Well, I am officially at a crossroads. At the decision point where life will change for me one way or the other.
I was laid off in mid-April. I had planned to quit in October to start ER (just turned 50 ) after bonus payout and when the stock market was high. Then COVID came and hit my portfolio pretty hard. I thought I had better start looking for another job, out of concern for a prolonged fall in the stock market and uncertainty about what will happen with the ACA. Working for two more years would postpone having to touch the portfolio, and since I didn’t finish all my preventative checkups - hello, colonoscopy! - before being let go, I thought having employer-based health insurance in case of serious problems would be better to have than an individual plan.
Lately, though, I’ve been thinking about how stress-free it has been to sit at home. No work pressure. No silly corporate-speak. No know-it-all boss with 10 years less experience and knowledge than me. No deadlines. And when the house sells, the opportunity to go back to friends in my former state, at least for a while til I make permanent relocation decisions (still prefer west coast but want to see if real estate prices come down first).
I received a job offer today. It requires relocation but an easy one, less than 6 hours away. Not a place I’d want to be permanently but is fine for 2 years. If I quit in less than 12 months, I’d have to repay 100% of relocation, 50% if I left in 13-24 months. It’s not a great relocation package so I don’t think 50% is a big deal if I couldn’t get through two full years. Compensation is not what I was making, but is still very good. Very good PTO and health coverage. Not a great 401k but I wouldn’t plan to be there long enough to reach vesting.
I said I would give an answer on Tuesday. There’s another company in the mix but I don’t think I’ll get an answer on that before I need to decide on this offer. I know that job has a third interview round anyway.
I guess I will finally find out how much of a risk-taker I am. Because that’s really what it comes down to. I’d be lying if I said extra income wouldn’t be nice; I’d like to buy a new bed, and a new wardrobe now that I have lost weight. And I wanted to go to Europe next year, assuming it’s safe to travel then. And I guess there’s a part of me that doesn’t want my career ended on a layoff. I’d like to end it on my terms. But I am ok financially. If I could sell my house for $450K net, my portfolio would be approximately $3.35M. It’s truly the health insurance situation. My family has a history of colon cancer and polyps, and I have fears that I will have issues and would be uninsurable if ACA fell through. There’s one other worrisome medical issue that the doc didn’t seem too concerned about but I’d like another opinion.
It’s going to be a long weekend of soul searching. I hope I can figure out the right choice for me.
I was laid off in mid-April. I had planned to quit in October to start ER (just turned 50 ) after bonus payout and when the stock market was high. Then COVID came and hit my portfolio pretty hard. I thought I had better start looking for another job, out of concern for a prolonged fall in the stock market and uncertainty about what will happen with the ACA. Working for two more years would postpone having to touch the portfolio, and since I didn’t finish all my preventative checkups - hello, colonoscopy! - before being let go, I thought having employer-based health insurance in case of serious problems would be better to have than an individual plan.
Lately, though, I’ve been thinking about how stress-free it has been to sit at home. No work pressure. No silly corporate-speak. No know-it-all boss with 10 years less experience and knowledge than me. No deadlines. And when the house sells, the opportunity to go back to friends in my former state, at least for a while til I make permanent relocation decisions (still prefer west coast but want to see if real estate prices come down first).
I received a job offer today. It requires relocation but an easy one, less than 6 hours away. Not a place I’d want to be permanently but is fine for 2 years. If I quit in less than 12 months, I’d have to repay 100% of relocation, 50% if I left in 13-24 months. It’s not a great relocation package so I don’t think 50% is a big deal if I couldn’t get through two full years. Compensation is not what I was making, but is still very good. Very good PTO and health coverage. Not a great 401k but I wouldn’t plan to be there long enough to reach vesting.
I said I would give an answer on Tuesday. There’s another company in the mix but I don’t think I’ll get an answer on that before I need to decide on this offer. I know that job has a third interview round anyway.
I guess I will finally find out how much of a risk-taker I am. Because that’s really what it comes down to. I’d be lying if I said extra income wouldn’t be nice; I’d like to buy a new bed, and a new wardrobe now that I have lost weight. And I wanted to go to Europe next year, assuming it’s safe to travel then. And I guess there’s a part of me that doesn’t want my career ended on a layoff. I’d like to end it on my terms. But I am ok financially. If I could sell my house for $450K net, my portfolio would be approximately $3.35M. It’s truly the health insurance situation. My family has a history of colon cancer and polyps, and I have fears that I will have issues and would be uninsurable if ACA fell through. There’s one other worrisome medical issue that the doc didn’t seem too concerned about but I’d like another opinion.
It’s going to be a long weekend of soul searching. I hope I can figure out the right choice for me.