of 5 days, rather than 3 discrete days. 

ArbitraryRandom

I've been working 4 days a week for a few years now (starting pre-pandemic) and recently dropped down to 3.5 - currently around 17 years from planned (early) retirement.

Adjusting was tricky - I kept trying to do 5 days work in 4 days, and especially now working from home a lot of the time I struggle not to check my work phone for emails if I'm expecting something in or hear a teams message. 

Deciding which days to work is important and will depend on your job/work dynamic. I found not working Mondays always caused me stress as everyone else had come back from the weekend and was up to speed by Tuesday, whereas I was playing catch-up; so I started taking Fridays, and now finish early on Thursday. 

Corporately, post-pandemic, we have a policy of trying to schedule any meetings which benefit from office attendance on two regular days (anchor days) where possible, so people can come to the office for a day rather than an odd hour. That's gradually shifted to trying to arrange any meeting on those days, not that it always works, but it does make things easier to manage.

Also, working part time, I need to be realistic about the meetings I attend and when I ask someone in my team to go or rely on the recording/note - If I'm only working a few days a week, I can't spend them all sitting in a meeting room/on a virtual call and expect to actually get anything done... but that letting go and trusting others to speak for the team/report back also took a bit of adjustment from earlier in my career when I wanted to be seen at the table. It seems to have broadly matched a trend (at least in my area) from presentism to productivity that's developed as part of the hybrid working approach we've adopted. I can't say it's perfect, but it's been good for me and what I want from work/life right now. 

But the flexibility is great, as long as it goes both ways. I have a good team/boss and there are times when the business genuinely needs me to work on a non-working day (or want to so I can get something finished or move my non-working day to take a short break without using leave), but if I can't rearrange my plans at short notice that's respected/I don't feel pressured. 

It helps I have other commitments outside of the day job, so I always have a handy 'excuse' if I feel I need one. 

Sunsh1ne54

RetiredTaz said:

I went part time for the last two years prior to retiring. Down from 5 shifts to 2 or 3 a week. It worked really well for me. I now have a bank contract (NHS) and just do a couple of shifts a month. I feel going part time certainly eased me into retirement. 

Sounds perfect!

Sunsh1ne54

Nebulous2 said:

I retired two years ago and quickly found I wasn't ready. I then took a part-time job, doing 2-3 days the first year, since reduced to 1-2 days. Avoiding that cliff edge was necessary for me to adjust my lifestyle. I've sometimes said, instead of jumping off the cliff I've climbed to a ledge halfway down. It's going well so far, and stopping 8 years before state pension age it has meant I haven't had to draw upon my capital in the way I expected to when I stopped work.  

My previous job didn't lend itself well to part-time work. My line manager went to 3 days a week and then was asked to attend a regular management meeting on one of her days off. That was a common pattern, people who went part-time regularly found themselves working bits of 5 days, rather than 3 discrete days. 

That’s interesting. I’m hoping I can avoid checking my work phone/emails on non working days. Also that I’m not trying to do 5 days work in 3!  I haven’t got too much lined up for my non working days at the moment, so I’ll need to decide how to fill the me time well. 

Sunsh1ne54

ArbitraryRandom said:

I've been working 4 days a week for a few years now (starting pre-pandemic) and recently dropped down to 3.5 - currently around 17 years from planned (early) retirement.

Adjusting was tricky - I kept trying to do 5 days work in 4 days, and especially now working from home a lot of the time I struggle not to check my work phone for emails if I'm expecting something in or hear a teams message. 

Deciding which days to work is important and will depend on your job/work dynamic. I found not working Mondays always caused me stress as everyone else had come back from the weekend and was up to speed by Tuesday, whereas I was playing catch-up; so I started taking Fridays, and now finish early on Thursday. 

Corporately, post-pandemic, we have a policy of trying to schedule any meetings which benefit from office attendance on two regular days (anchor days) where possible, so people can come to the office for a day rather than an odd hour. That's gradually shifted to trying to arrange any meeting on those days, not that it always works, but it does make things easier to manage.

Also, working part time, I need to be realistic about the meetings I attend and when I ask someone in my team to go or rely on the recording/note - If I'm only working a few days a week, I can't spend them all sitting in a meeting room/on a virtual call and expect to actually get anything done... but that letting go and trusting others to speak for the team/report back also took a bit of adjustment from earlier in my career when I wanted to be seen at the table. It seems to have broadly matched a trend (at least in my area) from presentism to productivity that's developed as part of the hybrid working approach we've adopted. I can't say it's perfect, but it's been good for me and what I want from work/life right now. 

But the flexibility is great, as long as it goes both ways. I have a good team/boss and there are times when the business genuinely needs me to work on a non-working day (or want to so I can get something finished or move my non-working day to take a short break without using leave), but if I can't rearrange my plans at short notice that's respected/I don't feel pressured. 

It helps I have other commitments outside of the day job, so I always have a handy 'excuse' if I feel I need one. 

Thanks ArbitraryRandom. I’ll have to be strict with myself on not checking work messages too. Learning to let go is going to be difficult I’m sure. I have an understanding boss, so hoping we can manage it both ways, for him and me!  Looking forward to having more balance in my life.