Variant of OMY syndrome?? Update.

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mystang52

Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
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Jan 12, 2011
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Well, it's all good news for me. Gave my notice last week, last day to be March 1st. For those who might recall an earlier thread I started, my company already told me they want me to continue to do those monthly reports...and may want me to add a few more. This will be some 3 days' worth of mad money for me.
But, they also asked me to continue in some sort of consulting capacity, details to be worked out later. I told them sure, as long as it's no more than 2 days per week, and working from home. Unfortunately...they said yes. Only then did I realize "Hey wait a minute, I thought I was retiring!"

Since details won't be ironed out until next week, we'll see how (or if) this ultimately pans out. But it looks like a win-win for me either way. Heck, worse comes to worse I'll decide that consulting is not my thing and truly retire.
 
Congratulations (?)
Good news on turning in your notice.
And hopefully good news on the part time work. (That's why I put the question mark in. LOL)
 
+1 on the Congratulations (?) You are obviously a very valued employee if they're making you this offer. Pat yourself on the back.

I have been working from home for 9 years. At first, I found it just too easy to work way more than 40 hours a week. I could see my home office no matter where I was in our house, and I'd sneak back in after dinner to "button up a few things". I just couldn't turn it off. DH finally mentioned he noticed how much time I was in my office and wondered if I was really enjoying it. DUH, no!

I moved my office to the second floor so I can't hear so well when it calls to me. I turn my work cell phone off now and don't answer after hours calls. And when I hust my computer off in the evening, 99% of the time it stays that way until the next morning.

Working from home is great, just don't let them encroach too much on your retirement dreams. YMMV, of course.
 
Dang it;) my boss (who is out of state) told me she will be in on Monday so we can finalize my post-retirement consulting. Talk about mixed feelings for me - she stressed they think the consulting is a great idea and have several plans to discuss with me.

I was a telecommuter for several years in my prior j*b, so I'm aware of those pitfalls. But I think this time will be different, and will not have any problem turning off the computer at 5:00....on either of the max 2 days per week I'll w*rk.

I'll send update next week.:dance:
 
No doubt about it. Set some boundaries early. Otherwise mission creep will wipe out your retirement.

On a side note, I am amazed at how many people want us to continue working after retirement. Even before I retired I had people suggestion new jobs for me, asking me about working part time, and wanting to know if I would go back to school to start a second career. Gosh, all I wanted to do was get up after sunrise, drink coffee and read the newspaper before deciding what I did for the day.
 
DW was supposed to retire this year, but it looks like they're close to talking her into half time. She says only for OMY. A step in the right direction at least.
 
I would suggest that you set an hourly rate high enough that they value your time and do not use too much of it.
 
Yea, working after retirement. I was offered a job cleaning the rattlesnake exhibits at a desert museum. What a bite in the B__t.
 
brewer12345 said:
I would suggest that you set an hourly rate high enough that they value your time and do not use too much of it.
Click to expand...

+1
These semi-retirement arrangement can become nothing more than FT work for PT pay :(
 
When setting your hourly rate, keep in mind:
- Compared to hiring an employee, your customer (your forer employer) is saving money in health care costs, paid time off, accounting overhead, office space overhead, 401K matching, etc. Don't make yourself a "cheap date" or your dance card will be forever full.

- You'll be paying self employment taxes of 15.3% from the very first dollar, plus any "regular" income tax you'd owe on income.

- With self-employed income there are some good ways to shelter income (SEP-IRA, Solo 401K, etc), but they involve pushing money into accounts that will eventually be taxed at the regular income rate (not the more favorable LTCG rate or dividend rate). So, be sure to consider the long-term implications as you look at the options.

And congratulations!
 
samclem said:
- With self-employed income there are some good ways to shelter income (SEP-IRA, Solo 401K, etc), but they involve pushing money into accounts that will eventually be taxed at the regular income rate (not the more favorable LTCG rate or dividend rate). So, be sure to consider the long-term implications as you look at the options.
Click to expand...

There is also a solo Roth 401K that you can look into. I'm reading about how it works now in the book "Retire Secure: Pay taxes later" by James Lange.
 
Ok, what's OMY?
 
I've been doing the 1 or 2 days a week thing for almost 3 years now. It has really worked out well. I made it clear what kind of tasks I want to do (and have turned down a few). I don't really get pressured to do stuff I don't want to do since it is known that I am willing to quit entirely.

There were some negative house related expenses during the past couple of years so the income has been nice to have and really smoothed things out.

I don't worry about having to work for free as I'm paid on an hourly rate.
 
Congrats mystang!

I have a similar gig going. 2 days a week, sometimes from home, sometimes from the office, sometimes wherever I'm at. It's supposed to start April 1, but I've been using vacation days to the point that I'm averaging 1-2 days a week now.

At first I was excited about the new gig. But not so much now. I still return phone calls/emails on my off days, and I get paid for this, but it just doesn't feel like I've cut the work responsibilities as I expected.

Right now my I'm training others to handle these interruptions. Like others have said, define your boundaries up front to avoid these situations.
 
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