Part time job ideas in retirement

I have worked past 25 years in structured corporate jobs. Always a paid servant and cog in a wheel. Not been particularly successful at it – failed to launch as a manager but have managed to hang in there as an individual contributor by swallowing my ego, not talking back, not being too demanding, and quietly trying to do the job I have been assigned.

Been saving diligently along with spouse. Hence, reached a reasonably good financial position with:

$2.8M in pre-tax retirement

$1.3M in cash and post tax brokerage

$2M in VHCOL area home equity (but still have a sizable mortgage of $5k per month)

Apart from that mortgage, monthly spending is about $12k.

I know that we are at Coast FI, because the portfolio moves significantly more in any given month than how much we can save that month. So, pretty much our financial future is in the hands of Mr. Market, and that’s fine – S&P 500 seems to be chugging along.

I also know that in 5-6 years, we can FIRE with a portfolio value of around $6M. But then, I don’t want to just retire and do nothing. I can’t slow travel like a nomad because of some responsibilities.

Hence, would like to start developing some paths to a part time work in retirement so as to:

1. Keep some professional identity

2. Structure the days/weeks

3. Keep mentally alert

4. Earn some spending money

I don’t want to volunteer for free because I would probably not take that too seriously myself. A little bit of paid work imparts positive responsibility, I believe.

So, what are some ideas for meaningful part time work in retirement for someone who has spent their career in a 9-5 corporate office setting?