Bec, that's the first article I've read that describes exactly what I'm doing - not quite retiring. I've been consulting part time the last 2 months and enjoying it immensely. The challenge is keeping the balance- especially at 60. As most roles either want you full time or, frankly, not at all.
I get where your friend is coming from. At 65 I approached my manager about dropping back to 3 days a week. His response, my skills are too valuable and he doesn’t see how the work gets done.
I too am happy to be contributing but need it to take less of me (my commute is also a problem at 3+ hours a day).
The end result is I will leave and work somewhere else on a part time basis for the next 3 or so years, health allowing.
The distinction between wanting to stop working and wanting more control of your time is such an important one.
A lot of people don’t seem to be retiring from contribution at all; they’re trying to retire from schedules that no longer fit the life they want to live.
Bec, that's the first article I've read that describes exactly what I'm doing - not quite retiring. I've been consulting part time the last 2 months and enjoying it immensely. The challenge is keeping the balance- especially at 60. As most roles either want you full time or, frankly, not at all.
I get where your friend is coming from. At 65 I approached my manager about dropping back to 3 days a week. His response, my skills are too valuable and he doesn’t see how the work gets done.
I too am happy to be contributing but need it to take less of me (my commute is also a problem at 3+ hours a day).
The end result is I will leave and work somewhere else on a part time basis for the next 3 or so years, health allowing.
The distinction between wanting to stop working and wanting more control of your time is such an important one.
A lot of people don’t seem to be retiring from contribution at all; they’re trying to retire from schedules that no longer fit the life they want to live.