Has anyone here down-shifted her career at 50?

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for the responses. I feel pretty confident I need a change in environment. Ideally I'd like to find something that's lower stress but I know I need to leverage the skills and experience I've built. I agree it doesn't make sense financially to take a huge step down - but I feel like I'd be okay with a lateral move to get me through the next 5-7 years til I can truly retire or take a fun job. Appreciate everyone's input.

[Anonymous]

Kind of. I’m doing a secure govt job with flexible hours that I consider my base pay and now brainstorming on starting a side hustle I can scale up and take with me into retirement. Maybe real estate.

[Anonymous]

I am completely relate to OP.

I'm 51, productive supervisor, I have exceptional performance reviews, I like my job but the demands are high, lots of deadlines, training new staff, etc. I also have children in high school which has its own set of challenges (making sure they complete assignments, travel soccer). Once my children graduate from high school, my plan is to downsize, move to an area with lower cost of living, and take a job with less responsibilities. DH also wants to do that. A job that is more task oriented, when you are done with your work for the day, you are done. I really need that for my mental health.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am completely relate to OP.

I'm 51, productive supervisor, I have exceptional performance reviews, I like my job but the demands are high, lots of deadlines, training new staff, etc. I also have children in high school which has its own set of challenges (making sure they complete assignments, travel soccer). Once my children graduate from high school, my plan is to downsize, move to an area with lower cost of living, and take a job with less responsibilities. DH also wants to do that. A job that is more task oriented, when you are done with your work for the day, you are done. I really need that for my mental health.

I don’t understand lower cost area. I am older but if last kid goes instate I need to wait to move.

Downsizing does it really lower cost much.
In my case realtor fee is $90k, prepping, moving and closing costs almost 30k. Buying new house 30k closing plus moving costs and knowing wife are least 20k to make her own.

Now I am at $170k. My mortgage is 380k payoff date 2037. If I just instead of moving wrote check 170k towards mortgage it would mean the remaining amount would paid off quickly.

Other wild card I did take a less stressful lower paid job and my boss was a control freak so was not less
Stress

[Anonymous]

I'm early 50s and have been focused on a mid-50s "sabbatical" when I hit the right retirement number. Travel for a couple years and come back to an individual contributor role that gets me out of the house, socializing etc. Recently though, my DW started a new job she really enjoys and wouldn't necessarily want to quit in 3 or 4 years to 'travel the world,' so we might revise that bit.

One of my goals would be a job that pays the daily expenses while the nest egg keeps compounding. I've def shared that feeling of 'hectic every day' mgmt role and thought 'sure, I CAN do this, but do I need to?' ... and I've also had that feeling that a hectic work life has a tendency to crowd out your other life interests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm early 50s and have been focused on a mid-50s "sabbatical" when I hit the right retirement number. Travel for a couple years and come back to an individual contributor role that gets me out of the house, socializing etc. Recently though, my DW started a new job she really enjoys and wouldn't necessarily want to quit in 3 or 4 years to 'travel the world,' so we might revise that bit.

One of my goals would be a job that pays the daily expenses while the nest egg keeps compounding. I've def shared that feeling of 'hectic every day' mgmt role and thought 'sure, I CAN do this, but do I need to?' ... and I've also had that feeling that a hectic work life has a tendency to crowd out your other life interests.

Curious how you would land an IC role at nearly 60 after several years out of the workforce??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm early 50s and have been focused on a mid-50s "sabbatical" when I hit the right retirement number. Travel for a couple years and come back to an individual contributor role that gets me out of the house, socializing etc. Recently though, my DW started a new job she really enjoys and wouldn't necessarily want to quit in 3 or 4 years to 'travel the world,' so we might revise that bit.

One of my goals would be a job that pays the daily expenses while the nest egg keeps compounding. I've def shared that feeling of 'hectic every day' mgmt role and thought 'sure, I CAN do this, but do I need to?' ... and I've also had that feeling that a hectic work life has a tendency to crowd out your other life interests.

Curious how you would land an IC role at nearly 60 after several years out of the workforce??

Who knows? ... but I feel confident. Lots of contacts all over my industry, good at this stuff etc.

[Anonymous]

I can relate to OP. I left fortune 500 mid-career and went into a federal agency. Once you are in, they cannot push you out due to age.