The Dilemma

[heeyy_joe]

You have my permission to go back to work. Feel better?

 

[Ready]

I have been working part time for the past two years after leaving an exhausting career running a very busy company. I go into the office one day a week and field some calls and emails from home, or wherever I happen to be. It's a stress free job for me because I enjoy what I do and I know that I don't need the income, so I don't let the little stuff stress me out. But it allows me to dabble a bit with something I enjoy while still having six days a week to do whatever I want.

I recognize this might not be available to everyone, but for those who are questioning whether they are really done, part time may be a very worthwhile thing to consider to test the waters and see how it feels.

 

[RAE]

How many days could you buy with the income to increase your life span?
Not a single day.
So, if you are happy in retirement, stay put.

+1. You say Firecalc has you at 100%, so you would basically be working only to leave more money to someone else. If that is important to you, then take one of the offers. If not, then the choice is very clear, in my mind.

 

[Mulligan]

I retired 5 years ago at 45 and thought I was done. Then every year since, I have went back for some minor part time work, as I have become a Roth IRA heroin junkie who cant handle the withdrawal symptoms. I swear after this year I am forever cured! Receiving close to 80k from pension and spending under $50k I have no need to, nor did I want to work. I just wanted that damn Roth funded.
I wont say I would do it all over again if I could. But I hope I can say if I was 55 instead of 45 I would not have done it if I had no real need for the money.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I have never become "un-retired" but Mr B has, to some extent.

When he took an early out from a county j*b 5 years ago, within a few years (can't remember exact time frames), he enrolled in upper level college courses to convert his decades old bachelor's degree in Business Management to a current bachelor's degree in Accounting. After 2 grueling years of full time study, he set up his own tax accounting business, operating out of the house. He keeps his client load small, and w*rks intensely for a few months each year.

Money is not the issue. He likes to keep his mind sharp and stay current with tax laws. He is currently doing online coursew*rk to become an IRS registered agent. He turns 64 in a few months, for reference.

His favorite clients are veterans, to whom he offers great discounts. He is a veteran himself.

He is very happy with his choices, and I strongly support his need to keep professionally current and mentally occupied.

Bonus : I get my taxes done for free.

I can certainly relate to wanting to keep the mind sharp. I am in a conundrum right now with this very thing. For many years, I thought about going to law school. I never really wanted to be a practicing attorney (because I try to avoid stress in my life and being a lawyer would be way too stressful for me and this world already has TOO MANY lawyers!) but I have been fascinated with law and the challenge that law school would be. So, now I am accepted for the fall term but I just really don't know if I want to endure the stress of it all. Of course, I would be under very little (none) pressure to graduate at the top of the class and with "blind grading", I can sit back and enjoy the ride (as much as the professors would allow with the old school Socratic method of 'teaching'). Not only to mention that it wouldn't cost me a dime...so that's a bonus. BUT...it would cost me time and freedom and I am just not sure I want to give that up for 3 years. But then I wonder if I would have regrets years down the road about NOT at least trying? Oye...I guess I really shouldn't complain, it's not a bad problem to have.

 

[Persn]

Wow! Going to law school to keep your mind sharp seems like using a hatchet where a scalpel would suffice, if you know what I mean. Law school, for me anyway, was a real mind bender and a very intense experience - and I was a lot more laid back than many of my classmates. Still, I think you should do it because it is your dream, and because there is nothing else like it. Just be ready for your head to hurt.

The other caution is that once you put in all that effort to get the law degree, don't be surprised if you want to practice law. There are a lot of lawyers working in roles that help others. I know at least one person who went to law school after retiring from a law enforcement agency, and ended up doing criminal defense work - and loving it.

 

[skipro33]

I would encourage you and others who have enough to not be greedy and to open that position they are trying to recruit you for to a younger man who will be having a family and NEEDS the work.

It's obvious it's cheaper to hire you than a full time person or they wouldn't offer you the job. That's poor ethics on the part of the business I think. To employers; If there are able bodied and willing full time workers, then hire able bodied full time workers and quit being so myopic on your bottom line.

Oh, and that young person who gets your job; they will be paying FICA and YOUR social security.

Bail when you cn afford to and open up the job to the next generation that deserves the same chance you had.

 

[unclemick]

So, I am in my mid-50's and have been early retired now for almost 18 months. I have a good handle on my expenses and have seen my NW actually increase thanks to a good market and some part-time work that I have really enjoyed. Firecalc gives me a 100% success rate based on my NW and expenses for which my expenses are 80K per year, so I am living very comfortably. I saw where one person said, Retirement is when everyday is Saturday and that is how I have felt. So, whats the problem?

Well, I have been bombarded over this period with various opportunities to jump back into the Rat Race and recently a couple of these opportunities would be very lucrative.

The problem is the OMY syndrome. I could tell myself that I could do this for a couple years and pad the nest egg. I know there would be plenty of days where I say, What the Hell was I thinking? But, the income would probably sooth the pain. However, I have had taste of the good life and being my age, the concept of YMOYL is much more acute.

Thus, my question is for those who have been in my situation. What did you do? How did it turn out. Any transcendental thoughts. Any regrets?

After a year and half out I went back as jobshopper for the 'big bucks'. Without going into detail - being 'hired help' really cured me. I know others who made the mental shift and went a decade or more as 'contract engineers' all over the World.

heh heh heh - a proud 'slacker', ER, and .

 

[Sunset]

I would encourage you and others who have enough to not be greedy and to open that position they are trying to recruit you for to a younger man who will be having a family and NEEDS the work.

It's obvious it's cheaper to hire you than a full time person or they wouldn't offer you the job. That's poor ethics on the part of the business I think. To employers; If there are able bodied and willing full time workers, then hire able bodied full time workers and quit being so myopic on your bottom line.

Oh, and that young person who gets your job; they will be paying FICA and YOUR social security.

Bail when you cn afford to and open up the job to the next generation that deserves the same chance you had.

OP said the offers were lucrative, so they are not hiring him cheap, and there are lots of jobs for anyone with a degree, thats why the gov't allows 85,000 foreigners in the country to take jobs each year. There are too many jobs available !!

 

[Sunset]

I've been retired for a while now, and continually face this same question.
Heck just got an email for a job in NY paying $170K + bonus, yes its tempting...

I do like the slacker times of retirement, but am also conflicted by notion that I could be spending my time more productively earning $$$$$ , rather than watch the grass grow, or go to a movie in the afternoon.

I do occasional work for a special company, and it is exciting and fun to jump back in the game for a week or two. I have noticed that if it goes past 2 weeks, that I'm quickly turning unhappy about dragging my @ss into the office for the remaining time.

My work endurance has melted away.

If you are worried about a future unforeseen cost (and they do crop up) or that you are missing something. I vote take a job, try it out, worst thing is that you will hate it and you can quit, yes quit and go back to being retired.

 

[Rick_Head]

When I retired I dropped a couple of subtle hints that I might return for the right renumeration. About 2 years after I left, my former boss called with a contract position. I knew of the problem he wanted solved and didn't want to be a part of it so I told him "you can't afford me". His response was "this is a big deal to mega-corp and we will make you happy". My next response was "you can't afford me". He said "I have a blank cheque". When my next response was "you still can't afford me", he figured it out. Can you figure out why I wouldn't 'name my price'?

 

[skipro33]

OP said the offers were lucrative, so they are not hiring him cheap, and there are lots of jobs for anyone with a degree, thats why the gov't allows 85,000 foreigners in the country to take jobs each year. There are too many jobs available !!

Not really. For example; Disneyworld is hiring foreigners and laying off Americans. To add insult to injury, the Americans have to train their replacements if they want severance pay.

Pink Slips at Disney. But First, Training Foreign Replacements.


http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/04/u...t-disney-train-foreign-replacements.html?_r=0

about 250 Disney employees were told in late October that they would be laid off. Many of their jobs were transferred to immigrants on temporary visas for highly skilled technical workers, who were brought in by an outsourcing firm based in India. Over the next three months, some Disney employees were required to train their replacements to do the jobs they had lost.

 

[Danmar]

Not fashionable to say here and most members replies are entirely predictable. Anyone can come up with anecdotes where people have gone back to work and been happy with their decision. And probably even easier here, coming up with anecdotes where people have found coming out if retirement to be a mistake. Obviously the latter will be much more common here, you're essentially asking Chevy owners what they think of Fords...

Nothing wrong with soliciting thoughts, but what's right for you is uniquely yours. Only you can know what's right for you. .

Agree. The majority of people here have a fairly predictable mind set. LBYM (sometimes to the extreme), really dislike working(at least near the end), retire as soon as they hit their number. Nothing wrong with this and to a fair degree I agree, but quite predictable.

 

[Sunset]

Not really. For example; Disneyworld is hiring foreigners and laying off Americans. To add insult to injury, the Americans have to train their replacements if they want severance pay.

Pink Slips at Disney. But First, Training Foreign Replacements.


http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/04/u...t-disney-train-foreign-replacements.html?_r=0

about 250 Disney employees were told in late October that they would be laid off. Many of their jobs were transferred to immigrants on temporary visas for highly skilled technical workers, who were brought in by an outsourcing firm based in India. Over the next three months, some Disney employees were required to train their replacements to do the jobs they had lost.

You are correct in everything you say. Same thing happened to me, I had to train 4 Indian (in India) workers to do my job, as 4 of them was cheaper than me. Then I was gone.

Still I picked up a new job easy as pie, and the company suffered with the poor quality workers that replaced me. I'm pretty sure a few of them lied about their skill levels, but why not the bosses are all in USA.

But as the other poster suggested a fellow not take a job offered to him because some young guy needs it for his family is totally out-mode thinking. Instead what will happen is some outsource contract company will get it and stick in an HB-1 body.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

MichaelB, you may be right! It probably is more of how much is enough. But, is that not a dilemma? I mean that seems to be one the most sought after answers by this group and others on other retirement blogs. Some people are checking out in there 30's with a million dollars while others are waiting until their 50's or later and would not pull the plug until they have 2+ million. Thus, each group would say the others option is unacceptable. ha! Ok, maybe that's not fair but it is relevant to the question at hand.

I think militaryman and some others said it right. What significance will this sacrifice of time for lucrative money have in the future. The problem is right now, I don't know of such a need. But, one may come up later and will I regret not having taken advantage of one of these opportunities to better position me for that possibility.

Just some thoughts

I have been thinking of going back into on-site consulting work part of the year or looking for something part-time the more the tech salaries go up locally. It seems like easy money for maybe having to take a few classes to update my skills again, and I enjoy having some kind of brain work project to do and being around other programmer types. For me, I don't think I would go back into management, a full time salaried job or anything where I had to be solely in charge of a big projects or worse yet multiple big projects.

 

[Pbkmaine]

I work about 5 hours a week on projects for my old company. It feels like a fun hobby, and I get paid very well. There's no down side for me.

 

[Balance]

Update:

So, took a pass on the lucrative opportunities but fortunately my and my wife's part-time consulting gigs have increased over the second half of the year whereby we ended the year having made about 50% of our needed income, thus with passive business income and some dividends we covered the nut, as they say. So, any investment gains were banked. Moreover, with the increased opportunities we should hit 100% of operating income for 2016. The good news is neither of us are working more than a couple days a week average. So, as I said once before we are not RE'd but we are more than FI and get to design a life that meets are needs. We have one kid in college and one kid in grade school thus total freedom is limited for now, but no rush as we truly enjoy the family life. We are conservative and cautious, so this works for us.

I wanted to say I appreciate this Forum and it's members. I have gained great perspective here. Many thanks to all who contribute. I hope to reciprocate as time goes on.

 

[Loving Life]

I retired at 55, 5 years ago. After a year in retirement, I got a job offer to head to Dubai on a 2 year contract. The money was great, and I even though I did not need the money, I decided to sign up and go for the heck of it ( I did work overseas most of my working years) I spent 2 years living, enjoying life and traveled. After, the 2 years, I decided to go home, but then I was offered another 2 year contract in SE Asia for a lot more money, I said what the heck, head out, traveled Asia, great food, great job - really enjoyed my self. After 2 years, I pack my belonging, went to Hong Kong for a few weeks before heading back to Texas. Well, while there, I got another offer, and they finally convinced me and signed on for another 2 years. Six months into the new contract, I have got a great staff, everyone is super nice and doing good work. Heading out Friday to spend Christmas in Singapore. I do know this is my last, (overall, they do not give work permits/visa for Expats over 60 - but how knows). The moral of the story is that you never know where a job or a challenge will lead you. I was FI at age 45, after you are FI, you work because you want to, not because you have to. You have to decide if the interest/fire is still there. I always loved my work, I just did not like the office politics/bad bosses - when you are on a short term contract they know you are there to train, teach and then you move on - you are not in competition. You are there at the pleasure of the country and can be sent backing anytime. My 2 cents - if the fire is there, go for it, you do not know where it will take you.

 

[RE2Boys]

Update:

So, took a pass on the lucrative opportunities but fortunately my and my wife's part-time consulting gigs have increased over the second half of the year whereby we ended the year having made about 50% of our needed income, thus with passive business income and some dividends we covered the nut, as they say. So, any investment gains were banked. Moreover, with the increased opportunities we should hit 100% of operating income for 2016. The good news is neither of us are working more than a couple days a week average. So, as I said once before we are not RE'd but we are more than FI and get to design a life that meets are needs. We have one kid in college and one kid in grade school thus total freedom is limited for now, but no rush as we truly enjoy the family life. We are conservative and cautious, so this works for us.

I wanted to say I appreciate this Forum and it's members. I have gained great perspective here. Many thanks to all who contribute. I hope to reciprocate as time goes on.

Thanks for the update, started reading the thread and was going to chime in, except I found out I already had!!
Yea, RE with kids is not your typical retirement, their school and other activities sometimes put constraints on your options. But have loved every minute of my 15 years of RE (boys are now 17 and 19) with three months seasonal work. If the company ever gave me a rough time over disappearing mid-day or taking a day off here or their, they'd have my resignation in ten minutes, and they know it! It's so great do be able to do things on your own terms, which FI is all about.

 

[Balance]

Yes, it's nice being around with the kids and I like the slower pace that allows me the opportunity to do some things on a whim which is special. I can't deny that retiring early at a time with inflated assets prices does concern me, so being able to "kick the can" as they say on the SWR for a few years does feel better for me being so conservative. One of our (wife and I) life goals is to leave a legacy for the kids. Not overly focused on the amount as much as I just want to help them out once we move on so they have some breathing room as they enter the same stage we are in now. I believe it is incumbent on families to help the next generation advance ahead of the last one.