If you could afford to live by working just 3 days a week…

I’d do 4 days in your position… why not

Depends what you mean by “afford to live”. If I could have my current lifestyle (bills paid, can save, invest, afford the odd holiday and social activities) on 3 days a week I would drop to 3 days in a heartbeat. (And I could actually get my work done in 3 days.)

As long as I did’t have any debts (apart from the mortgage), and I had a good pension and could continue to pay into it, then without a doubt I’d do it.

But I don’t have any expensive hobbies, travel etc

I'm always amazed that people couldn't fill their time without going to work. I can easily keep myself occupied 7 days a week without work :-)

It depends on whether I could fill the other 2 days with hobbies and obviously if I thought I'd miss the money. I wouldn't at the moment because I'd be bored.

I work 35 hours which is perfect. Early finishes on Mondays and Fridays.

The OP hasn't said anything about the size of her mortgage (could be quite small) or what she earns (could be quite a lot, if I worked 3 days a week, I'd still bring in nearly £3k pm, and that's my current plan to aim towards, currently on 4 days a week and will drop to 3 days within a few years, although I am a little older than the OP).

A lot of people seem to be looking at this from the perspective of the income needed to pay for a 'MN lifestyle' for a family whereas if you only have yourself to pay for and you don't expect to be able to buy the most expensive version of everything, the amount you need to earn to be comfortable is far less and if you're facing the decision between 'work less' or 'spend more' it's easy to decide to work less if it's still going to allow you a comfortable lifestyle.

I'd rather keep working and plan for early retirement.

In your situation I'd personally look into FIRE. You'll benefit more from the compounding if you work more now. I'm hoping to move to 3 days but that's mostly because we both work FT and I'm sick of struggling time wise with kids. It's becoming too stressful to be worth it. Obviously flip side is DH works too and we can afford to live a (not extravagant) lifestyle on his wage alone).

I work 3 days a week and have done for the past 12 years, running a business with my DH. The flip side of that is we haven't taken any holidays during that time and we've put a lot of money into investments. We have a nice nest egg to retire in our 40s.

Both of us have lost a parent in their 60s, so we'll likely take a break from work to have some fun, when we sell our business later on in the year. I'm not sure I want to fully retire in my 40s, but I'd be reluctant to go back to working fulltime unless our circumstances drastically change.

I would absolutely go down to three days a week.

I work 3 days as I have young children. Tbh its pretty hard going as I'm still expected to achieve the same as my FT counterparts. I'll go back to 4 days once my youngest is 3 and there is a govt. contribution to childcare.

I don't think you have enough savings to do that.
As you only have 6 months of expenses saved that would suggest to me that on your current salary at 5 days a week you don't have a lot left over to save so that means that on 3 days a week it would be very tight indeed. Why haven't you managed to save more?
You need to do a lot more calculations as to whether it's workable. The problem is if (when) the cost of living goes up yet again you are probably going to be pushed, and also if there are any larger expenses where is the money coming from for that?
I work 3.5 days a week and it's great but I am mortgage-free and have a lot more savings than you.
I think you need to do some more calculations and perhaps drop down to 4 days a week irst and see how you get on with that.
Or you keep working 5 days as week and start overpaying the mortgage to get rid of it as soon as possible or start saving significantly more and then reassess the situation in 2 or 3 years.

I went part time when I had kids and haven’t gone back to full time. I do shifts but typically three a week. I absolutely love it. Yes I could save more for retirement but why flog myself for the next 25 years when I could enjoy my life now as it happens?

Well she can manage as she already does. And she will still be working. Just part time, which is a perfectly valid choice to make if finances and job allow. Not every working pattern needs to fit neatly into 37 hours a week to make the economy work!

Also 'leisure time' 😂 sorry does that include housework, shopping, cooking, looking after children, parents, doing volunteer work? It's all not like everyone works and then lies on the sofa watching TV the whole of the rest of the time.

@Bimblebombles I wish I had something I could turn into a business. I'm always so impressed by people who do so.

@Somedreamer I dropped to three days a week in my early thirties. It took me a while to adjust and stop feeling weirdly guilty and anxious, which I can see with hindsight had everything to do with my mental health being really poor at the time. I'm so glad I dropped to three days, and hope to be able to continue it for quite some time. I'm lucky that jobs are easy to come by in my line of work so I have plenty of options in the future. Having said all of that, it all depends on having a very robust safety net.

Yes I'd do it, as long as I had some left over for savings. Live for now!

I moved sideways out of my senior management role last autumn to work three days a week. It's enabling me to train for a couple of marathons and an ultra marathon (as the first commenter mentioned!!), study for another undergrad degree on a part time basis, and be more present at home despite my children being older.

For context, we have a reasonably comfortable lifestyle, lots of equity in our home, and great pensions but no spare cash left at the end of the month (bar a small savings pot). I have absolutely no regrets and my DH is in full support of it, but at the same time recognise that my career doesn't bring me any joy in terms of it being a reflection of my success, and other people feel differently about their own careers and would hate to be in my position. Horses for courses.

Depends on how much you love or hate your job. I wouldn’t give up work to watch Tv, scroll on my phone or do housework. You’d have to have something meaningful and interesting to do on those extra days.

Yes if we stayed in our current house. However it’s too small for us and we want a proper family home so I’m going to keep working full time to afford it. This is the choice I am making.

The economy does not "need us to work". All that extra labour just lines the pockets of billionaires.

I’d do four days as a compromise. I used to do three but now do four which is almost as good!

I would love to have more time to myself. Lots of friends work 3 day weeks while childrearing

You realise they don't get "more time to themselves" when childrearing, right? They are just doing two jobs, and are probably dashing from work to responsibilities at home. They are probably doing loads of washing and extra cleaning, taking kids to and from childcare and activities, supporting them with homework, spending time buying kids shoes, clothes, gifts for birthday parties. Not to mention just spending time with kids. An afternoon being a "patient" for an enthusiastic four year old "doctor" is not "time for themselves".

I am in your position at 60 (although no mortgage). I'm still working a lot because I worry about what will happen if I get ill etc. Could you compromise and do 4 days? A little more time AND a little more money?

Over the years I've worked 3, 4 and 5 days in a full on role. 4 was definitely the best balance, as the salary was still good but there was extra time to pursue other stuff. When I worked 3 days I felt like I never 'caught up', so it was actually more stress on less pay. But depends entirely on your situation.

I could but I don’t. In my job if I tried to work 3 days I would just end up cramming 5 days of work into 3 or working additional days to keep on top of things. My mum worked in a professional job and also tried going part time a few years before she retired. She just ended up getting paid part time wages for working full time hours. If you are confident that you will actually have work taken off you and be able to keep your working week to three days then go for it! Could you trial it for 6 months and up your hours again if it didn’t work out?