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

[Somedreamer]

Would you?

Or would you keep working 5 days and put the money into savings for your future?

Extra context: No huge financial safety net, still have a mortgage and 6 months of expenses as an emergency fund.

Full disclosure: I am considering this but wondering if it’s irresponsible!

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'd rather keep working and plan for early retirement.

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.

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.

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 :-)

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

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.)

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

I think there's a balance to be found. Having recently seen two of my peers die in their forties and early fifties, I've planned financially to live a long life but I'm also making sure I get the most out of my life while I have it. For me, that includes working less but I appreciate that's not everyone's preference.

I would keep working 5 days and stash the extra money away for the future. Or maybe compromise and work 4 days. Maybe if there was something meaningful I wanted to do in those 2 days off, I’d considered the 3 days but not if it was just general “me time” with no plans.

It’s my plan for when my son is older. I currently work school hours and we won’t need me to increase my working hours to fund our life as it is now when that’s not necessary. But I will want to be putting the extra into retirement or general savings.

How long left on mortgage? Could you over pay for the next year or so and then go part time? At least then you would have financial security.

As someone who's disabled and can't even work one day I would say that the security of the extra money might seem like a good idea but if you work three days, you're more likely to stay healthy so that would be more sustainable. Thus creating security in a different way. Plus you'd have a much nicer life now and you'd even enjoy your job more knowing that you only have to work three days.

By the way, you don't have to have a meaningful hobby - whatever that means. You're allowed to potter about at home.

Thanks for all the replies, I’m enjoying reading them over lunch.
4 days does seem like a good option, I had originally thought that that ‘doing the same amount of work for less pay’ problem would be more of an issue with this though.

To answer the question about why I haven’t saved more, I had a career change and went back to uni for 4 years in my late 20s and early 30s. So that had an impact on savings, and my salary hasn’t always been this level.

I have all sorts of ideas about what I’d do with my extra 2 days a week! As I live alone I really want to be more social and build more of a network in the community. I would see more of my friends and family and I would spend significant time volunteering. I quite fancy being a magistrate, or a charity trustee. I would also quite like to do a bit of low-pressure academic work, maybe write a paper or two in my area of interests, or maybe start a blog. I would also like to get into gardening, knitting, read more, the classic ‘write a book’ etc etc!

I see what you’re saying but it’s besides the point really. My friends wanted children, that is how they choose to spend their time and they prioritise this over work and finances. I can do likewise. I could choose to spend my extra days renovating the house and garden and argue that this is work too.

If you got made redundant now, would your pension (when accessible) be enough to live on if you couldnt get another public sector role? Also the problem with pubic sector is that if you want to retire early you either have to accept a big reduction in annual pension or be able to support yourself until 68+. If it were me, until i had either savings or paid off the mortgage i dont think i would as you wouldnt get much in terms of universal credit/job seekers or whatever it is called.

I'd see how you can reduce stress at work, or possibly compress to four days a week nine a fortnight rather than sacrifice earnings and investment potential.

You could give yourself a target of two years during which you learn to live off the reduced salary, and put the difference into investments. That way you'd see how manageable it is, and build a safety net at the same time which would be v. useful if you decide to take the leap.

Also, we all go through phases where we feel 'meh' about work. They usually pass. I hated my job about 7 years ago* and seriously thought about leaving for something less stressful but lower paid. I'm so glad I didn't though.

*coincided with perimenopause, unsurprisingly.

I’m 59. Burnt out and I’ll, I’m considering doing this.

At 59, ill and burnt out: fair enough.
At 40 with a mortgage and bare minimum emergency savings: I wouldn't.

I tend to live my life 20% focused on the future, 80% in the here and now. So while I give a nod to preparing for what might be, I'm far more interested in what's in front of me. Ive come to this way of thinking after multiple experiences of watching life throw curve balls that scupper future plans, ill health, death or bereavement and realising there's no promise of tomorrow that justifies too much sacrafice today. So if I had your choice, I'd go for what would make me happier now. I'm older than you though, and may have made a different decision in my 40s.

I downshifted at 42. The mortgage was paid off and so I dropped a couple of days. Could still afford to live, have a holiday and save a bit. Is it an option to be full time for a few more years whilst living on a three day a week salary? And get that mortgage paid down as much as possible?

One life.

I would aim to retire early instead and put the other two days into your pension. Easier to get your working hours in earlier in your life.

I really like the idea of living on the equivalent salary before dropping any days, just to see the reality of what it is like. That seems very sensible. I’m also wondering about compressed hours and using flexi time more strategically.

Urgh isn’t it a nuisance that we have to work?! As I said before, I don’t actually hate my work, but I resent that I have to do so much of it, and that it takes up the best hours of every day.