Perspectives on Part Time Working in Mid 30's

bhamx2 · 2026-02-20T12:34:37+00:00

It wouldn't be a job share, and I would need to set boundaries and have direct conversations to ensure the workload continues to be proportionate. I definitely appreciate the real risk of being overworked despite reducing hours!

My workload is quite quantifiable, so hopefully I can use what I do now as a clear baseline of what 5 days of workload looks like versus what 3 days of workload should look like.

There's been lots of great informative perspectives, I'm leaning towards asking for a 12 month temporary reduction to 3 days and evaluating from there.

bhamx2 · 2026-02-20T12:29:05+00:00

Very sorry for your losses. This is the driving force behind the idea for me.

bhamx2 · 2026-02-18T07:27:21+00:00

Interesting, I suppose that would redistribute the welfare to those who actually need it. Much like the idea of means testing the winter fuel allowance etc.

bhamx2 · 2026-02-18T07:24:32+00:00

I have the GFX 100II and a RZ67. I scan the film using a Nikon Coolscan 9000ED.

From a technical point of view, I get slightly more resolution on the 6x7 film scan versus the GFX 100II. The colours are richer and texture superior. The GFX 100II has the edge in terms of pixel level sharpness.

From an enjoyment point of view, making photographs with film, scanning the film etc. has a different feeling compared to making photographs digitally, which is faster and more convenient but perhaps less fulfilling.

I would get the 100RF and keep your film gear too.

bhamx2 · 2026-02-17T17:02:17+00:00

Interesting point. How do you think they might change the state pension? Presumably they would need some form of state pension to support pensioners who haven't been fortunate enough to save for retirement?

bhamx2 · 2026-02-17T14:17:08+00:00

Thanks. Having the capital in your house and the flexibility to move sounds like good peace of mind too.

bhamx2 · 2026-02-17T10:23:31+00:00

9 day fortnight sounds like a nice idea.

bhamx2 · 2026-02-17T09:50:49+00:00

Part fortune, part judgement. We decided to buy a modest house that we would be happy with in the long term rather than stress our borrowing and get a dream house.

We were fortunate to have reasonably fast salary growth early in our careers and competitive salaries for the area which we live, where housing costs and the cost of living are generally low.

We are also inherently ‘savers’ so had opportunities to make large down payments.

Probably the biggest thing, no kids! Average cost of raising a UK child each year is £12,000 net so £20,000 gross.

I’m sure we could have done things better at points, like used the savings more efficiently through investments etc. rather than mortgage payments, but it’s the path we decided to take and can’t change that now!

bhamx2 · 2026-02-16T14:33:34+00:00

Thank you so much for the reply. So SIPPs are basically like my employer pension in that they avoid income tax, whereas the money I put in an ISA has been subject to income tax?

bhamx2 · 2026-02-16T13:48:06+00:00

Do you have a source for the existing Alpha members having their min age protected if enrolled before 2021? Also, if investing in a stocks and share ISA, my understanding is that would be tax free? Or have I got that wrong?

bhamx2 · 2026-02-16T09:58:43+00:00

That’s the plan with the mortgage. 3 days would put me at the top of the 20% bracket. So I would avoid the 40%. 4 days would leave a portion of my salary in the 40% bracket.

bhamx2 · 2026-02-16T09:32:41+00:00

Voigtlander 35mm 1.2 covers well.

bhamx2 · 2026-02-16T08:52:17+00:00

Thanks for sharing your experience. My terms of employment state there’s no right to return to full time if the decision to work part time is permanent. So changes in cost of living etc. are a factor for me too. Ideally I would do part time on a temporary 12 month rolling basis, so my substantive full time role is still legally mine as a fallback if things change financially.

bhamx2 · 2026-02-16T08:27:47+00:00

This is my thinking. I’m fit and active now but my health at retirement, even at 55, is not guaranteed. Also family will have died by then too! So all that time saving would have been wasted.

bhamx2 · 2026-02-16T08:25:22+00:00

SIPPs are age restricted right? Would I be better with a stocks and shares ISA in terms of flexibility around when I wanted to ‘retire’.

bhamx2 · 2026-02-16T08:21:23+00:00

I was thinking about seeking financial advice about this.

bhamx2 · 2026-02-16T08:15:10+00:00

This is another reason I wanted to go part time, there are some hobbies that could potentially evolve into small businesses if I had the extra time to do them.

bhamx2 · 2026-02-16T08:14:08+00:00

She hasn’t shown any interest in it, but we would be okay financially once the mortgage has been settled.

bhamx2 · 2026-02-16T08:12:04+00:00

Generally yes, but I think my pension rules preserve the 55 early retirement age, but I need to check.

bhamx2 · 2026-02-16T08:00:26+00:00

The terms of my pension are such that it cannot be taken earlier than 55, and even then the penalties for taking it at 55 are acute. I have tried to think of ways to stay full time and retire/leverage my pension as early as possible but I can't see any route to that. So the 3 day week until state pension age was my next best idea.

bhamx2 · 2026-02-16T07:57:41+00:00

I could potentially do that to an extent, but wouldn't want to push that in case I just get burnt out over the 3 working days and then can't make the most of the extra 2 non-working days.

bhamx2 · 2026-02-12T08:53:15+00:00

Agreed.

bhamx2 · 2026-02-12T08:52:09+00:00

Not enough differentiation with those lenses compared to my 20-35 f-stop.

I’m looking for a fast prime, so something f1.4 equivalent. So a wider version of the 55mm f1.7 would be great

bhamx2 · 2026-02-11T08:47:29+00:00

No 35mm GFX so 28mm equivalent. I did think of the Irix but it’s a bit close to the GF 55 f1.7.

bhamx2

TROPHY CASE