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View Poll Results: After becoming FI, did it get easier or harder to deal with office BS?
I found it harder to deal with aspects of my job I did/do not like. 51 35.17%
I found it easier to deal with those. 70 48.28%
No change to my attitude. 16 11.03%
No idea - I quit the moment I became FI! 8 5.52%
Voters: 145. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 12-08-2014, 04:52 PM   #41
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Originally Posted by 38Chevy454 View Post
Easier for me because I do not get stressed out or worried about things. No need to worry about career advancement. No need to fake anything, I pretty much say what I think. Not trying to get my boss's position or move up higher positions. Just here to collect a paycheck! My current job is pretty easy, and I spend too much time goofing off on computer, like now
Sounds like me

I just need to hang around in Boston until my DD goes to college. So since I can't go and for example live in Granada Spain until then...I get stress free paid while waiting for her to finish High School.



BTW stress is bad for your health
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Old 12-08-2014, 04:53 PM   #42
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Originally Posted by RunningBum View Post
Easier. If one is FI and has an unbearable urge to quit, one should listen to that urge.
I find it easier to deal with office BS but much more difficult to drag myself into work each and I do have an unbearable urge to quit. I agree with your advice and will quit the first half of 2015...although I'm suffering from OMM syndrome - one more month.
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Old 12-08-2014, 05:38 PM   #43
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That's going to be me...

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Originally Posted by Car-Guy View Post
Wow, that sounds so much like my situation too. However, I stayed on a few more years strictly for the extra money.
I could retire at 62 with a "fair" portfolio and receive "fair" Social Security payments and "fair" company stock dividends. "Fair" gradually turns to "good" or even "very good" 3 to 4 years later. I hope that the "fair" safety net makes the journey to "good" or "very good" more tolerable than the long slog to "fair."
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Old 12-08-2014, 07:58 PM   #44
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Once FI, I found the stress unnecessary yet still unavoidable. And shrugging off / slacking off just isn't in my DNA.

I was C-level, was proud of what had been accomplished during my tenure, and couldn't kid myself that results didn't matter to me.

Becoming FI helped me run out of fight. So I had to make an exit.
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Old 12-08-2014, 08:21 PM   #45
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Originally Posted by EastWest Gal View Post
People keep posting about unemployment payments. You have to prove to the state that you are actually looking for a job every week in order to get unemployment. To do otherwise is to defraud the unemployment insurance system. I collected unemployment for a few weeks in 2004. It is for people who really lose their job and are really looking for work.
In my state, you have to fill out details of jobs you supposedly applied for. Whether that amounts to actually proving you are really looking for work is up for debate.

I am not contesting your statement as to what UI is intended for, just challenging the contention that the unemployed person "has to prove" that they are looking for work.
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Old 12-08-2014, 08:33 PM   #46
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Originally Posted by robnplunder View Post
I care less but put up a good front.
This is me also in general.
I have found that overall it is harder for me as I cannot get the retirement countdown timer that is running in my head out of my thoughts though and sometimes that is a real problem.
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Old 12-08-2014, 10:21 PM   #47
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That happened with me. I had an irritant, mainly my office mate, that was getting me to the point I was ready to quit. My company's lack of action only added fuel to the flames, essentially telling me to stop whining and just deal with her. Well, she's no longer in the office. And my attitude has improved tremendously!

I have noticed though, that the more financially independent I am, the less tolerant I am of the BS. I was hoping I'd get a more carefree attitude, knowing that I wasn't bound down by the j*b anymore and could quit at any time. But instead I've found myself more willing to voice my opinion and stand my ground when something annoys me.
Glad you got rid of the irritant! I am hoping I can just wait this guy out. Based on his record, he tends to change jobs every 2-3 years (still climbing that ladder) and we are already at the two year mark. He always has his eye out for something "better" and personally I have my fingers crossed he finds it - I'll happily help him pack if that day comes.

In the meantime I keep my head down and bite my tongue a lot. I remind myself to keep my eye on the prize (FI), and that with any luck he will become someone else's problem in the near future.
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Old 12-08-2014, 10:31 PM   #48
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Originally Posted by M Paquette View Post
The office BS became harder for me to deal with, mostly because I knew I was FI, and had to make an extra effort to remain polite!
I'm surprised at the poll results. I found it much harder to deal with.
The bosses crisis du jour, because really hard to take seriously. Ah you know this has been going on for a year and the universe has not ended, so why do we have to drop everything to fix it in two weeks.

Perhaps really I wasn't more dissatisfied, it is just that paycheck produced increasingly less satisfaction.
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Old 12-08-2014, 11:24 PM   #49
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Originally Posted by Bigdawg View Post
From a military perspective, once you hit 20 years (pension requirement) there seems to be a big weight lifted off of your shoulders.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 38Chevy454 View Post
Easier for me because I do not get stressed out or worried about things. No need to worry about career advancement. No need to fake anything, I pretty much say what I think.
+1 on both counts. FI helped to clarify things and made life easier. As the golden handcuffs came off, and any confusion about being at someone else's mercy was lifted, things became my choice. It was easier to be more forthright about what we should or shouldn't be doing. I could focus more clearly on what I thought I still could accomplish versus whatever tradeoffs and rewards might remain (e.g. personal and project goals; sense of accomplishment; increasing the pension and other reserves; time on the planet). I think I became a better employee for having fewer worries and fewer hidden agendas. In retrospect, it's a shame I didn't come to that clarity much earlier in my career; I could have been less stressed, easier to work with and probably more productive. When the time did come, I gave plenty of notice to help wrap up any transition issues, and I feel like I left on a decent note. But things were much easier once I knew that I could land on my feet at any time if needed.
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Old 12-09-2014, 12:05 AM   #50
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I believed FI would make it easier to handle work stresses and challenging personalities. Boy, was I wrong. Instead, it raised the bar for me. I thought, "If this isn't going to be fun and satisfying, then I don't have to be here. I now have the freedom to do something else." I lost all patience.
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Old 12-09-2014, 12:35 AM   #51
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Originally Posted by eta2020 View Post
I find having much higher tollerance for office BS. I don't feel like I have to compete with anybody for raises or RSUs. I don't give a f**k.

.

+100
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Old 12-09-2014, 12:49 AM   #52
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I'm not FI, but in the last year or so I'm close enough that I could be if I wanted to live a little less lavishly. It's a liberating feeling. I am much less affected by office politics and BS now. I used to care and find it very stressful to deal with superiors who made clueless decisions or wasted time and resources on pointless projects. Now I don't have to feel personally affected - since I'm so close to being free.

I have also been in jobs with very flexible notions of what is part of the job. I could spend 48 hours a day doing all the things that could be part of the job. Instead of stressing about how much I'm not able to do, I'm able to concentrate on my ideas of the highest priority tasks and do those to MY satisfaction. I feel more productive and effective now than ever. Work is back to fun.

The annoying politics and inefficiencies are still there. I'm just no longer bothered and so able to enjoy the good, while mostly ignoring the bad.
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Old 12-09-2014, 04:43 AM   #53
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I voted it was easier, but that's not really the case. The first couple years were easier but I have found that I can't really backoff and not support my coworkers and customers. At the corporate meetings my tirades and snarky comments are met by laughter, so that's no longer fun. Now I find my self hundred of miles from home with a snowstorm coming. One of these days I'm sure I'll make a not so graceful exit.
The remote possibility of a severance package has not helped. It appears the only people that get one are slackers who do just enough to put the fear of a lawsuit into play. Not my style. Also, playing the unemployment game for a few bucks doesn't feel like good karma in my case.
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Old 12-09-2014, 06:15 AM   #54
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I voted for no change. My office attitude did not change because I caught a severe case of OMY syndrome. With OMY syndrome and a job that was 70% fun, my attitude towards the jobs stayed fairly stable.
With chronic OMY syndrome, perception of FI is always just beyond the next rainbow.
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Old 12-09-2014, 07:38 AM   #55
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Things did get easier when we reached FI, and I voted accordingly. But I didn't retire until about 6-7 years after we reached FI.

My other observation, in my last few months, when I did a part of my job that was distasteful - I was always conscious of 'this is the last time I'll ever have to do this!' For example, I was almost laughing when I wrote my last 'monthly report' after 35 years of it. You'd never have known reading it, but it was the easiest monthly I ever wrote knowing I wouldn't be following up on any of the many 'problems du jour...'
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Old 12-09-2014, 07:39 AM   #56
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There wasn't much of a gap between the time that I felt I was FI and the time that I gave my boss my retirement notice. I provided six months warning.

One reason for the long lead time was that I didn't want to deal with HR nonsense, and when my boss knew that I was leaving he was happy to let it go.

So, actually telling them I was retiring provided the big gain for me.
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Old 12-09-2014, 07:44 AM   #57
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Originally Posted by wishin&hopin View Post
I believed FI would make it easier to handle work stresses and challenging personalities. Boy, was I wrong. Instead, it raised the bar for me. I thought, "If this isn't going to be fun and satisfying, then I don't have to be here. I now have the freedom to do something else." I lost all patience.
That was my experience as well. I was disappointed because I had hoped to work a little longer for even more padding for the portfolio. I just couldn't do it.
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Old 12-09-2014, 10:08 AM   #58
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Got worse. I was FI for a couple of years, then a huge reorganization happened. Little did I know my manager of 10 years was hated by some. There were so many resentments all of his direct reports were cast aside.

I moved to an IC role as I knew that VP and respected him, still do. One of my new peers was an id10t, abusive, and while he could talk a good game he only did 50% of any task before he handed it off to someone else, claiming it was done perfectly. I didn't have the fight left in me to prove where the problem was.

I retired saying nothing about the abusive co-worker. As far as HR and my VP knew there was no problem. I knew the VP would eventually figure it out.

I had 25 great years and only 4 bad ones.

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Old 12-10-2014, 01:40 PM   #59
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Some things got harder: the tasks that have to be done in the short run but I think they are a waste of time, and I don't feel like doing them (yet, it is my job). Hard to get motivated to perform.

Some things easier: much easier not to stress about (poor) decisions being made now that will come to "fruition" in a year or two. I won't be around, so it won't be my problem!
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Old 12-10-2014, 02:23 PM   #60
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With 11 weeks to go, I have become positively vacant at work. I don't attend any useless meetings anymore, say no a lot, am way less social, and ignore anything the least bit petty. Fortunately, I've been doing this so long I still continue to add value.
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