Young & Not Enough Nest Egg - What's your minimum FU Money ?

[surf n turf]

I tip my hat to you sir. At 42, yes you can indeed get other jobs and start fresh.

Don't look back - I know 20 years in a job is a long time and many memories.
It will be hard to shake those 20 years. But thank god, you've got a new job now. It's another journey. Good luck.

Thank you! Starting over at 42 can be a little daunting but I was in a position where I had to make the move now or never. And I couldn't live with never, so it's now. I'm planning on making the best of it. It's really gotten me to re-evaluate my personal finances as well as my life direction, goals, and figuring out how I'm going to achieve them with the limited resources that I currently have. It's not on "autopilot" like it was before, but that's ok.

 

[cyber888]

I'm gonna beat you to it. I'm starting over at 52.5 yrs old. I'm quitting my job in 5 months, with or without a new job. So, i will be starting all over just like you wish me luck.

Thank you! Starting over at 42 can be a little daunting but I was in a position where I had to make the move now or never. And I couldn't live with never, so it's now. I'm planning on making the best of it. It's really gotten me to re-evaluate my personal finances as well as my life direction, goals, and figuring out how I'm going to achieve them with the limited resources that I currently have. It's not on "autopilot" like it was before, but that's ok.

 

[surf n turf]

I'm gonna beat you to it. I'm starting over at 52.5 yrs old. I'm quitting my job in 5 months, with or without a new job. So, i will be starting all over just like you wish me luck.

That definitely takes some guts to start over at nearly 53. Good luck to you and keep us posted on your progress.

 

[Fedup]

My first million was the FU money in my early 30s. But realistically my husband's health insurance was the real FU thing. But I've always lived my life with an FU attitude so I guess it was much lower bar.


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[cyber888]

Thanks for the Good luck! I do have about $680K - $700K liquid assets saved by the time I quit this job (hopefully the stock market will stay on an upward trend in the next 6 months) or I'll end up with only around $650K liquid. Plus I live in a Southern State that is low cost. I applied for jobs already, and hey - I might just get an offer very soon.

That definitely takes some guts to start over at nearly 53. Good luck to you and keep us posted on your progress.

 

[bclover]

so for me there are two different issues.

I have had a job like you described, worked for someone in an Asian embassy who felt that woman where beneath him. Kept asking me how come my husband hadn't gotten me pregnant yet. it was horrible. I left with no savings and no job when I got violently sick at the job and turned out I had an ulcer and other issues all related to stress.

Now I didn't have kids at the time but imo, absolutely no job is worth my health and well being and as I got older and had more life changing experiences, the more I came to mean that.

so to answer you're question, if I'm in a toxic environment, I'm outta there. no money or lots of money.

let me ask you, if some one was physically poisoning you, would you wait around until you have 50K to get away from that person?? IMO a toxic work atmosphere is just as bad.

 

[bclover]

I'm gonna beat you to it. I'm starting over at 52.5 yrs old. I'm quitting my job in 5 months, with or without a new job. So, i will be starting all over just like you wish me luck.

Good for you. Cyber!! Go for it!!

 

[Walt34]

...absolutely no job is worth my health and well being and as I got older and had more life changing experiences, the more I came to mean that.

I was fortunate to learn this at an early age just out of high school, unloading trucks at a then-major regional department store. It was the most petty, bickering, backstabbing place I ever worked and I was laughing when I quit. A valuable lesson learned - the people you work with can make or break even the most menial job.

And I can't help but wonder if that isn't a reason that chain later went bankrupt.

 

[cyber888]

Thanks! I'm glad you value your health more than your job. A lot of people stress out too much from high stress jobs, and get sick. My colleague was too frustrated with our new boss a few years ago - and he had a lot of anger built-in and he developed irregular heart beats. So, he had 2 operations. While he has enough money to retire (he is 62), he won't - he's just too scared that more heart operations will be too costly and insurance may not cover it. His last operation cost $900,000. Crazy.

Good for you. Cyber!! Go for it!!

 

[Hamlet]

I've been thinking about this a lot lately because my division of MegaCorp has re-orged and it is going very badly. My bosses' boss left the company pretty much as soon as he found out the general outline of the re-org. My direct boss transferred to another department about a month into it.

Just about everyone is at a loss as to how this is ever going to work, and I'm expecting the exodus of people to start pretty soon. I think everyone is in a wait and see mode, but I don't see a path to a functional organization with the current leadership in charge.

I keep thinking about the adage that you want to be the first person off the sinking ship, not the last.

Time to get that resume up to date and start reaching out to my contacts at other companies.

 

[cyber888]

So you got F U Money, right ?

I've been thinking about this a lot lately because my division of MegaCorp has re-orged and it is going very badly. My bosses' boss left the company pretty much as soon as he found out the general outline of the re-org. My direct boss transferred to another department about a month into it.

Just about everyone is at a loss as to how this is ever going to work, and I'm expecting the exodus of people to start pretty soon. I think everyone is in a wait and see mode, but I don't see a path to a functional organization with the current leadership in charge.

I keep thinking about the adage that you want to be the first person off the sinking ship, not the last.

Time to get that resume up to date and start reaching out to my contacts at other companies.

 

[DROPOUT]

I'm a small business owner, so my F U Money would be a bit different than y'all. I'd be saying F U to my customers I guess? LoL

My Total NW Including Real Estate is just north of $2.3M.

I'm only 31 ... So, for me to give the business the true F U prior to 35, I'd need to be at or north of about $5M. I don't see myself getting there prior to 35 unless the markets are like nothing we've ever seen before Until that day, I'll continue to keep plugging along.

 

[Markola]

I've been thinking about this a lot lately because my division of MegaCorp has re-orged and it is going very badly. My bosses' boss left the company pretty much as soon as he found out the general outline of the re-org. My direct boss transferred to another department about a month into it.

Just about everyone is at a loss as to how this is ever going to work, and I'm expecting the exodus of people to start pretty soon. I think everyone is in a wait and see mode, but I don't see a path to a functional organization with the current leadership in charge.

I keep thinking about the adage that you want to be the first person off the sinking ship, not the last.

Time to get that resume up to date and start reaching out to my contacts at other companies.

I'm living the same scenario right now, something like your boss' boss who left ASAP. I'm 50 and a VP in a field that has always had huge demand and small supply for what I do. The flip side of that is, most job vacancies in my field (a form of sales) suffer from wildly unrealistic expectations and are to be avoided. My organization is led by someone who is in way over his head and is spinning around making decisions, barking orders and retracting his bad decisions trying to survive. It's not pretty. Our antiquated systems are a joke and now our finances have descended into Full Blown Cluster. I started putting oars in the water the day in August when I was handed a 70% one year sales growth goal for my 18 person team with no new resources. Since then I've been in three searches and just closed today on my next opportunity. I'm definitely hopping to the next lilly pad, thank God. Like your boss' boss, I have learned in these times of severe change in an organization to do it to organizations before they do it to you, and while you can still talk about recent successes rather than failures in the next interviews, if you possibly can. Good luck to you Hamlet!

 

[cyber888]

Good Luck to you Hamlet & Markola. I'm pretty sure you guys have some F U Money Just do it, when you no longer can stand the craziness.

 

[Hamlet]

So you got F U Money, right ?

Well, I'm not FIRE yet. I figure I am about 7-12 years out (young kids are expensive ). So I'm in good shape, but I don't really want to become unemployed for any length of time, as it would impact my FIRE plans.

Two more people left this week, but they weren't people that impact my area at all. I think everyone on my team has made it pretty clear to management that they've left us with too few people to effectively do the day-to-day work without stuff dropping.

I met with a boss from a previous company this week, and he gave me the layout of what's available in the old company. He's in charge of a different area now, and he'd hire me, but the work would be lower level and there would be a pretty ugly commute. So I probably won't go that route unless things get really bad.

The real crisis will come if we lose a couple more people who do work in my area. With the turnover we've already had, our institutional knowledge is at a dangerously low level. We're all sort of feeling each other out with the "if you're leaving, I'm leaving" vibe.

 

[cyber888]

Yeah, with young kids, you gotta tough it out for years if you can hold on for as long as you can.

Well, I'm not FIRE yet. I figure I am about 7-12 years out (young kids are expensive ). So I'm in good shape, but I don't really want to become unemployed for any length of time, as it would impact my FIRE plans.

Two more people left this week, but they weren't people that impact my area at all. I think everyone on my team has made it pretty clear to management that they've left us with too few people to effectively do the day-to-day work without stuff dropping.

I met with a boss from a previous company this week, and he gave me the layout of what's available in the old company. He's in charge of a different area now, and he'd hire me, but the work would be lower level and there would be a pretty ugly commute. So I probably won't go that route unless things get really bad.

The real crisis will come if we lose a couple more people who do work in my area. With the turnover we've already had, our institutional knowledge is at a dangerously low level. We're all sort of feeling each other out with the "if you're leaving, I'm leaving" vibe.

 

[Hamlet]

Yeah, with young kids, you gotta tough it out for years if you can hold on for as long as you can.

On the plus side, the local job market is good. I wouldn't have difficulty finding other work. Of course, most big companies are pretty dysfunctional these days. Ironically, most of my newer coworkers came here because another local employer started doing pretty much the same reorg. They are unenthused to say the least.

Our industry appears to be caught in the management fad of 'Agile Scrum'. It was designed for software development, but now everyone is trying to do it everywhere. Frankly, it seems like a questionable system even for software, but in my area it just seems idiotic.

 

[cyber888]

Hey Hamlet. Been awhile visiting this thread. Yea, I hate the Agile Scrum, when misused. Agile Scrum is suppose to be effective if 'everyone involved ' is fully involved. Our management team is doing Agile Scrum without involving the people that matters. They rush to push their ideas, (thinking that's the way to be agile) without consulting the rest of the industry and experts, and boom they have an idiotic idea.

Our industry appears to be caught in the management fad of 'Agile Scrum'. It was designed for software development, but now everyone is trying to do it everywhere. Frankly, it seems like a questionable system even for software, but in my area it just seems idiotic.

 

[cyber888]

Update: So i resigned from my job with a FU money of nearly $700K without another job on hand last August. Late last month, I got hired and signed a new contract with a new employer. New job pays 15% less, but when i was planning to quit my previous job, I learned to cut my expenses by about 15% -20%. I will be starting soon.


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[dallas27]

Update: So i resigned from my job with a FU money of nearly $700K without another job on hand last August. Late last month, I got hired and signed a new contract with a new employer. New job pays 15% less, but when i was planning to quit my previous job, I learned to cut my expenses by about 15% -20%. I will be starting soon.


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And you are starting the job the FU money!


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[cyber888]

Yeah starting soon


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