After much thought, a few sleepless nights, a lot of planning with my ChatGPT assistant, and consulting with my wife, I decided to begin my plan of ramping down for retirement. I put my two weeks’ notice in today.
Thanks to no longer having a mortgage, I no longer need the $4200 per month I was paying out for a mortgage. That means I can afford to transition to a combination of PRN and travel work. To match my previous disposable income, all I need to work is a single 13 week travel contract and 3 days of PRN nursing per month, on average. So call it 75 workdays a year. A 13 week contract in the fall, and one week per month the rest of the year.
I am now semi-retired.
Pushing send on that email was harder than I thought it would be.
16 Comments
TJ · January 26, 2026 at 12:01 pm
Bully for you!! Semi-retired is a great gig. Question is: what interesting project is going to claim your energy and inventiveness? We (your readers) are all curious.
Donnie Evans II · January 26, 2026 at 12:35 pm
A good discussion with a helpful A.I. is the type of 21 Century I had hoped for as a kid.
Enjoy those weeks and months off in your retirement.
JNorth · January 26, 2026 at 12:17 pm
Congrats, hope to be there in about five years. I seem to be on line for kicking that off after the 2030 construction season. Even if things don’t go quite right (who knows what the economy is going to do), in my region my work (construction field engineer) is very seasonal (it’s just paperwork this time of year) so I should be able to work just the summers if I need to after that.
It's just Boris · January 26, 2026 at 12:37 pm
Congratulations!
Joe Blow · January 26, 2026 at 12:41 pm
God Bless ya! Congrats!
Look into investing for income. If you have a stash of cash, you can collect divvy’s upwards of 12-15% from some companies (checkout midstream pipelines held by the majors).
Honk Honk · January 26, 2026 at 1:09 pm
Harold the Brain is semi. He still takes contracted engineering work in the glorious peoples republic of California due to the high wages.
When the competent and trained hang it up it all wipes out?
Hank · January 26, 2026 at 1:15 pm
As long as you have your ducks in a row, and sounds like you do, you won’t regret it. And TJ is right.
Henry · January 26, 2026 at 3:27 pm
Congratulations! You earned it and winding down with parttime work is better than an abrupt end to any work. I did it 6 years ago and it worked out well. Once you have that extra time available you’ll wonder how you ever had time to work fulltime. Best wishes for good health and a lot of happy years ahead.
Doug · January 26, 2026 at 3:33 pm
Congratulations! You’ll never regret reducing your exposure to the medical rat race.
SiG · January 26, 2026 at 3:36 pm
Congratulations!
I was retired by a layoff and didn’t really have much desire to keep working. That was 10 years ago last month (12/18/15). I’ve had times when I’d have gone back but we’re doing comfortably on our social security and a small additional income from our savings.
I told myself to finish a book I’d started some years ago, but never found that round tuit I needed to get.
Terrspod · January 26, 2026 at 4:26 pm
Congratulations, the first 3 years following my own decision, like you,following the no more mortgage, was nervous as a cat in a rottweiler farm. Eight years on, it is routine and no worries, the funds have so far been sufficient with some level of security. Of course, no one can predict the future, so enjoy the freedom while it lasts.
Steady Steve · January 26, 2026 at 7:04 pm
Good on ya! After a few months you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner. I understand sending that email was hard as you may feel you are letting some people you may like at work down. Don’t let it bother you as a couple months from now it will be “Divemedic who?” there.
Fred · January 27, 2026 at 6:55 am
I give it a year and you’ll be fully retired. 18 months tops.
Why? Because many of the full time employed worship their wallet. It’s their conditioning… The semi retired mindset clashes harshly with the wage slave mentality. It’ll lead to cognitive dissonance.
Anonymous · January 27, 2026 at 8:12 am
It’s amazing how easy it becomes once you actually do it. Since you say you’re already comfortable, it won’t be long before you blow off that 13-week contract idea. One thing though – prepared to be busier than when “working”.
Tom235 · January 27, 2026 at 8:14 am
An-tic-i … pation is hard. It’s amazing how easy it becomes once you actually do it. Since you say you’re already comfortable, it won’t be long before you blow off that 13-week contract idea. One thing though – prepared to be busier than when “working”.
James · January 30, 2026 at 2:48 pm
Good deal on “semi-retired”,I also am done for most part,will still do handyman work/help friends with their homes and get my shop built and up and running,not sure what I will make then but will figure it out.
I hope thru your years of work you were able to have a chance to pass on skills to those coming up,tis the best thing about having a little knowledge in my book.
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