5 ms·

Around 5 years back, I went from 5 days a week to 4, taking a 20% paycut in the process. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made - it feels like I have

Around 5 years back, I went from 5 days a week to 4, taking a 20% paycut in the process. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made - it feels like I have so much more time for family, side projects and hobbies than I ever did before. And for reference, I work around 90% from home. TBH, the company I work for has got a pretty good deal out of this, as I'm sure my productivity hasn't dropped at all. (it's a mega corp, so there is zero chance of negotiating back to equivalent of a 5-day salary)

guntars 7y ago
It's a 20% paycut, but a 50% increase in free time! I'm doing the same thing btw, taking every Wednesday off and I love it - it breaks up the week and having the whole extra day for fun projects is totally worth the money to me.
- steve_adams_86 7y ago
  Well put – 50% increase in free time. That's a very positive take on it. Depending on who you are that'll matter more or less, but to me that phrase is heart warming. 50% more time for the family, self care, catching up around the house. That sounds peaceful.
  - mixmastamyk 7y ago
    And you pay less taxes, so the pay cut is not as high as the full sticker.
    - GordonS 7y ago
      Actually, I remained in the same tax bracket.
      - waddlesworth 7y ago
        Even in the same tax bracket, your effective tax rate will go down (because less of your income is in that bracket.)
glenneroo 7y ago
A few years ago I seriously contemplated changing professions, so my boss allowed me to switch from full-time to 20 hours/week spread across 2-3 days. One immediate upside was that I only took a ~35% paycut due to being in a different tax bracket. As I dove deeper into my new career, I realized it wasn't for me, so I stayed at my old job... and now I can't imagine ever going back to full-time, as my quality of life has risen exponentially and I finally have enough time and energy for my never-ending list of hobbies and side-projects.
- EpicEng 7y ago
  >One immediate upside was that I only took a ~35% paycut due to being in a different tax bracket. Are you in the US? If so, you can't save money on taxes by making less; it's a progressive system.
  - glenneroo 7y ago
    I guess that's another quality of life perk of working outside the US :)
    - EpicEng 7y ago
      Well, I'd say the opposite... Here you'd be making more money.
      - glenneroo 7y ago
        I admit to being blissfully ignorant regarding financial matters but isn't 50% less work while earning 33% less (as opposed to 50%) a good thing?
        EpicEng 7y ago
        Sorry, was only talking about the tax situation. In a progressive system each dollar is taxed at the rate of its bracket. For example (hypothetical), dollars 1-25,000 are taxed at 5%, 25,001-50,000 at 6%, 50,001-75,000 at 7%, etc. You can never gain by making less. If you actually paid less in taxes on _every_ dollar by dropping a bracket, then you'd have been making more all along in a progressive system. Are you certain that was the case? Just curious.
gentleman11 7y ago
How did you find a part time seng job? I’ve never seen one in my life. It’s all full time and contract work
- GordonS 7y ago
  I didn't, not exactly - it was a full time job for years, then I asked to reduce my hours. In the UK, employers have to give consideration to reasonable requests for flexible working. But it also helped a lot that I work for a huge corporation, so they are better setup to deal with and permit such requests.

guntars 7y ago

It's a 20% paycut, but a 50% increase in free time! I'm doing the same thing btw, taking every Wednesday off and I love it - it breaks up the week and having the whole extra day for fun projects is totally worth the money to me.

steve_adams_86 7y ago
Well put – 50% increase in free time. That's a very positive take on it. Depending on who you are that'll matter more or less, but to me that phrase is heart warming. 50% more time for the family, self care, catching up around the house. That sounds peaceful.
- mixmastamyk 7y ago
  And you pay less taxes, so the pay cut is not as high as the full sticker.
  - GordonS 7y ago
    Actually, I remained in the same tax bracket.
    - waddlesworth 7y ago
      Even in the same tax bracket, your effective tax rate will go down (because less of your income is in that bracket.)

glenneroo 7y ago

A few years ago I seriously contemplated changing professions, so my boss allowed me to switch from full-time to 20 hours/week spread across 2-3 days. One immediate upside was that I only took a ~35% paycut due to being in a different tax bracket. As I dove deeper into my new career, I realized it wasn't for me, so I stayed at my old job... and now I can't imagine ever going back to full-time, as my quality of life has risen exponentially and I finally have enough time and energy for my never-ending list of hobbies and side-projects.

EpicEng 7y ago
>One immediate upside was that I only took a ~35% paycut due to being in a different tax bracket. Are you in the US? If so, you can't save money on taxes by making less; it's a progressive system.
- glenneroo 7y ago
  I guess that's another quality of life perk of working outside the US :)
  - EpicEng 7y ago
    Well, I'd say the opposite... Here you'd be making more money.
    - glenneroo 7y ago
      I admit to being blissfully ignorant regarding financial matters but isn't 50% less work while earning 33% less (as opposed to 50%) a good thing?
      - EpicEng 7y ago
        Sorry, was only talking about the tax situation. In a progressive system each dollar is taxed at the rate of its bracket. For example (hypothetical), dollars 1-25,000 are taxed at 5%, 25,001-50,000 at 6%, 50,001-75,000 at 7%, etc. You can never gain by making less. If you actually paid less in taxes on _every_ dollar by dropping a bracket, then you'd have been making more all along in a progressive system. Are you certain that was the case? Just curious.

gentleman11 7y ago

How did you find a part time seng job? I’ve never seen one in my life. It’s all full time and contract work

GordonS 7y ago
I didn't, not exactly - it was a full time job for years, then I asked to reduce my hours. In the UK, employers have to give consideration to reasonable requests for flexible working. But it also helped a lot that I work for a huge corporation, so they are better setup to deal with and permit such requests.