ERE or Very Part Time

secretwealth · Post by **secretwealth** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 12:39 pm

If you could choose working full time (40 hours per week) for 10 years and then retiring, or working at the same exact job part time (8 hours per week) for 50 years and then retiring, which would you prefer?

dot_com_vet · Post by **dot_com_vet** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 1:06 pm

I'd do the FT route.
If your employer offers a pension, 10 years is enough to accrue a decent benefit. It would also allow one to front load a 401k plan, vs a little bit over 50 years.

FarmOne · Post by **FarmOne** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 1:13 pm

I choose hamburger A. My early retirement plan began 10 years ago. That was enough time to build upon what I already had with a definite goal in mind. That time frame made it easier to prioritize and make correct decisions that most benefited my goal.
50 years is a lifetime - for most people. (22 + 50 = 72)

secretwealth · Post by **secretwealth** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 1:14 pm

@dot_com_vet: I was thinking more in terms of lifestyle than benefits. For this hypothetical, assume all monetary benefits are identical in both cases.

tylerrr · Post by **tylerrr** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 1:19 pm

It depends if you like the job or not. If you don't mind the work, then PT option could be great. Also, it depends if it's a job that is liberal with vacation time. Will they let you take time off for 1-3 weeks whenever you want it?
My mom's employer is recently agreeing to her going down to 3 days a week and she'd going to keep working there even though she is 70 years old.
She could easily retire fully at this point....But she said she'll keep working 3 days a week because she likes the job-especially being able to socialize with some of the people during the day on the job.

chenda · Post by **chenda** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 1:19 pm

Depend how old I was; if I was 18 definitely option a, if significantly older then some combination of the two.
And it would depend what the work was like...

Dream of Freedom · Post by **Dream of Freedom** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 1:58 pm

Having somewhere to be one day a week makes it difficult to do some of the more interesting things in ere such as extended stays in other countries. Still I think choice B to be less stressful and more balanced. How to decide. Choice A has a lot more options and is easier to reverse with good results if you change your mind. I'm going with A.

JohnnyH · Post by **JohnnyH** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 2:16 pm

Sprint towards ERE with choice A... Compounding returns 'n all.

mikeBOS · Post by **mikeBOS** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 3:25 pm

If I knew I could keep the job for 50 years, or if the majority of available jobs were just one 8 hr shift per week, I would probably never have gotten the motivation to become FI.
But if this was just some unique work situation I setup then I'd be afraid that the job would disappear at some point leaving me high and dry.

C40 · Post by **C40** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 4:10 pm

From a security standpoint I would choose A. If the compounding was taken out of it, and if security wasn't an issue, and if I had flexibility (If I wanted to work one week a month sometimes instead of one day a week) I would take option B, or a partial combination of each.

C-Dawg · Post by **C-Dawg** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 6:59 pm

To me it would entirely depend on the flexibility of that 8 hours per week.
As it is - I'm hoping to do a sort of hybrid version of this.
Working full time through the end of this year will put me at 6 years since graduating (though only 2 years into ERE mindset). If I worked another 4 years, I'd easily be FI. Instead, I'm hoping to negotiate a part time schedule where I do something close to 3 months full time / 3 months almost off. This will let me live off the part time income and continue saving so that I'll still hit a full FI cross over point - probably w/in 10 years. Even if the part time set up doesn't last 10 years - I'll already be close enough that I could take just about any part time job to cover the gap between income and expenses.
I feel being able to have extended periods off is important to be able to go places / do things for extended periods of times.

dot_com_vet · Post by **dot_com_vet** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 7:13 pm

@secretwealth: Monetary benefits equal, I think I'd choose B. I've always found part-time work fun.

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@dot_com_vet: I was thinking more in terms of lifestyle than benefits. For this hypothetical, assume all monetary benefits are identical in both cases.

George the original one · Mon Apr 01, 2013 7:15 pm

I would choose the 10 year plan as it is obviously more robust.

Post by **jacob** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 11:35 pm

Depends on the job.
Other possibilities include working FT for 5 years and then 15 years later working FT for 7 years; or working FT 10 weeks per year and taking the rest of the year off.
Any combination thereof.

Ego · Post by **Ego** » Tue Apr 02, 2013 1:34 am

The same job for ten years or for fifty? Almost equally miserable choices for me.
FI and ERE represents different things to different people. For me it is about the freedom to change. I want to be at least a little different next year from who I am today.

DutchGirl · Post by **DutchGirl** » Tue Apr 02, 2013 7:04 am

I'm actually contemplating a similar scenario. Currently I'm working about 25-30 hours per week, but on a very irregular schedule. I'm contemplating going down to 20 hours per week to make that schedule more bearable - I currently do notice some side effects on my well-being and I don't like that.
Going down to 20 hours per week would mean about 20-30% less salary -> savings rate would go down from 45% to 15-25% ; date of retirement would go up considerably from about ten years to about twenty years.
I really have to think about the balance between work and health/well-being. And I am thinking about it. They've scheduled me at the current schedule until September already, but after that I could ask for a change...

celliott · Post by **celliott** » Tue Apr 02, 2013 1:48 pm

I'm with the "hybrid" crowd. Probably because that's what I've done for the last 30 years.
HYBRID: Start your own business and take control of your schedule while earning more for the fewer hours you work.

Forget about an expensive education (optional). A vocational skill is sufficient when coupled with a honesty, responsibilty and a good work ethic.

Make sure your business is debt free.

Live simply and well below your means.

As you grow, train others to handle responsibility while your away.

Invest your money in income-producing assets.

Buy your own home and pay it off quickly.
Work 10 hours/wk (occasionally more, often less) and let the business pay you indefinitely while you semi-retire at a very, very young age.

JohnnyH · Post by **JohnnyH** » Tue Apr 02, 2013 2:21 pm

Part time will be significantly more tax efficient as well, it would be like getting a 20-30% hourly raise by working less.