Early retirement - the golden era of benefits...

[Live Free]

My parents have it made in the shade with a Cola'd pension from the feds until death. And both retired before 60.

I think a lot of folks on this board made their income in years where computer programmers and systems engineers were in high demand. The demand is still there, but I see A LOT of outsourcing of these jobs now. My nephew owns his own engineering firm and about 10 years ago he was talking about how he chose engineering because it couldn't be outsourced. You had to have a PE and be licensed in your state. Recently he told me he was wrong about that. Whatever engineering plans he needs he can outsource to engineers abroad for a quarter of the cost and then just review and certify them himself after review. I work for a large megacorp. I note that our 3 network engineers in our building are H1b visa holders and our company saves a crapload on labor costs using them. Welcome to the global economy!

Edited to add: this is why I worry about my kids. Even if they go the engineering or IT route -- will that ensure security?

 

[Big_Hitter]

I think a lot of folks on this board made their income in years where computer programmers and systems engineers were in high demand.

you mean like back in the day where there would be a "charge" for computer time and the IT guys were always preventing you from modifying your PC so you could do your job more efficiently?

 

[Big_Hitter]

Edited to add: this is why I worry about my kids. Even if they go the engineering or IT route -- will that ensure security?

not sure - my dad told me not to go into the oil biz and I'm glad I didn't

 

[Amethyst]

My, didn't that attorney have a gift with words! Dinosaur, indeed. If he weren't such a dinosaur himself, he would have used "unicorn" (something admirable and rare)!

I was just discussing this with DW a few days ago, how lucky we are. The elder law attorney we dealt with on FIL's issues said I was a "financial dinosaur". Have a government DB COLA'd pension, SS benefits coming, decent savings. .

 

[Which Roger]

Two paths to similar financial results: I had only one "real job" for my entire career. I had a pension waiting for me, thus the golden handcuffs. A sibling was somewhat of a job hopper, changing jobs every 5 years or so. No pension, but pay boosts when changing jobs that far exceeded my raises. End result is that I have a modest pension, but sibling has higher earnings, thus we have similar net worth at similar ages.

Regarding globalization: Yes, there is a lot of outsourcing, but there are also a lot of foreign companies that have a large presence in the US and hire a lot of US workers (I was one of them).

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Edited to add: this is why I worry about my kids. Even if they go the engineering or IT route -- will that ensure security?

It won't long term. But the ability to learn new things and be willing to go back to school as needed will. Also teaching them how to have a nice life with low overhead will help them to become FI, like Shillers advice to his students:

“My students are living alright,” Shiller said. “I’ve suggested to them, why don’t you just continue to live at that level after you get a job? It would pile up into a lot of money.”

 

[Big_Hitter]

dunno, personally I've studied and worked way to hard to live like I did in college

 

[UnrealizedPotential]

My company has a pension plan. It is still ok for me , but for new hires the plan is very weak. I have almost 26 years in. With all that I still have to save all I can to even have a prayer at retirement.

 

[Big_Hitter]

^ ich auch - one of my main goals in life is to retire longer than I w*rked - gotta save a lot or lbym or both - I'd rather just save a lot and live at my means

 

[daylatedollarshort]

dunno, personally I've studied and worked way to hard to live like I did in college

I guess it depends how you lived in college. Our kids have it pretty good.

 

[Big_Hitter]

I shared a crappy townhouse/apt in Alief while I commuted to UH and drove around a ghetto ford - not my idea of living the dream - ate a lot of pizza and drank a lot of shiner tho


google alief if you want a laugh

 

[Cut-Throat]

I guess it depends how you lived in college. Our kids have it pretty good.

Yes, I've seen a lot of people's kids that lived very well in college. Thanks to mom and dad. I've also seen a lot of these kids move back in with their parents when they finish college.

 

[Which Roger]

I'm not convinced that this will all end as badly as many others seem to think. Many on this board have experienced the period of transition, where the rug (pensions, job security, etc) has being pulled out from under them. With that security, there was less need to save. But younger workers have never had this security, and I don't think that this is lost on them; they may indeed have an increased emphasis on saving, especially when they reach their high earning years. It's too early to tell. Also, companies are still going to need to attract and retain skilled workers, so if they're not offering the old-fashioned golden parachute, they will need to make it up with something. This all needs a lot more time to play out before I'm convinced that the younger generation is doomed.

 

[Andre1969]

I tell my kids to get government jobs and sincerely mean it.

My grandmother's cousin has been getting on me about this, saying I should go into the government. I keep telling her that the federal government's pension isn't nearly as lucrative as it was back in her day, and she finally got off that track, but told me I should try for state gov't.

Then I told her that as far along as I am in my career, I'd have to probably work a good 30 years before I got a pension to amount to anything. She replied "what's wrong with that?" I told her well, I'm 45 now, so that means I wouldn't retire until I'm well into my 70's! To which she replied "So?"

She retired in 1980 at the age of 55-56, from a GS-13 job in the federal government. When I was younger, I always admired her for being an early retiree, but in later years, I found out that she kinda got pushed out, so she didn't really leave of her own free will. And now that she's 90, she's very close to running out of money, although a lot of that is because she constantly bailed out her kids and grandkids every time they got into trouble. So I think she's looking back on her own past and wishes she had worked longer, and as a result thinks I should, too.

Despite the GS-13 job, her pension isn't all that great, because she didn't have enough years of service in. I think her medical benefits are pretty good though. A lot better than mine will be, I'm sure.

 

[Big_Hitter]

my late FIL retired from the foreign service at 52 and went to work for a megacorp in Houston where he worked to 65 - his federal pension was very ample

 

[Teacher Terry]

My pension after 15 years is $20,000/year. I also did not start until I was 44 so don't rule things out based on your age.