How much did you end up working post FIRE?

[DrSweden]

I am about half way to fire (in money not time. Hopefully the other halt will go faster). I work as a psychiatrist and like my job. What I don't like is having to be there every day and working 50 hours a week. Being on call during night and on weekends. I am planning to become a SWAMI. I have also thought about working more in wintertime and not at all in summer (may-sept). With a long christmas breake that would be about 50%. I really like the thought of working when I want and not having to work.

So after FIRE, how much did you end up working?

[Gunny]

I sub a few days a month during the school year.  But, as you know if you read my post just below yours, this morphed into a temporary full-time gig. But it's nice to know I don't have to work and I actually enjoy the work teaching/mentoring kids in the JROTC program. 

[DrSweden]

I sub a few days a month during the school year.  But, as you know if you read my post just below yours, this morphed into a temporary full-time gig. But it's nice to know I don't have to work and I actually enjoy the work teaching/mentoring kids in the JROTC program. 

Yes I saw that. Is it more fun to teach now when you don't have to? It is a big difference between signing up to work a few months to taking a job and having to resign if you want to stop.

[libertarian4321]

After 4 years of more or less full time retirement (I did occasional consulting when requested, but it was only a few times a year), I'm not working, more or less, full time. 

But it's working from home, with an understanding that I won't work more than 40, won't work weekends, won't work late, and don't have to deal with clients.  So it's super low stress.

And, of course, it's nice to know that I can quit (again) at anytime.

Did I mention that this "working from home" thing is cool?  There were a lot of things I hated about working in an office -office politics, dealing with PITA clients, even dumb things like the seemingly daily collections for one dumb thing or another.  But one of the WORST was the daily hump through traffic, coming and going.  Probably not a big deal if you work in a small town, but when your office is located downtown in a major city, and you live in the suburbs, it sucks.

[koshtra]

I work a twenty-hour week (really more like 16 hours usually, but occasionally more like 30) running the database for a wonderful non-profit, and do five or six long massages a week... so maybe it works out to about a 25, 30 hour week? I don't know whether to call myself FIRE'd or not. I could quit it all tomorrow, and everything I do, I do because I love it... it's kind of the perfect life: I never do so much of anything that I get tired of it, but I always have a place to go and stuff to do.

[DrSweden]

After 4 years of more or less full time retirement (I did occasional consulting when requested, but it was only a few times a year), I'm not working, more or less, full time. 

But it's working from home, with an understanding that I won't work more than 40, won't work weekends, won't work late, and don't have to deal with clients.  So it's super low stress.

And, of course, it's nice to know that I can quit (again) at anytime.

Did I mention that this "working from home" thing is cool?  There were a lot of things I hated about working in an office -office politics, dealing with PITA clients, even dumb things like the seemingly daily collections for one dumb thing or another.  But one of the WORST was the daily hump through traffic, coming and going.  Probably not a big deal if you work in a small town, but when your office is located downtown in a major city, and you live in the suburbs, it sucks.

Working from home seems very nice. I do that sometimes as a consultant to the medical industry. It is nice to be alone at home and not having to ge somewhere.

I work a twenty-hour week (really more like 16 hours usually, but occasionally more like 30) running the database for a wonderful non-profit, and do five or six long massages a week... so maybe it works out to about a 25, 30 hour week? I don't know whether to call myself FIRE'd or not. I could quit it all tomorrow, and everything I do, I do because I love it... it's kind of the perfect life: I never do so much of anything that I get tired of it, but I always have a place to go and stuff to do.

I can see myself working 3 days a week. that leaves me with 4 days of.

[jim555]

So after FIRE, how much did you end up working?

Zilcho. Nada. Work is a 4 letter word.

[Gunny]

I sub a few days a month during the school year.  But, as you know if you read my post just below yours, this morphed into a temporary full-time gig. But it's nice to know I don't have to work and I actually enjoy the work teaching/mentoring kids in the JROTC program. 

Yes I saw that. Is it more fun to teach now when you don't have to? It is a big difference between signing up to work a few months to taking a job and having to resign if you want to stop.

I've always enjoyed working with kids.  I've coached for years.  This is just another form of coaching and I do enjoy knowing that it's just for a couple of months.

[nancy33]

Hi there I'm a psychiatrist as well. How will you manage the overhead costs if you work so little? The medical license, DEA, CME, malpractice, etc and how will u avoid call? I've been wondering this for myself. I own my office condo and work 3/4 time right now. I don't even mind the call so much, I have good colleagues and we share call and cover each other for vacation.  it is the hassles with paperwork, insurance, charting, pharmacies, and just running a business that get to me. However I couldn't tolerate being an employee again. So I think I might just FIRE and give it all up. I was wondering about volunteer work with a free clinic though. Honestly I have spent so much of my life practicing medicine I would like to try something different for a change. I am worried though you cannot just walk away from medicine and then decide a couple of years later you want to come back to it. It is a real dilemma ! I could FIRE at 50 in less than a year if my husband works 7 more years and I think we then could maintain our current middle class lifestyle indefinitely.

[soccerluvof4]

I have worked Zero! 2 years 4 months. I do look now and a then but I am just to busy to commit time and being fair.

[mandy_2002]

I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer and a FIREee, so I am technically retired and have a full time job...but I can choose what time I spend where.  I work on my language about 4-5 hours/week; when school is in session, I have to be in a classroom for 18 class periods/week; the STEM science camp we launched took about 80 hours last week and during the previous camp, but 2-5 hours/week before we actually did the camps; I can also do small clubs, which for me are all hands on science clubs for students or adults.  I don't really get paid (the $350/month readjustment allowance should be a nice chunk of change by the end of service, though), but the STEM activities that I do here are extremely rewarding for me. 

[goatmom]

How about telepsychiatry?  You can work from anywhere.

[DrSweden]

Hi there I'm a psychiatrist as well. How will you manage the overhead costs if you work so little? The medical license, DEA, CME, malpractice, etc and how will u avoid call? I've been wondering this for myself. I own my office condo and work 3/4 time right now. I don't even mind the call so much, I have good colleagues and we share call and cover each other for vacation.  it is the hassles with paperwork, insurance, charting, pharmacies, and just running a business that get to me. However I couldn't tolerate being an employee again. So I think I might just FIRE and give it all up. I was wondering about volunteer work with a free clinic though. Honestly I have spent so much of my life practicing medicine I would like to try something different for a change. I am worried though you cannot just walk away from medicine and then decide a couple of years later you want to come back to it. It is a real dilemma ! I could FIRE at 50 in less than a year if my husband works 7 more years and I think we then could maintain our current middle class lifestyle indefinitely.

First of all I work in Sweden and we don't have a system for having a private practice. There are some but they are hard to come by and not really Worth the energy. As you say you have to have office, and so on. We are lacking 25-30 % of the calculated need for psychiatrist. We have a system where you just moon light for a week at a time in places where they are short staffed. The pax is 2-3x the normal amount. So working maybe 8 weeks a year would cover my spendings. I could also make a deal with my employer to work less. The have to be flexible because of the shortage.

I like being a doctor but not all the time.

[DrSweden]

How about telepsychiatry?  You can work from anywhere.

Yes that is a good idea. That market is developing fast in Sweden and in the future that will be a good option for me.

[Linea_Norway]

I am about half way to fire (in money not time. Hopefully the other halt will go faster). I work as a psychiatrist and like my job. What I don't like is having to be there every day and working 50 hours a week. Being on call during night and on weekends. I am planning to become a SWAMI. I have also thought about working more in wintertime and not at all in summer (may-sept). With a long christmas breake that would be about 50%. I really like the thought of working when I want and not having to work.

My DH has a former colleague who retired the normal way, after 67. He does what you are planning to do. He doesn not work in the summer. And up to a certain number of hours otherwise. He works as a consultant, a very experienced one. But he doesn't do the hassle of administration and people's management. Only does the stuff he likes to do.

We are lacking 25-30 % of the calculated need for psychiatrist. We have a system where you just moon light for a week at a time in places where they are short staffed. The pax is 2-3x the normal amount. So working maybe 8 weeks a year would cover my spendings. I could also make a deal with my employer to work less. The have to be flexible because of the shortage.

I like being a doctor but not all the time.

This sounds like a brilliant alternative, working very little with extra high pay. But it might include some travel to other cities. But that probably doesn't matter for 8 weeks a year.

[Cassie]

After retiring I was offered a chance to teach an online college class in my field. I can do it from anywhere there is internet.  I work about 36 weeks/year and probably about 10 hours/week on average.

[DrSweden]

How about telepsychiatry?  You can work from anywhere.

I am now a consultant. I am now working with telepsychiatry two days a week. And seeing patients 3 days a week face to face. So I am working about 40 hours a week now. I am no longer on call and have all the weekends off. I am so much happier now. The point of FI is getting closer fast. :-)

[redbird]

For me personally, zero.

DH worked for about half a year full-time a few years ago only so we could get a mortgage for a house without question. We tried before that and it seemed simply too difficult to convince anywhere to give us one for a reasonable interest rate. We had the ability to buy the house outright, but we wanted to keep the money in the market. His actual pay was not at all needed for our FIRE, but more money never hurts.

[SwordGuy]

I worked a fair bit renovating two houses after we FIRED last year.   

I expect I'll renovate another 2 to 4 houses over the next decade.

Taught some artwork classes for sheer fun so I don't count that as work.

[sol]

In my first six months of retirement, I was offered a 35% raise to work part time.  I did it for about two weeks and then quit.  Once you've tasted freedom, the idea of going back to work obligations when you don't need the money just seems silly.  I mean I'd do it if I actually needed the money, because it's not like it's totally intolerable, it's just not nearly as nice as not working.

[John Galt incarnate!]

What I don't like is having to be there every day and working 50 hours a week.

Being on call during night and on weekends.

 I really like the thought of working when I want and not having to work.

So after FIRE, how much did you end up working?

My objective was to FIRE as soon as possible so I wouldn't have to work anymore.

First and foremost I wanted to maximize the luxury of  free time.

Secondly, for ideological reasons I was powerfully motivated to  stop working as soon as possible for the purpose of tax avoidance.

 I haven't worked since FIREing.

[Cassie]

I was very sad that teaching my online college class ended after 6 years. It was fun. I am 65 so maybe will fully retire.

[Linea_Norway]

How about telepsychiatry?  You can work from anywhere.

I am now a consultant. I am now working with telepsychiatry two days a week. And seeing patients 3 days a week face to face. So I am working about 40 hours a week now. I am no longer on call and have all the weekends off. I am so much happier now. The point of FI is getting closer fast. :-)

Congrats on getting a better working life.

Being on call in weekend sounds just awful.

[FIKris]

Retired at 31.  Didn't work at all the first 2 years, just traveled and enjoyed life. Now 36 and decided to accept a job working from home, but on my terms. I was volunteering a lot anyway and it was fun; we don't need the cash but it feels good to add to the stash. 

The major difference is I know that I can confidently leave whenever I want to.  Coming from the position of (financial) strength is such a privilege.  I sleep easy and don't fret about work related stuff anymore. It just isn't the major focus of my life like it used to be.  If it ever starts to become that way, that's my sign to quit again.

[Mr. Green]

I took a part-time job for two months after I quit working because my wife was still working then. Since she joined me in FIRE a year ago neither of us have worked except for a 6 days where I helped a family member. We just finished travelling extensively in the US and have no plans to return to the workforce. There's still too much of the world to see and I think this 3 month trip has only ignited the desire for more travel.

[Bingeworker]

I stayed on with my employer working one day every two weeks, but after a few months found even that too burdensome in terms of restricting my ability to travel, missing things that I would get invited to, etc., so I quit.

Instead I have switched back to working two 4-week travel gigs a year, just to keep my skills current (and also because the travel is to remote areas, and kind of fun).  Next year though I will likely work just one 4-week gig, and if the employers I work for act like jerks at all, I will just stop. 

I don't hate what I do, and would like to do enough to keep current in it, but employers don't make that easy so I will let go when the time comes.  Freedom comes first.

[happy]

Retired @60 in 2018 after working part-time for 24 years. Haven't done paid work since and am not intending to.

[DrSweden]

For me working 40 hours a week feels like part-time after so many years working 50+ hours. As an intern and resident in Sweden, we don't work as much as in the united states or UK. However, I have been on call for 24 hours at the hospital every other weekend since 2013 and before that, I worked night at the weekends since 2011. I am now self-employed and work as a consultant. The feeling of not having a boss is amazing. Of course, I still have to get along with the bosses at the companies I work for but it is not all the same thing. There is no staff meetings or ridiculous emails I have to suffer through.

I really like being a doctor when I can decide when and how much I will work. I have always liked helping patients and I hope I will be able to do that for many years. There is a great shortage of psychiatrists in Sweden and my education was paid for by the government. therefore I want to give some back to the society.

[happy]

As a physician, I enjoyed helping my patients too. I was paid to work  "24 hours" a week, which roughly translated to at least 30 hours a week on site, plus all the other ancillary things one needs to do. My part-time  hours were the same as many full timers in other jobs. When on-call  ( continuously for a week outside business hours) I covered 8 hospitals as well as community patients derived from a population of a million people. Fortunately this was not very often.

A fulltime workload would have been 60-70hours a week at the least: I was not prepared to sell my soul this many hours in a week, and went part-time.

[sol]

There is a great shortage of psychiatrists in Sweden and my education was paid for by the government. therefore I want to give some back to the society.

I totally understand this impulse.  I was also the beneficiary of a government-sponsored education, and I definitely felt the pull towards repaying that debt to society.

But I was lucky, being the kind of federally employed scientist that got to actually help governments change things, that I was able to more than repay all of the money Uncle Sam had invested in me within just a year or two of starting work, when my very first major work project saved something like twenty million dollars per year.  I suppose it's harder to fairly value your contribution, as a doctor, where the financial impacts of the care you provide to patients is harder to measure.

I hung in there for a decade or so, sometimes saving money for my country and sometimes just sloshing money around between different parts of the government, but always generating more revenue for my agency than I cost in salary.  Towards the end I started to get disillusioned with the whole process, because I saw a lot of more immediate needs in my community that no one was addressing.  So I quite my federal job and took on other obligations, as a volunteer of sorts, because these days I think I can do more good in local government and humanitarian efforts than I can as a federal paper push, even when those papers added up to millions.  There are different ways to value the impact you make on the world, right?  As a psychiatrist, could you help more people after you reach FIRE if you could do any kind of work you wanted to do, without any limitations?  That's the beauty of FIRE; by removing the constraints of a paycheck you are set free to pursue your own personal highest purpose.

[sol]

@sol have you ever described what kind or community-level projects you’re tackling now? I was under the impression you were a layabout ;)

I have not, and don't expect I will.  My anonymity is already compromised enough.  Let's just say I go to lots of meetings where I do lots of talking.

Being financially independent is pretty sweet, though.  You know all that stuff in your city or town that you look at and think "someone should really do something about that"?  Well, I get to be that someone.  I don't need to be paid.  I have abundant time and energy, and a professional background that confers certain base competencies, like reliably showing up on time and organizing teams, that aren't all that common in the population of free volunteers.  I've found that lots of "volunteer" type organizations are desperate for someone to be in charge, because everyone else who is qualified to be in charge of anything has a J O B where they are being paid to be in charge of something else instead.

I'm also a busy parent, both to my kids and to several others who need it   Yesterday we rode our bikes to the library, and today I spent four hours at the wave pool.  Tomorrow I'm taking a bunch of them to the $1 kid movie matinee, so that a single mother of four kids under 6 can have a few hours to herself. 

Changing the world is easy, if you do it in tiny bites.  Being a layabout sounds kind of dull.

[DrSweden]

@sol have you ever described what kind or community-level projects you’re tackling now? I was under the impression you were a layabout ;)

I have not, and don't expect I will.  My anonymity is already compromised enough.  Let's just say I go to lots of meetings where I do lots of talking.

Being financially independent is pretty sweet, though.  You know all that stuff in your city or town that you look at and think "someone should really do something about that"?  Well, I get to be that someone.  I don't need to be paid.  I have abundant time and energy, and a professional background that confers certain base competencies, like reliably showing up on time and organizing teams, that aren't all that common in the population of free volunteers.  I've found that lots of "volunteer" type organizations are desperate for someone to be in charge, because everyone else who is qualified to be in charge of anything has a J O B where they are being paid to be in charge of something else instead.

I'm also a busy parent, both to my kids and to several others who need it   Yesterday we rode our bikes to the library, and today I spent four hours at the wave pool.  Tomorrow I'm taking a bunch of them to the $1 kid movie matinee, so that a single mother of four kids under 6 can have a few hours to herself. 

Changing the world is easy, if you do it in tiny bites.  Being a layabout sounds kind of dull.

It sounds like you make a real contribution to your hometown and the people around you. I have realized that helping others have a nice bonus effect that it makes yourself feel really good.

[EricL]

I do part time work for a small business to help a friend.  But only by pre arrangement and mostly on holidays when his staff is short.  So about 5 days a year.  I Moderate a discussion board for free every day and its grown rather large and contentious (identity politics, who'd have guessed) so I'm thinking of retiring from that role.

[TartanTallulah]

Eight months into early "retirement", I'm working up to 30 hours a week doing the parts of my former job (medical, like many on this thread) I enjoy for reasonable pay. Knowing I can walk away with no notice if my work conditions deteriorate, or take leave as and when it suits me, is essential and I've turned down invitations to step into committed roles.

[soccerluvof4]

Since my post back in 2017 this summer with 2 kids in college and just because being 4.5 years fire'd I started working some cash jobs landscaping this spring and I also helped a friend out with two siding and window replacement jobs. But i wont do anything unless its 100% cash and I can average around 50$ an hour cash. So right now Its been a couple of weeks doing nothing but I saved up about 5k cash this spring and If I dont do anything till fall or till next year I am fine with that as well.

[davisgang90]

I've been retired a little over a year. 

I'm volunteering a few hours a week tutoring a young lady whose family are refugees from Sudan.

I did the substitute school teacher gig a few times and decided it wasn't for me.

I ran a photography camp for middle schoolers at the local community college for a week.

I applied and wasn't chosen for the only full time job I'd consider, at my alma mater.  Probably for the best I wasn't chosen.

I spend my abundant free time working on photography projects.  Not a paying gig, but could be in the future.

[aperture]

I quit working as a clinical pharmacist last summer. I was really burnt out, so doing anything in my field was out of the question. I took up buying and selling on eBay for fun and have been doing that about 2 to 4 hours a day - no more than 15 hours per week. I wouldn't call it work except that I generate income from it - enough for all my personal expenses.

My license is up for renewal this year and I am considering retiring it.