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