Semi Retirement Lifestyles: 3 Ways to Escape the Rat Race

[@Fioneers]

Check out our other video on Semi Retirement kzbin.info/www/bejne/oIDWqnaJitekrLc

[@TravelingNP]

I have shifted to seasonal work 6 months out of the year. I agree it’s the best of both worlds. Allows enough time to travel abroad and the option to be productive.

[@Fioneers]

Thanks for sharing your experience! So glad to hear it’s living up to the hype for you.

[@briand4000]

Plan 1 is "my plan". Just turned 60, really enjoy my work and the people so not ready to pull the plug. The challenging part, and somewhat unspoken but needs to be, is healthcare costs and coverages that will vary with employers and plans. It will cost me more to go part-time as the employer paid part of the premium is dialed back. I wish it was as easy as just working a day less per week, but it is more nuanced. I really appreciate your message and clear presentation!

[@Fioneers]

Plan 1 is a good plan. Yup, adjusting down your hours and incurring more costs is very nuanced. I do like how you can do it a little bit at a time. Many employers also still consider a certain % as full time for benefits purposes. I’ve seen 60-80 percent as the threshold where benefits are still provided and they pay the same % of the premiums.

[@hedwigsnape]

this idea is something I've been coming to for a few months. I am type "A". On a 3-day weekend, I'm bored by the third day. I will have a comfortable retirement if I retire at the earliest at age 62. However, I feel like that is too early for me (I'm 58+ now). My fear is that I'll be bored and resort to recreational shopping or traveling too often. I need to feel productive. I feel like I will still have a lot to offer my chosen field. I'm starting to look at retiring from my regular job and doing contract work in my current field, maybe half time. I have a few years to figure this out and network my way to that half-time job. thanks for a great video!

[@Fioneers]

I get that too. There’s something about feeling productive. I love the idea of doing contract work. Another underrated opportunity to have a better work life balance, in my opinion. I’m excited for you and would love to hear an update as you look into it further.

[@tylercampbell6058]

I was gonna be type A but then I got high. Haha.

[@learnwithme1041]

Don’t be jealous of teachers’ summer breaks. We’re so burnt out and underpaid. I gladly gave up summers for a “regular”, much less stressful job.. which also pays better.

[@Fioneers]

That’s fair, and yes, we agree that teachers are underpaid, some states more than others. Do you feel like you have any other options?

[@learnwithme1041]

@@Fioneers Other than teaching? Yes, I left teaching in order to have that regular office job that pays better and is less stressful.

[@Fioneers]

Oh, I read that as “I would gladly give up…” 😂 I’m glad to hear that! 👏

[@tylercampbell6058]

Great video. I’m looking to go seasonal in about 5 years. Too many parts of the world I still want to see. And I would love to go skiing more before I can’t and I’m quickly getting to that point with my knees.

[@Fioneers]

Thanks! Seasonal work sounds really amazing.

[@lanaturopathefrugale]

Love this video :) On my side the plan starting this september is to use my portfolio to pay the bills and to work seasonally a light part-time work to pay for my splurges (mostly travel) until I finish my studies. At the same time I will prepare to launch my practice without stress on the revenues which is the only way I could see myself starting entrepreneurship! Then the goal is to do it like Mel ;)

[@Fioneers]

Thank you! Amazing, that sounds like a great plan. Good luck launching your practice 👍

[@Michael-4]

If I had the money to semi retire, I'd put that time towards doing work that I'd love to do full time.

[@Fioneers]

Sounds like a great option. What type of work would you want to do full time if you could semi retire?

[@ordinaryhuman5645]

6:00 the savings on income tax from a move like this might make withdrawals unnecessary. When I went from a $100k salary to a $50k salary, my biggest expense, income taxes, fell by about $18k. That was despite having $20k in pretax contributions to avoid income taxes. Part time income is more than sufficient to cover the bills, and I'm still throwing some money into retirement accounts to dodge some taxes... just not as much as I used to.

[@Fioneers]

Such a great point about income tax. Thanks for that addition.

[@bryan8638]

Don't count your chickens (investments) before they hatch. This could screw you over bad if you start dipping into investments before they've had time to go parabolic

[@Fioneers]

There is always the risk of withdrawing assets too soon, but it’s hard to argue with the results with seeing people do it and still work towards financial independence. If there were a huge market correction, semi retired folks have the option of increasing their active income too.

[@snow40741]

I am doing part time for the health insurance...work only 4 days...I am under 59 1/2 so I am not tapping into any of my retirement account which I hope you can explain that part...I am totally debt free...if I could figure out to pay for health care for the next 7 years...I would work even less!

[@Fioneers]

I’ve added talking about how we get health insurance to the list of future videos. Thanks for the suggestion. In the meantime, we get our health insurance through the ACA (affordable care act). Since NH doesn’t have their own marketplace (like MA), we now shop for plans through healthcare.gov. Assuming you live in a different state, you could probably google “does [my state name] have its own ACA marketplace?” And if not, healthcare.gov would let you search plans. There are also subsidies for low income individuals which will require a full video to explain.

[@mattcombs8778]

It is important to consider the penalties of early 401K withdrawal and the expenses of providing for health insurance outside of a group plan. Failure to do so will be catastrophic financially.

[@Fioneers]

Two really great additions. I am not advocating people withdraw from their 401k early, but to use their taxable account initially. With Obamacare, it is easier than ever to get health insurance outside of an employer sponsored plan, but important to consider the costs as you say.

[@MC-gj8fg]

TBH I don't see anyone who started at zero entering full retirement in their 40's like your friend. Making the first million by 40 is definitely doable. Entering semi retirement at that time and sluffing little if anything from our portfolio to support that lifestyle until full retirement at sometime 59 1/2 or older once our nest egg reaches 25x our annual expenditures is also reasonable. Full retirement in the 40's calls for a trust fund or a very well paying part time job prior to full retirement. Even if its simply living with next level frugality, there are non negligible risks attempting to project how much we'll need in a full retirement starting at age 65 based on inflation and market conditions let alone age 45. This is my primary criticism regarding the dangers of FIRE.

[@Fioneers]

I think there are a number of ways to get to full retirement in someone’s 40s, but I agree with you that semi retirement is much more approachable for most people.

[@ordinaryhuman5645]

It's doable. Easy mode if you stay single as a well paid corporate drone, even. I shifted to part time work at 33. Hit 1 million at 35. I'm past my FIRE number, but remote part timing is comfy enough to not pull the trigger on becoming unemployed for now. But I'll be surprised if I'm still doing this job at 40.

[@Fioneers]

@OrdinaryHuman, thanks for adding your experience! Don’t you just love part time work?!

[@ordinaryhuman5645]

@@Fioneers Yup, part time is pretty great.

[@arh1234]

It's all dependent on your spend. If you live on $20k/year, you can retire on $500k, which is easier to accumulate with a low spend like that

[@CafeLu]

Ha! Yes - people binge watch youtube!

[@Fioneers]

Haha! Thanks for confirming for us. 🙂