To want to work part time

[HandbagsnGladrags]

Have name changed for this but am a long time user.

Am feeling a bit worn down by the work treadmill and like I'm a bit too old to compete with my younger and keener colleagues. I'm 52, have worked for over 30 years in a professional role, earn £60k+. Husband earns similar, works full time. We still have mortgage left to pay. I have an 18yo at uni and I pay half her rent with her dad. Three more years to go with that committment. Husband has a 21yo at uni and a 15yo he pays maintenance for. I guess you could say we're comfortable, financially.

I want to go down to 4 days at work, I just want a slower pace of life. But I worry that this will make retirement further away for me. Don't think my pension pot is huge, but I have savings. Husband has final salary pension.

Have also thought about moving to a smaller house to save on costs. We have a big 4 bed. But I love the house and area.

WWYD in my position? (Not a stealth boast, honestly. I think the BH has got me thinking about a slower pace of life).

Four days a week often still means five days worth of work but just getting paid less. They probably won't hire someone to do the one day a week you aren't doing so your workload might not change much.

I'd suggest first finding out exactly what your pension pot is - it seems like you don't know. If you have savings that aren't doing much, you really could be adding a lot more to your pension instead. Consider getting a financial advisor to look at your situation.

And consider what would happen if your husband left you or died.

Downsizing your home seems a sensible option to consider - you could still stay in the area but have 2 bedrooms?

you need some decent pension advice. Firstly to work out what your pot is and also to work out what you need. You need to discuss what sort of lifestyle you want post retirement with your husband. then you can decide. I worked 4 days a week since kids were young and loved it, but it did mean i worked full on - no coasting like some of the FTimers.

Can you do compressed hours? Often that’s a way of recognising what you do if you’re technically employed 9-5 and work more. That way you’d retain your pension and free up a day.

Thanks for the replies. I did work 4 days when my daughter was younger and I take the point regarding cramming in 5 days worth of work. I've been FT for 9 years now so maybe I've forgotten what a challenge it used to be.

@Etinoxaurus

Can you do compressed hours? Often that’s a way of recognising what you do if you’re technically employed 9-5 and work more. That way you’d retain your pension and free up a day.

I could, but I don't really want to. The idea is to do fewer hours.

whatever you decide to do ref work hours, at 52 you should have an understanding of your pension pot and your ambitions. Otherwise you wont have enough time to plan properly.

I have a colleague who works 9 in 10 so has a day off every 2 weeks (she has varied between a Monday and a Friday over the years to suit business needs) and that seems like a nice way to do it.

I am trying to encourage DH to buy more annual leave as his work place offers that which would also be a kind of stepping stone.

I'd stay full time. Going part time, especially only by 1 day, usually means all the same work but less time and money for doing it. X

Thanks for bringing this topic up.

@LeticiaNash

Thanks for bringing this topic up.

??

I went part time, 24 hours/3 days a week, when I adopted my son 10 years ago. I went back up to 30 hours in 2019. I earn a lot les than you and am single.

My mortgage will be paid off next month, no savings, but sufficient pension
I have no intention of working full time again. I like my 3 day weekend too much.
If you want to and it stacks up financially I’d go for it. Life is too short.
I don’t feel I do five days work in four, although the last two years have been incredibly busy. I log my hours, I take time in leiu for any ‘overtime’
Its the right balance for me and my son

If I were looking at this I’d work out:

How long left to pay off mortgage and if I could accelerate this.

Pension - how much have I got, when do I want to take it, what will my expenses be at that time (maybe mortgage and kids will be done, what will your needs and wants be then), what is it invested in and how is it performing - does it look like it will give me enough to cover my expenses by planned retirement date (a) if I buy an annuity or (b) drawdown but keep money invested.

Then I’d be able to choose - if I could work less now and still pay off mortgage and draw pension income when I need to then that would be great, if not then at least there’s a reason why.

It all depends on your financial needs and the trade off between that and your time.

I went part time when I had my children and still am nearly 20 years later at nearly 50.
I personally have no intention of working full time again (obviously if I had to financially I would) and am currently considering whether I can reduce my hours very slightly from 4 x 6h to 3 x 7h a week.

@bowlingalleyblues

If I were looking at this I’d work out:

How long left to pay off mortgage and if I could accelerate this.

Pension - how much have I got, when do I want to take it, what will my expenses be at that time (maybe mortgage and kids will be done, what will your needs and wants be then), what is it invested in and how is it performing - does it look like it will give me enough to cover my expenses by planned retirement date (a) if I buy an annuity or (b) drawdown but keep money invested.

Then I’d be able to choose - if I could work less now and still pay off mortgage and draw pension income when I need to then that would be great, if not then at least there’s a reason why.

Thanks, that's good advice. I think I need to see a financial advisor.

I should also add that I have £300k of ringfenced equity in the house we live in (was mine before I remarried). My husband is in agreement with this. So maybe I also need to think about how I can use that in retirement if we downsize. The only reason we really keep a house of this size is because his son (15) is still at home (doesn't live there though). If I were on my own I probably would have moved to a smaller house by now.

Lots to think about.

I'm 50, but my ds is only 15 so we still have a lot of uni fees etc to go. But still thinking about the time ahead of us.
Rather than a knee jerk going down to 4 days, I'd plan out your finances, look at pension funds (check if you have all the NI years you need for instance), when the mortgage will be paid off, when the different maintenance payments will finish and so on. Then consider if going PT will actually slow your life down (bet you would just do 5 days work in 4 as theres no way they will take someone on for that day), or whether you look towards a 5 year plan that you 'retire' from your current job then and maybe do something else a few days a week so that your work is very time bounded and you can do something different in the last 10 years of work. I know a number of people who have a few different things (one has a lecturing post at a college, teaches cycle training, and does event commentating) going on post retiring from their career.
When does your DH want to retire?

or whether you look towards a 5 year plan that you 'retire' from your current job then and maybe do something else a few days a week so that your work is very time bounded and you can do something different in the last 10 years of work.

I like this idea. Just feel like I need to get off the professional rat run. Am too long in the tooth for it.

Hi OP
I am in a very similar situation to you and I have just cut my hours and gone to four days a week.
Yes it makes my pension pot even smaller (always took part time or less well paid jobs when the children were small) but I'd resigned myself to that anyway and I want to feel better about life now. Who knows if I will even make it to retirement age.
I work really hard in my four days but having the extra day off really has helped. I enjoy my weekends more.
I think it means I will stay in the role longer instead of seeking a lower paid role because my menopausal brain can't cope.
The drop in salary at tho same t8me everything else is going up is not insignificant but I would rather be happy and less stressed.

Yes to checking your pension and overall financial position. It's got to be a balance though no point running yourself into the ground now for a little extra money. With all the long term uncertainty about how long and healthy we all might be in retirement. The salary reduction might not be as much as you think given higher tax rates, perhaps see if you can up your contributions a bit to offset the impact of dropping hours of you are worried.

I've worked 3-4 days most of my life and have never had to cram in 5-days' worth of work - this must be dependent on the role and employer.

Reduce your hours and get some extra time to do the things you enjoy now, instead of waiting for retirement! You'll still have a relatively high salary if you go down to 0.8FTE.

I've gained so much from having free time to volunteer, socialise, pursue interests, study, etc. More than I could have gained at my job.

@cocktailclub I hear you in relation to the menopausal brain. I feel like very little recognition is given to this in the professional world. It's very hard, and puts women at a disadvantage.

It's awful. I am barely functioning at 50% of what's usual for me on some days.
I still think I might have to give up my senior role for a while even with the four days.

I was in your position I went to 4 days and yes I did end up trying to cram 5 days work in to 4 days. However, I had Wednesdays as my non-working day which meant I never worked more than 2 days in a row. I also had a plan (3 years);when to reduce to 3 longer days at which point you can’t cram in 5 days so work.

As pp stated, get finances in order, work out what the impact is on your pension. Have a 5/10 year plan for finances and retirement.

My biggest regret is not identifying specific tasks and making it clear when I went to 4(3 days) these would not be done by me.