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Old 04-16-2015, 01:15 PM   #41
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Many companies have gone to the use-it-or-lose-it (or unlimited) vacation model so they don't have to carry the accrued vacation time on their books as a liability. The problem is that people often don't take their vacation and don't get paid for the time they didn't take - a win/win for the company!
we have a pto bank - mine maxes out at 240 hours and I accrue about 17 hours per month - so I get "shaved" if I don't take about 2 days off a month so that's what I try to do


the bank gets cashed out upon termination fwiw


my dad worked for a large oil company and got about 6 weeks a year - he took most of it during the summer - again, different job - the oil keeps pumping when he's out of the office - we pump our own oil so extended leaves don't fit our business model
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Old 04-16-2015, 01:16 PM   #42
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Generous vacation time at some megacorp probably keeps OMY workers around.

With 7 weeks of paid vacation time plus easy voluntary layoff available on a weekly basis I have many coworkers who take off work to recharge or take month long trips.
Its not the same as retiring obviously but its enough time off to travel and really cover some ground.

Vacation time is not discussed much on here but I bet for some OMY people it makes the decision more difficult if they get a lot of paid time off.

It definitely makes retiring earlier more complicated.
I definitely have to say my vacation time made it less critical to retire. I was up to 28 paid days off per year. I also could take unpaid time off at my managers discretion.
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Old 04-16-2015, 01:46 PM   #43
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we have a pto bank - mine maxes out at 240 hours and I accrue about 17 hours per month - so I get "shaved" if I don't take about 2 days off a month so that's what I try to do

the bank gets cashed out upon termination fwiw
My company screwed around with our leave policy. I get 200 hours per year. Initially, they would cash out anything we had over 200 hours at the end of the year, and the check would usually come sometime in early January, so it was like a nice little bonus.

But then, a couple years ago, they changed it to where we could accrue 1.5x our annual rate, but we would lose everything beyond that. So, that meant I could hit 300 hours, but would get no more after that.

I had it timed to where I was going to hit close to 300 hours early this year, so I was planning on starting to take off a day here and there, and keep the total just under 300. And eventually, a real vacation of a week or two would knock it down some more.

But, this year they decided to go back to the old way! So, at the end of this year, they'll cash out anything beyond 200 hours. I stopped worrying about taking a day off here and there, so it's been building a bit. I'm currently sitting on about 326 hours.

My plan, for the time being, is to use the hours they cash out at the end of the year to help fund my Roth for 2016.

I've also been taking off early on Wednesdays, and I found it really helps my morale a lot. I'll usually leave the office around 12:30-1 pm or so. It really helps break up the week, even though it's only giving me a few hours of freedom. Monday still feels just as bad as it ever did, but suddenly, Tuesday seems a lot more bearable, almost like a Friday. And I actually look forward to Wednesday, as it doesn't feel like a real workday anymore. Thursday is usually the worst day of my week, as it's usually the busiest and if there's one day I end up working OT, it's usually a Thursday. But, coming back refreshed a bit, even it doesn't seem as bad as it did. It's funny how just taking a few hours here and there can psyche you out a bit.
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Old 04-16-2015, 01:47 PM   #44
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...


my dad worked for a large oil company and got about 6 weeks a year - he took most of it during the summer - again, different job - the oil keeps pumping when he's out of the office - we pump our own oil so extended leaves don't fit our business model
yeah, this is our problem--for both of us, taking two consecutive weeks off just blows huge holes in the schedule and income. This is compounded by trying to coordinate two jobs with very different planning landscapes. DW tries to block her schedule out at least 6 months in advance so as to not inconvenience her patients. My schedule is much more conducive to "hey that big case settled, next week is now open." And the less common flipside: "Client needs a TRO; sorry, I can't do that long-planned trip next week."

Technically, we each can take as much time off as we want. Nonetheless, we look forward to long trips with more spontaneity and flexibility....
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Old 04-16-2015, 05:22 PM   #45
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Paid vacation time is probably the one thing that keeps me at my job. I get 6.5 weeks plus 12 paid holidays.

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Old 04-16-2015, 05:49 PM   #46
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Paid vacation time is probably the one thing that keeps me at my job. I get 6.5 weeks plus 12 paid holidays.

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wow, what's that like?
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Old 04-16-2015, 05:56 PM   #47
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Paid vacation time is probably the one thing that keeps me at my job. I get 6.5 weeks plus 12 paid holidays.

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That's excellent, and certainly would keep most working people on the job. But I don't know a single retired person who would go back to work even for those benefits.
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Old 04-16-2015, 06:06 PM   #48
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Paid vacation time is probably the one thing that keeps me at my job. I get 6.5 weeks plus 12 paid holidays.
That's very good. I think teachers have more time offs -
a couple weeks off for winter holidays, another couple weeks for winter and spring breaks, and almost three months off in the summer.
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Old 04-16-2015, 07:31 PM   #49
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I went 3 1/2 years ago at 58. It was megacorps decision...golden handshake. I was ready for it.

After three years of complete freedom and 5-6 months a year of travel I have to say that getting another job was the best. Two of my colleagues retired at 65 and both passed away within a year of retirement.

I wanted to get out while I had the strength, the health and the desire to do some things that I could not do while I was working. Who knows what is around the corner.
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Old 04-16-2015, 09:36 PM   #50
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I've also been taking off early on Wednesdays, and I found it really helps my morale a lot. I'll usually leave the office around 12:30-1 pm or so. It really helps break up the week, even though it's only giving me a few hours of freedom. Monday still feels just as bad as it ever did, but suddenly, Tuesday seems a lot more bearable, almost like a Friday. And I actually look forward to Wednesday, as it doesn't feel like a real workday anymore. Thursday is usually the worst day of my week, as it's usually the busiest and if there's one day I end up working OT, it's usually a Thursday. But, coming back refreshed a bit, even it doesn't seem as bad as it did. It's funny how just taking a few hours here and there can psyche you out a bit.
This reminds me some of what I did back in 2000, the last calendar year I worked full-time and the first year I received a 4th week of vacation (I hit the 15-year mark that year).

I had a glut of PTO/vacation days that year and we were limited as to how many days (5) we could carry over with no questions asked. I saw this coming early in the year so when the summer arrived I began taking every other Wednesday off to break up the week into a pair of 2-day mini-weeks within each week. Each of the 4 days was either a day following 1 or more days off (Monday and Thursday) or a day preceding 1 or more days off (Friday and Tuesday).

I often did local errands on Wednesday because the stores were not nearly as busy as they were on the weekends. I sometimes ventured out to our co-op's pool because it wasn't as crowded midweek. I also had another night (Tuesday) I could stay up later and sleep in the next day.

It was a nice way to break up the drudgery of the hot summer, the last complete summer I worked full-time. In August of 2001, I began the part-time era which lasted for 7 years until I ERed in late 2008.
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Old 04-17-2015, 07:12 PM   #51
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Paid vacation time is probably the one thing that keeps me at my job. I get 6.5 weeks plus 12 paid holidays.

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My GF works in a union office job and is amazed at all the people in her office that are long time workers who have 6 weeks vacation and don't bother to use them all.


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Old 04-18-2015, 06:01 AM   #52
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Paid vacation time is probably the one thing that keeps me at my job. ....
Actually, paid vacation time is what got me to retire. For years and years, I only took vacation time one week at a time. Then about 10 years ago I took two weeks off and found for me it was much better than one week. Then three. The year before I retired I took the month of August off and like it so much I decided that I wanted to make it permanent.

I don't think that I ever lost vacation time because I failed to use it.
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Old 04-18-2015, 06:46 AM   #53
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I had the same experience PB. Our company had a "sabatical" program where you got additional paid time off every 5 years. I had 6 weeks during the summer a couple of years ago. We spent the entire time at our cabin on the lake and I realized I didn't miss work at all despite the lack of "stimulation". Lying in the hammock, riding my bike, going for walks was plenty for me. Now I am only 3 weeks into retirement and not going near the camp until it warms up substantially but it was a great practice run for me.


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Old 04-18-2015, 09:12 AM   #54
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I don't think that I ever lost vacation time because I failed to use it.
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Old 04-18-2015, 11:03 AM   #55
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... I get 6.5 weeks plus 12 paid holidays.
That's 17%...pretty good! I might have worked longer if I had that kind of time off. Lack of a reasonable amount of vacation time was my main reason for RE. I asked for a sabbatical, job sharing, or anything that would give me 50% time off (or their best offer). They offered me nothing but the measly 7% I already had.

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That's very good. I think teachers have more time offs -
a couple weeks off for winter holidays, another couple weeks for winter and spring breaks, and almost three months off in the summer.
That's one of the reasons why teacher pay is lower than it "should be"...lots of people like the time off, so there is a supply and demand issue.
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