FUEGO
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2007
- Messages
- 7,746
I just got let go from my job earlier this week. It was a permanent government job, but a position that was totally "at will" given the dynamic demands of the organization and the politically sensitive nature of our mission. Over the last 2 years a concerted effort had been made from the Legislature on down to systematically disassemble our organization and assimilate it into a larger (but clunkier) MegaAgency. We used to have 20 staff and as many consultants. After this last round of terminations that included me, the organization is left with 5 staff.
It was a little shocking on Monday (the day I was let go), although I had a suspicion I may get let go. Last week I was on vacation all week, and I just happened to check my email over the weekend. I freaked out when I saw the email saying my coworker, "Employee X", is no longer with the organization because it was very sudden. And he didn't quit, he was fired with no warning whatsoever. Of course I was next on the chopping block Monday morning.
"Today is your last day of employment here. Your employment is being terminated. Pack your personal belongings and turn in your ID badge on your way out. Mr. Office Assistant will assist you and escort you from the building."
As soon as I arrived home on Monday, I began the process of finding out what happened from a couple other trusted employees. I sent out my "Goodbye!" email thanking those people I liked working with during my time at the Org. I developed an action plan for tasks I needed to complete immediately and over the next few days. I started working the plan.
By Tuesday the shock wore off and I realized everything is going to be okay. I was able to update my financial models and rerun firecalc. DW still has her job and it seems as solid as ever (including a likely raise and promotion in January 2014).
Financially, we will be totally fine on a cash flow basis for the indefinite future. I set the dividends on our taxable brokerage accounts to pay out in cash instead of reinvest automatically. That will generate $8,000+ per year in additional income (mostly paid in December). DW's take home pay plus the $8000 in dividends is almost exactly what we spend on regular living expenses plus the mortgage (that will be paid off in 3.5 more years). DW still saves over 40% of her gross salary, so we are still making forward progress toward reaching our ideal portfolio target even without my income.
I feel like I am retired already, even though I have been networking and looking for a job. We have 3 young children, 2 of which are in elementary school and the other still in diapers. Not having a job this week has been a huge help in allowing us to adjust to the school schedule, picking up and dropping off the kids, and overseeing homework. During the day while DW is at work, I am able to clean the house up a little, do the dishes, shop for groceries, and prepare awesome dinners and pack DW leftovers for lunch at work the next day. I also take care of our one year old, thereby obviating the need for childcare and the related expense.
I suppose some might say I'm a stay at home dad. I'm ok with that. Or "between jobs". Or "doing a little consulting from home". I plan on using one of those three explanations when the question of "why aren't you at work" comes up. Close friends may get a little more info like "we're totally ok financially and have planned our finances around only having one income even though we have had two incomes for a long time". Most close friends already know that about us based on how we live.
I guess I should get another job because if I don't DW will end up working longer than the ~2.5 years we had both planned to work before FIREing with a little fluff in the budget. Luckily I had a couple of unsolicited job leads fall in my lap a couple weeks ago before I had any clue I would be out of a job. So the next couple weeks will be filled with sporadic lunches, hand shaking, emails, and phone calls to see what shakes loose in the way of a job. Not that I'm in a hurry to go back to work (because this not working and not worrying about work is AWESOME), but the good money is hard to pass up. And I don't think we have quite enough to live comfortably with almost zero risk forever.
For reference, I'll link to an earlier thread I posted in February 2013 that outlines our "Plan to Retire at 35". The best laid plans of mice and men...
As for what I am doing with all my free time? There has been relatively little of that, but on my agenda is:
1. Ebay a bunch of stuff
2. Learn a foreign language or 3
3. Investigate starting a blog and/or a Youtube channel
4. Get more exercise
5. Cook even more than I already have been, and perfect some new dishes
6. Hang out with more people more often
7. Play more video games
8. Read more books
Since Monday, I have done a little of # 2-5 and 8. Although a lot of time this week has been spent handling job loss related minutia, networking, decompressing, and on routine household duties (as outlined above). If this period of "between jobs" last for a few months, it will be a good trial run for FIRE. So far days 2-4 have been exactly what I expected.
It was a little shocking on Monday (the day I was let go), although I had a suspicion I may get let go. Last week I was on vacation all week, and I just happened to check my email over the weekend. I freaked out when I saw the email saying my coworker, "Employee X", is no longer with the organization because it was very sudden. And he didn't quit, he was fired with no warning whatsoever. Of course I was next on the chopping block Monday morning.
"Today is your last day of employment here. Your employment is being terminated. Pack your personal belongings and turn in your ID badge on your way out. Mr. Office Assistant will assist you and escort you from the building."
As soon as I arrived home on Monday, I began the process of finding out what happened from a couple other trusted employees. I sent out my "Goodbye!" email thanking those people I liked working with during my time at the Org. I developed an action plan for tasks I needed to complete immediately and over the next few days. I started working the plan.
By Tuesday the shock wore off and I realized everything is going to be okay. I was able to update my financial models and rerun firecalc. DW still has her job and it seems as solid as ever (including a likely raise and promotion in January 2014).
Financially, we will be totally fine on a cash flow basis for the indefinite future. I set the dividends on our taxable brokerage accounts to pay out in cash instead of reinvest automatically. That will generate $8,000+ per year in additional income (mostly paid in December). DW's take home pay plus the $8000 in dividends is almost exactly what we spend on regular living expenses plus the mortgage (that will be paid off in 3.5 more years). DW still saves over 40% of her gross salary, so we are still making forward progress toward reaching our ideal portfolio target even without my income.
I feel like I am retired already, even though I have been networking and looking for a job. We have 3 young children, 2 of which are in elementary school and the other still in diapers. Not having a job this week has been a huge help in allowing us to adjust to the school schedule, picking up and dropping off the kids, and overseeing homework. During the day while DW is at work, I am able to clean the house up a little, do the dishes, shop for groceries, and prepare awesome dinners and pack DW leftovers for lunch at work the next day. I also take care of our one year old, thereby obviating the need for childcare and the related expense.
I suppose some might say I'm a stay at home dad. I'm ok with that. Or "between jobs". Or "doing a little consulting from home". I plan on using one of those three explanations when the question of "why aren't you at work" comes up. Close friends may get a little more info like "we're totally ok financially and have planned our finances around only having one income even though we have had two incomes for a long time". Most close friends already know that about us based on how we live.
I guess I should get another job because if I don't DW will end up working longer than the ~2.5 years we had both planned to work before FIREing with a little fluff in the budget. Luckily I had a couple of unsolicited job leads fall in my lap a couple weeks ago before I had any clue I would be out of a job. So the next couple weeks will be filled with sporadic lunches, hand shaking, emails, and phone calls to see what shakes loose in the way of a job. Not that I'm in a hurry to go back to work (because this not working and not worrying about work is AWESOME), but the good money is hard to pass up. And I don't think we have quite enough to live comfortably with almost zero risk forever.
For reference, I'll link to an earlier thread I posted in February 2013 that outlines our "Plan to Retire at 35". The best laid plans of mice and men...
As for what I am doing with all my free time? There has been relatively little of that, but on my agenda is:
1. Ebay a bunch of stuff
2. Learn a foreign language or 3
3. Investigate starting a blog and/or a Youtube channel
4. Get more exercise
5. Cook even more than I already have been, and perfect some new dishes
6. Hang out with more people more often
7. Play more video games
8. Read more books
Since Monday, I have done a little of # 2-5 and 8. Although a lot of time this week has been spent handling job loss related minutia, networking, decompressing, and on routine household duties (as outlined above). If this period of "between jobs" last for a few months, it will be a good trial run for FIRE. So far days 2-4 have been exactly what I expected.
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