Seriously considering switch to Part Time

[disneysteve]

Obviously give your boss/schedulers plenty of notice (a month or more wouldn't hurt) about your intentions, just to maintain the relationship, ensure they aren't caught off-guard, and have plenty of time to adjust for your reduced hours.

No problem there. My contract requires 120 days notice. However, they do handle that on a case by case basis. My lead physician told me that she has several per diem providers who want to become part time but there currently are no openings. If I drop down and free up the space for a part time spot and one of them takes it, they may let me out of my full time obligation sooner than 120 days.

if you (shockingly) discover the retired life isn't for you, I guarantee that your clinic would be happy if you decided to re-up your hours and return to full-time.

Actually, it isn't that easy. Dropping from FT to PT is easy. Going from PT to FT requires there being a position available and right now we are fully staffed with a few people on deck waiting for slots to open up.

That said, there is another option. As a part timer (or full timer for that matter), we are always free to pick up open shifts as they occur. If someone is out sick or on vacation or out on leave, there are hours that need to be filled. We can't operate with holes in the schedule. I don't often pick up extra shifts since I already work full time and just don't have the time or energy to do more, but if I'm only working 24 hrs/wk, I'd be much more open to taking an extra shift now and then if we've got nothing going on. It would give me something to do and give us some extra money. A 4-hour weekend shift earns me over $600 so it's a pretty sweet deal. I seriously doubt I'd ever go back to FT once I drop down though.

[disneysteve]

My crystal ball shows the part time deal doesn't last long and you go to fully retired sooner than planned.

That's exactly what my crystal ball shows.

[disneysteve]

The one thing I'd add is - a lot of people get meaning and purpose from their jobs. So, the question is: would you miss having something broader and more meaningful to do with your life if you went down to full time?

This will NOT be a problem. I am not that guy. My identity and purpose in life is not wrapped up in my job. I love what I do and I will be perfectly happy not doing it anymore. I do intend to maintain my medical license for the foreseeable future if for no other reason than so I can call in meds for family and friends when necessary. And I'll still need to take CME courses to keep my license and board certification, but I'm fine with that.

There are loads of things I want to do with my time once I'm not stuck working all the time.

[scfr]

If you're clear on what the PT benefits will be (if you know it will cover your wife, and if you know what happens with other benefits like vision, dental, 401k match & VESTING as a part-timer) and all looks good to you, then go for it.

[kork13]

DO IT. DO IT NOW.

Or at least, start the process. Obviously give your boss/schedulers plenty of notice (a month or more wouldn't hurt) about your intentions, just to maintain the relationship, ensure they aren't caught off-guard, and have plenty of time to adjust for your reduced hours.

But otherwise, I think it's ABSOLUTELY the right call for you. Upon final estate settlement, you'll have the money to retire completely on your desired timeline, whatever that may be. By staying PT, your income will still cover your primary budget, you'll have more freedom to "test drive" retirement, you'll be able to manage your insurance costs, and still build your retirement accounts, you'll have more time with your wife for travel, entertainment, projects, or other pursuits, ........ Just like you said, there is truly no downside to this plan. If you find that you hate the semi-retired life, you can obviously just retire fully, or if you (shockingly) discover the retired life isn't for you, I guarantee that your clinic would be happy if you decided to re-up your hours and return to full-time.

DO IT.

[Fishindude77]

Worse case, you can always go back to work.

My crystal ball shows the part time deal doesn't last long and you go to fully retired sooner than planned.
Good luck and enjoy, regardless.

[james.hendrickson]

The one thing I do like about this Disneysteve, you've been super good about saving for retirement, so you don't "need" to keep working.

[ua_guy]

Sounds like a good trial of retirement. See where it takes you and how you find yourself filling time. You can always increase your hours, or retire fully.

[james.hendrickson]

Realistically, once everything is settled from the estate, we will have enough to for me to retire, but I'm thinking about taking an in-between step first and cutting back to part time.

The biggest advantage of doing so would be keeping health insurance.
ACA coverage would be 28K/yr with the subsidy or over 40K without.
Employer plan would be 8K as a part timer. That's a huge difference, even if I only do it for a year or so.

Income-wise, my take home would be about 92K. Our spending is in the 80K range, so even on the part time income, we'd be able to cover all routine spending with about 12K to spare, and that still includes contributing 13% to my 401k.

I think if I could do that for a year, it would allow our nest egg to fatten up a bit (hopefully) and have to last one less year of retirement. It would put me on a 3-day work week instead of my current 4 days so we'd have more free time to enjoy life. Who knows? I might even find that with the lighter schedule, I wouldn't mind continuing to work a little longer. Or I could cut back further to 20 hours (instead of 24). Or alternatively, I may realize that nope, even PT is more than I want, and then I'll fully retire at that point.

Other than walking away from the higher income, I really can't think of any downside to doing it.

Thoughts?

The one thing I'd add is - a lot of people get meaning and purpose from their jobs. So, the question is: would you miss having something broader and more meaningful to do with your life if you went down to full time?

[srblanco7]

ACA is fine but I know it isn't as good as what we currently have and it's phenomenally more expensive.

Agreed. We've only just started with researching plans & costs, but $2k/month doesn't seem out of the realm (w/o subsidy). And that's still for a family plan with a relatively high deductible.

[disneysteve]

Do it. You won't regret it.

I'm sure I won't. DW and I need to sit down tomorrow and go over the numbers so she can see what the change will look like. I know she's onboard, though. She'd love for me to stop working or even cut back. She sees the toll it takes on me.

[disneysteve]

Seems like a great idea without any particular downside (other than it means you're continuing to w*rk ).

Yeah, there is that part. I suspect that after I'm doing it, I'll quickly decide it is still too much and I'll end up retiring.

I think it's great that you can get health insurance working 20-24 hours/week.

That is a nice perk. And it's very good coverage at a very reasonable price, too. That's one hesitation I have about retiring early. ACA is fine but I know it isn't as good as what we currently have and it's phenomenally more expensive.

[Fishindude77]

Do it. You won't regret it.

[srblanco7]

Realistically, once everything is settled from the estate, we will have enough to for me to retire, but I'm thinking about taking an in-between step first and cutting back to part time.

The biggest advantage of doing so would be keeping health insurance.
ACA coverage would be 28K/yr with the subsidy or over 40K without.
Employer plan would be 8K as a part timer. That's a huge difference, even if I only do it for a year or so.

Income-wise, my take home would be about 92K. Our spending is in the 80K range, so even on the part time income, we'd be able to cover all routine spending with about 12K to spare, and that still includes contributing 13% to my 401k.

I think if I could do that for a year, it would allow our nest egg to fatten up a bit (hopefully) and have to last one less year of retirement. It would put me on a 3-day work week instead of my current 4 days so we'd have more free time to enjoy life. Who knows? I might even find that with the lighter schedule, I wouldn't mind continuing to work a little longer. Or I could cut back further to 20 hours (instead of 24). Or alternatively, I may realize that nope, even PT is more than I want, and then I'll fully retire at that point.

Other than walking away from the higher income, I really can't think of any downside to doing it.

Thoughts?

Seems like a great idea without any particular downside (other than it means you're continuing to w*rk ).

Also, I think it's great that you can get health insurance working 20-24 hours/week. My company is a minimum of 30 hrs/week to be eligible for benefits. As of now, I'm thinking of a similar approach for next year - cut back to 4 days/week (32 or perhaps 36 hours but, in general, limited to 4 days/week) and maintain that until ER in early 2023.

[Like2Plan]

I think it is a great idea, but you are in a situation where there are no wrong answers. It is a nice place to be.