Going back to full time work after FIRE

[intellectsucks]

Part of our “FIRE” plan is to eventually go from full time to part time work.  One concern I have with this plan is that I’ll need to go back to full time work due to something unforeseen.  Has anyone FIRE’d or gone part time and then had to go full time again?  Please share your thoughts and experiences.

[TheAnonOne]

Once you hit a 4% WR for FIRE technically, you won't have to work at all.

The utter disaster required to force you back to FT time especially after years of PT would probably make 08 look like the "good ol' days"

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[TheAnonOne]

As a second thought, if you are 'FIREd' at a 6+% WR and PT work, then I COULD see issues, but even then, only if you are VERY PT.



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[Greenback Reproduction Specialist]

Would going back to work be a real issue? For me it isn't really a concern, if I do, then I do.... Its not a big deal.

[intellectsucks]

Allow me to clarify:
Our monthly expenses currently hover just over $30k/year (and dropping).  If we get our stache to 600k and use a 4% SWD, that will give us about 24k/year in income.  If we both work part time instead of full time and earn somewhere around $10k/year, it should give us plenty to continue to grow the stache and account for unexpected big expenses (home repairs, medical issues, family emergencies, etc).  However if we quit full time work and short time later, say 6 months or a year, there is a big time drop in equities (20-40%), then we may need to go back to full time work.
My concern is that getting full time work could be difficult after an extended period of part time work.

[Prairie Stash]

Are you collecting the 4% every month? Some people keep a buffer of one year ($30K) precisely to ride out dips. That would require a total stash of $630,000 (from $600k) but give you almost a year of warning. During that year of reduction my S&P 500 ETF (VFV) will payout 1.7% in dividends, on 600K that's $10k, another 4 months of living. Before a single share is sold that's 16 months to figure out what to do. Its not an instantaneous decision; there's time to plan and search. Essentially you have a 2% WR for the year.

Of course you and your other could also try for minimum wage jobs to stretch the timeline further in case of an extended slump. With $10k in dividends you would each need to bring in $10k to make it through the slump; I know minimum wage sucks but can you make $10K somehow when you consider its not a permanent deal?

[Morning Glory]

It depends on your field. if you go from full to part time in the same job, it will be easy to go back to full time. As long as you are working in your field and keeping up continuing ed, licenses, etc. you should be fine.

[Greenback Reproduction Specialist]

I really don't think this is to much to worry about, you have marketable skills and I'm assuming you must have good work ethic to get where you are today.

Lets say there is a dip in the market, you have $600k paying 1.7% in dividends. This gives you $10,200 per year of dividend income, regardless of if the prices fluctuate or not. That only leaves you with $13,800 to come up with per year in income, assuming your expenses are $24k per year. That is $1150 per month, and with roughly 180hrs of working time in a month that means you would have to figure some way to earn $6.38/hr full time. Or if you work part time you need a job that pays $12.76/hr for 20 hours per week.

Are you concerned that you or your wife might not be able to make those numbers happen at a minimum?

Another option might be to take $100k and put it into a rental property that can bring $1k per month of income. These can be found if you spend some time looking, might be a nice diversification, and rents tend to go up over time in areas that are growing. Just a thought.

[FI4good]

I quit my job on 1st april 2003 , started my next job in aug 07.

I didn't have enough money for FI although had quite a large (for me) FU stash of about £40,000 .

I was worried about technology moving on in the time i was away , i changed from a firm with 1000 employees to one with 10,000 so was worried their industrial automation would be more advanced and i'd be behind the pack.

Turns out my experience, can do attitude, intelligence, cheerfulness and willingness to take on issues and see them through was worth far more than being completely up to date in any manufacturers PLC software suites or SCADA packages. 

I've been back in the working world for 9 years, if i'd had a longer early retirement i think i'd be fine starting over now with what would have been a 13 year gap .