In the FIRE community, this kind of topic often comes up. Are there any enjoyable full-time or part-time jobs to do in semi-retirement? Invariably, the conclus

In the FIRE community, this kind of topic often comes up. Are there any enjoyable full-time or part-time jobs to do in semi-retirement? Invariably, the conclusion is that low-wage or part-time jobs almost always come with enough baggage to outweigh any perceived benefits as a semi-retirement gig. A job is a job -- anything that produces a consistent income is going to involve dealing with unreasonable people or expectations or situations. [0] The most efficient path is to get into the most lucrative role possible early on and simply do that until you don't need to work at all anymore. If you like carpentry or machining or driving around or landscaping or gardening, you're going to enjoy these activities a LOT more if you're doing them on your own terms in proper retirement for your own satisfaction. As soon as someone else is paying you to deliver these types of services for their benefit and not yours, you're in the same situation you're in as a software engineer, just with far less income and thus less potential to ever truly retire. [0] I'm sure some "unicorn" jobs do exist. So I'm speaking in generalities here. There probably do exist some gigs out there that are genuinely great for semi-retirement; they're just going to be surprisingly difficult to find, they may not be stable over a long period of time (decades), and it may not be possible to find one for yourself.