Flexible/part time career change post "retirement"

[PeanutAndBanana]

Thinking ahead here. In around 5 years all three children will have left university. I have a job I love in a sector I feel passionately about but can't really see myself doing it until I'm 65. Financially I will be fine to retire at around 60 or so, though I am happy to keep working for a few years after that. However, I am wondering about doing something different for a few years before full retirement - less stress, shorter hours etc. I'm really not precious about what it is - interesting and stimulating would be a bonus but it's not essential. I'm reasonably fit and healthy and have good professional skills. Not sure I have the right mindset for hospitality or caring.

The plan would be to downsize and live off my lower salary for a few years so I can hold off touching my pension. So a lower salary is fine.

Has anyone done this? Any ideas or tips? I read that Sweden has a formal programme to support this which seems like a great idea. Do I find something now and retrain in advance? Do I just wait and then apply for roles? Is there somewhere that advertises for mature workers where I can go and see what's available?

I work in the financial dispute resolution sector and a number of people have had long careers elsewhere to build up their knowledge. I've worked for different organisations and it depends on the work culture as to whether or not it is stressful. In my current role we are well supported by management and the amount of work expected is realistic. I'm in my late 50s and work part time and could easily carry on for longer. What sort of sector do you work in?

Do you want to carry on in your field or do something different? Do you want something you can dip in and out of or something permanent? A retired friend of mine does cover supply in a school and loves it. Almost £100 a day and she can pick and choose which days she wants to work on any given week.

I definitely recommend going part time and finding a less stressful role as you approach retirement.

Part Time, particularly with non-working days mid week, helps you start to build up routines for your retirement.

Less stressful means you should be able to switch off on non-working days and have capacity to plan for retirement.

If you’re anywhere near a hospital you could consider the NHS Admin Bank? I took redundancy from my Project Manager role last year aged 62 but I found I was lacking structure to my week so I’m now doing 3 days a week transcription/ward clerking. The money means my redundancy payment lasts longer and I won’t have to draw down on my pension for a year or two. As Sisterpita says it’s been great to build up routines for eventual full retirement.

Thank you, all.

I'm a consultant in a fairly niche but growing space. I do think I could find something that draws on my expertise that isn't client-facing, so that's a good idea. I like the idea of low impact admin too - I am organised, have good office skills, and have a fair amount of finance and HR experience.

It's a few years off but the kind of thing I think needs a plan. My partner is ten years older than me and I'm aware that the opportunity for us both to have some flexibility to travel etc may not be available to us for too long.