Model different work patterns
Enter your current income, expenses and investments, then the part-time income you're considering. The calculator works out the shortfall between that income and your expenses, how much of your invested wealth is needed to cover it, and how dropping to part-time shifts your full financial-independence date. If you have a partner, their income can offset the gap too.
The Part-Time Freedom calculator answers a specific question: "If I drop to X% of my current income, when can I fully stop working?" Enter your full-time and part-time income, the number of years you plan to work part-time, your current investments, and your super balance.
The calculator shows your portfolio at the end of the part-time phase, whether your bridge portfolio covers the gap to super preservation age, and the earliest age you could fully stop after the part-time transition. The comparison panel shows direct full FIRE vs the part-time path side-by-side.
The standard FIRE narrative assumes a binary switch: work full-time until you hit your number, then stop forever. But most people underestimate how much of the work-life tension disappears with just 2 fewer days per week.
A part-time transition often means reaching a "good enough" point 3–5 years earlier than full FIRE. You work less, spend more time on what matters, earn enough to cover most expenses, and let the portfolio compound without drawing on it. The full stop comes later — but you get most of the benefit much sooner.
The key metric to watch: does your part-time income cover your expenses? If yes, your portfolio compounds freely during the part-time phase. If not, you're drawing it down — which the calculator flags with a warning.
Most Australians planning early or semi-retirement face a gap: super is locked until preservation age (60 for most people born after 30 June 1964), but they want to stop or reduce work before then.
The solution is a "bridge portfolio" — accessible investments in ETFs, managed funds, or other liquid assets held outside super. This bridge covers living expenses from the point you reduce or stop work until super becomes accessible.
Use the FIRE calculator to model the full independence picture including your super phase, and this Part-Time calculator to plan the transition.
Semi-retirement is reducing your working hours or income before fully stopping work. Instead of saving hard until you can retire completely, you drop to 2–3 days per week for several years. Your portfolio keeps growing (though slower), your expenses drop, and you reclaim most of your time while still earning enough to cover day-to-day costs.
It depends on how much you value time now vs certainty later. Going part-time sooner means more years of reduced hours but a longer overall timeline before full financial independence. Pushing to full FIRE first means a higher portfolio and cleaner exit, but you work full-time longer. Many people find part-time work more sustainable — the calculator lets you compare both paths directly.
Employer super contributions (12% from 1 July 2025) are paid on your part-time income, not your former full-time income. If you earned $100k and drop to $50k part-time, your annual employer super contribution roughly halves. The gap is usually manageable — super continues compounding, and by the time you reach preservation age, several years of compounding may offset the reduced contributions.
The bridge portfolio is accessible investments (ETFs, managed funds, cash) you draw from between stopping work and reaching super preservation age (60 for most Australians). Super is locked until then. During part-time work, the bridge grows more slowly — but ideally still grows. This calculator shows whether your bridge portfolio is sufficient to cover the gap period after you fully stop.
Generally no — super is preserved until age 60 (or 55–60 depending on your birth year). However, you can access super under a Transition to Retirement (TTR) strategy once you reach preservation age, even while still working. TTR allows you to draw a pension from super while reducing hours, which can be tax-effective. This calculator models the period before TTR becomes available.
Part-time income is typically taxed at a lower marginal rate than full-time income. If your part-time income is $40k, your effective tax rate is around 9–12% compared to 25–30% at $100k. This means take-home pay doesn't drop proportionally with hours — dropping to 50% hours often yields 60–65% of your after-tax full-time income.
During part-time work, the goal shifts from aggressive saving to capital preservation and ideally continued growth. Even a 10–15% savings rate during part-time helps the portfolio compound. The real question is whether income exceeds expenses. This calculator warns when part-time income falls below expenses — that's when the portfolio starts drawing down during the part-time phase.
Start with your current monthly expenses, then subtract work-related costs (commuting, clothing, lunches) and add leisure spending (travel, hobbies) that increases when you have more time. Many retirees find expenses are 80–90% of working life in the early years, then decline in later decades. The Australian ASFA Comfortable Retirement Standard (~$50k/year for a single) is a useful benchmark.
Possibly — salary sacrifice reduces taxable income, which helps when you're in a higher bracket. During part-time work at $40–50k income, you're in the 15–30% bracket. The super contributions tax rate is 15%, so salary sacrifice still saves up to 15 cents per dollar. The tradeoff: the money is locked in super until preservation age, reducing your accessible bridge portfolio.
A 15–25% buffer on projected expenses is conservative but realistic. Returns can run below average for extended periods (sequence of returns risk), expenses can be higher than modelled, and unexpected costs (health, home repairs) appear. The part-time phase is particularly vulnerable because you're spending down your buffer period between full-time work stopping and super access.
I'm a geologist-turned-builder who got frustrated with financial calculators that hand-wave how Australian tax actually works.
Every projection on MyNextDollar runs on current ATO mechanics for FY2026-27 — Stage-3 brackets, super contribution caps and HELP thresholds.
The calculation engine is covered by 88 unit tests and 10,000 fuzz scenarios, so what you see is exactly what the rules produce — not a rough estimate.