yakers
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Oh hell, what do I do now
I had this experience what seems like a lifetime ago at a London penthouse party. I was invited by British friend and this was a party out of my class/comfort zone (I was working for the US Navy in London). These were the really rich (my friend was a financial advisor to the Rothchild family) & the beautiful, a party like you see in movies. There was one stunningly beautiful gal wearing a plunging, black velvet long dress, looked right out of the Black Velvet liquor ads if anyone recalls those ads. I talked to her a little and was smitten. I had to leave the party with my friend who had invited me, I didn't get to talk to Sandra much. A day or two later I asked my friend about how I could contact or find out more about Sandra.and he asked if I were "serious" (I have no idea what the Brits mean by that term in that context. ) Anyway a week or two later he passes me her phone number. I was more than pleasantly surprised. So I called her, perfectly well prepared to be declined, scorned or worse. And then I asked her out and she said----yes. Then it hit me, holy s&%t, now what do I do?
There is more to the story, but the relevant part here is getting a yes to something that was just about unimaginable.
I am in similar quandary in relation to retirement. I have been counting down for some time for a Nov 7, 2007 retirement date, its 319 days away and I started a formal countdown at 540 days, watching the days, weeks and months trickle by. The date is not etched in stone but it is an optimal date in relation to the pension structure I work under. I will have my "high three" in my civil service grade, so the pension builds up nicely to that point but there are decreasing percentage returns for working after that date. I could technically have gone out about a year ago and although there are decreasing rewards for continuing to work there still is some positive gain. So I focused on that date and maybe a few months after that.
Well, I get an email that buyouts will be offered to at least some employees with the target of being gone by March 31, 2007. There is no guarantee that it will be offered to me, that last time my manager said I could forget it as my position is not "excess" but this offer is not constrained by technical requirements, only by numbers. A bit earlier that my target but not too far from it. The buyout amount is not large by corporate standards, the federal govt is generally limited to $25K but is is an inducement. So that is the positive part, and if I don't take it I will be working in a place that will probably be less enjoyable as cutbacks tend to have a negative atmosphere. And I would probably lose my assistant who I hired a couple years ago and groomed to take my place. So the inducement is more psychologically that financially compelling.
But it brings me face to face with an event that I thought I had control over because I had a "plan". I am suddenly offered what I lusted after, what the hell do I do now? What if they say "yes"?
I had this experience what seems like a lifetime ago at a London penthouse party. I was invited by British friend and this was a party out of my class/comfort zone (I was working for the US Navy in London). These were the really rich (my friend was a financial advisor to the Rothchild family) & the beautiful, a party like you see in movies. There was one stunningly beautiful gal wearing a plunging, black velvet long dress, looked right out of the Black Velvet liquor ads if anyone recalls those ads. I talked to her a little and was smitten. I had to leave the party with my friend who had invited me, I didn't get to talk to Sandra much. A day or two later I asked my friend about how I could contact or find out more about Sandra.and he asked if I were "serious" (I have no idea what the Brits mean by that term in that context. ) Anyway a week or two later he passes me her phone number. I was more than pleasantly surprised. So I called her, perfectly well prepared to be declined, scorned or worse. And then I asked her out and she said----yes. Then it hit me, holy s&%t, now what do I do?There is more to the story, but the relevant part here is getting a yes to something that was just about unimaginable.
I am in similar quandary in relation to retirement. I have been counting down for some time for a Nov 7, 2007 retirement date, its 319 days away and I started a formal countdown at 540 days, watching the days, weeks and months trickle by. The date is not etched in stone but it is an optimal date in relation to the pension structure I work under. I will have my "high three" in my civil service grade, so the pension builds up nicely to that point but there are decreasing percentage returns for working after that date. I could technically have gone out about a year ago and although there are decreasing rewards for continuing to work there still is some positive gain. So I focused on that date and maybe a few months after that.
Well, I get an email that buyouts will be offered to at least some employees with the target of being gone by March 31, 2007. There is no guarantee that it will be offered to me, that last time my manager said I could forget it as my position is not "excess" but this offer is not constrained by technical requirements, only by numbers. A bit earlier that my target but not too far from it. The buyout amount is not large by corporate standards, the federal govt is generally limited to $25K but is is an inducement. So that is the positive part, and if I don't take it I will be working in a place that will probably be less enjoyable as cutbacks tend to have a negative atmosphere. And I would probably lose my assistant who I hired a couple years ago and groomed to take my place. So the inducement is more psychologically that financially compelling.
But it brings me face to face with an event that I thought I had control over because I had a "plan". I am suddenly offered what I lusted after, what the hell do I do now? What if they say "yes"?
