There is a third option, which is to move to a place with a much lower cost of living. This isn’t always possible, due to family or job, but it’s not exactly uncommon either. Remote work, in particular, has helped with this. Work fewer hours, for less money, but with fewer needs.

Doable, but it’s about what you prioritize and care about.

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apt-apt-apt-apt 4 days ago | parent [-]

> Remote work, in particular, has helped with this. Work fewer hours, for less money

Honestly, this sounds like an armchair fantasy.

It sounds great on paper– tech jobs pay $150K, so just find a remote job and work half-time. Boom, less taxes and you still have $5K/mo plus tons of time!

IME though, 99% of jobs want to own you full-time. There are almost no roles where you can be part-time. The other alternative, independent contractor or Upwork, is also very difficult to start, even if you have good experience and skills.

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borski 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

I didn’t say you could do it working for Amazon. There are plenty of law firms, medical offices, etc., that need software and IT help and are happy to have it part-time or provide flexibility. Sure, it won’t be FAANG, but that wasn’t what we were talking about here.

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apt-apt-apt-apt 3 days ago | parent [-]

What kind of software development would law/medical/other offices need on a flexible basis? I'm having trouble envisioning a scenario where someone could realistically be a dev part-time.

	▲	borski 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		There is always a ton of work; off-the-shelf tools are rarely off the shelf and require set up, maintenance, etc. A lot of writing glue code to build dashboards and things. Nowadays, a lot of AI work to improve attorney and paralegal efficiency, etc. Law firms have software devs and/or IT on staff, or they contract it out. Contracting rather than a W2 is also an option. It’s not “fun.” But it pays well and is often doable remotely / part-time.

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OJFord 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Almost nothing is advertised as part time, but way more than 1% would be happily accomodating if you asked to reduce to x days/week, I think. Especially for people coming to that decision while in the job, vs. negotiating for it in an offer.