Help/Advice w/ DW's Employment Situation

[ncbill]

Our HOA had to fire its last (national) property management group because our assigned person was stretched too thin.

The HOA's board decided to pay more for a locally-owned company instead.

I'd hire an attorney to review the non-compete & move on to another company if at all possible.

 

[tb001]

A year non compete sounds like it could be a wonderful break! Maybe if she quits with the idea of going somewhere else in a year it wouldn’t feel like being unemployed?

 

[imnontrad]

A good property manager is really hard to find. Has she thought about just starting her own business? The "Bigger Pockets" website and forums may be a good place to start.

I can understand her unwillingness to leave the workforce at 43. At that age, if something should happen to you, she would have a lot of years before she could tap her retirement accounts and get Social Security benefits.

 

[KarenF]

I was in a similar situation as DW. My husband retired but I was not emotionally ready to retire. I had weird anxiety about not working. I am a very hard worker. I have plenty of hobbies, but just could not bring myself to quit, even though we are robustly FI. I am not sure how exactly I got over the hump. However, I did go to part time, and that made a big difference for me. I worked Tuesday and Wednesday, so I had a 5 day weekend. Pretty soon I started feeling like I was too busy to work, so I quit. She should definitely quit - that stress is just not worth it, and she could take her time to get another job, one she likes, maybe part-time, without worrying what it pays.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

A good property manager is really hard to find. Has she thought about just starting her own business? The "Bigger Pockets" website and forums may be a good place to start.

I can understand her unwillingness to leave the workforce at 43. At that age, if something should happen to you, she would have a lot of years before she could tap her retirement accounts and get Social Security benefits.

I guess you haven't read the replies to this thread (re: starting her own company).

If something happened to me, she would be A-OK without tapping tax deferred accounts, maybe even better off.

But, since it's come up...good news (sort of). Her boss has agreed for her to have an assistant. They are trying to figure out if the new assistant will be someone already in-house or if they will bring in new blood. She is pretty happy (and I think her boss is too since she has stopped working the crazy hours) about it and much more pleasant to be around. Bad news...she will continue to work.

 

[2177V]

To start off, as some of you might know, I am retired and have been for a while now. DW has continued to w*rk even though we are solidly FI and there is no good reason (monetarily) for her to do so. Now...

She has been the real estate business for the last 16 years. She has really enjoyed her j*b up until about a month ago. She is involved in property management for SFHs and works from home (and has done so for about 10 years). Over the years, the company has been merged/acquired by different entities and most recently by a very large company in the field. That is when things started going down hill.

Long story short, her responsibilities now cannot be competently completed in less than 20 hours (or more) a day. They have added and added and added to her workload and complaints to her boss have gone unanswered. As a matter of fact, he went so far as to tell her to not put her issues/complaints in an email I try to be the good DH and offer moral support, but it's tough to not give advice, either. She is being used and she knows it, but won't stop killing herself. I have tried to tell her that these people don't give a damn about her, just that they are getting their money's worth out of her. To add insult to injury, they (institutional investors as of late) can't seem to understand that R/E is local and that every market is different. They only try and apply a single set of rules/circumstances across all markets and this just isn't feasible (and often not legal) but they will not listen to her concerns.

So good folks of ER.org, what can I do to perhaps help the situation along? She has looked at other j*bs, but to make the $$$ she is now, it would require relocation and we are not willing to do that. I wish I could convince her to leave this rat race behind, but I just don't think it's in her blood to retire so early (she's 43 years old).

Since you are FI, does not make sense for your wife to work in a job that may be stressing her out. Several possible options:

(1) Quit and start her own business in which she has more control.
(2) Continue to work 8 hours a day and let the 20 hours a day work pile up. She should document everything for an attorney in the event she is laid off. Consult with an attorney to decide on a strategy. Sometimes when an employer knows that she has an attorney, the employer tends to be more careful.
(3) Consider a local job with less pay and less stress. Money is not everything since you are FI. I have taken jobs with less pay and less stress but I was happier. Life is like a marathon so she needs to set her own pace.

I have a similar situation which I am retired, FI but my wife is 20 years younger than me and my wife is still working as a business owner. She has a business partner who shares the profits and losses. I help out by doing all of the book keeping for her business, such as taxes, payroll, paying the business expenses, etc. A business partner is essential because the business has 6 to 8 employees that needs supervision. They take turns supervising the work. My wife is very business savvy so she makes all of the major decisions but there are stresses associated with that responsibility. She get plenty of sleep as her method to relieve stress. I suggest that you find out how she is managing the stress.

One odd thing that strikes me. I used to work in the Real Estate business part time. My day job was an engineer. Most Real Estate agents work on commission. If her work load has 3X more than before...then her pay should be 3X more as well. If she is being paying less, then this can be a basis for a lawsuit. A good attorney can advise you if any employment laws have been violated.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Since you are FI, does not make sense for your wife to work in a job that may be stressing her out. Several possible options:

(1) Quit and start her own business in which she has more control.
(2) Continue to work 8 hours a day and let the 20 hours a day work pile up. She should document everything for an attorney in the event she is laid off. Consult with an attorney to decide on a strategy. Sometimes when an employer knows that she has an attorney, the employer tends to be more careful.
(3) Consider a local job with less pay and less stress. Money is not everything since you are FI. I have taken jobs with less pay and less stress but I was happier. Life is like a marathon so she needs to set her own pace.

I have a similar situation which I am retired, FI but my wife is 20 years younger than me and my wife is still working as a business owner. She has a business partner who shares the profits and losses. I help out by doing all of the book keeping for her business, such as taxes, payroll, paying the business expenses, etc. A business partner is essential because the business has 6 to 8 employees that needs supervision. They take turns supervising the work. My wife is very business savvy so she makes all of the major decisions but there are stresses associated with that responsibility. She get plenty of sleep as her method to relieve stress. I suggest that you find out how she is managing the stress.

One odd thing that strikes me. I used to work in the Real Estate business part time. My day job was an engineer. Most Real Estate agents work on commission. If her work load has 3X more than before...then her pay should be 3X more as well. If she is being paying less, then this can be a basis for a lawsuit. A good attorney can advise you if any employment laws have been violated.

Thanks for the reply, it is appreciated. I would guess you didn't read all the replies as I have answered/addressed most of the items you asked/mentioned. But just as a refresher:

1. She is not in sales. She is in management and accordingly is an exempt employee not subject to OT laws.

2. Her employer knows her DH is an attorney.

3. She is keeping records and emailing any issues as recommended by her aforementioned attorney.

4. She has been a business owner and this would not fix the problem as a good business needs a lot of tending to (long hours) in the early formation days and she is a bull dog...she would probably work MORE.

4. She has been approved to have an assistant and is on the books to begin next week. This alone has brought her stress level down considerably. She has also been sticking to a self-imposed rule to stop working at a certain time. This has been pretty effective and instrumental in them approving her getting an assistant.

So, while it's not the perfect world I would like (her retiring for good), she is happier now. And well, isn't that the goal? If Mama ain't happy....NOBODY is happy!

 

[2177V]

Thanks for the reply, it is appreciated. I would guess you didn't read all the replies as I have answered/addressed most of the items you asked/mentioned.

4. She has been a business owner and this would not fix the problem as a good business needs a lot of tending to (long hours) in the early formation days and she is a bull dog...she would probably work MORE.

4. She has been approved to have an assistant and is on the books to begin next week. This alone has brought her stress level down considerably. She has also been sticking to a self-imposed rule to stop working at a certain time. This has been pretty effective and instrumental in them approving her getting an assistant.

So, while it's not the perfect world I would like (her retiring for good), she is happier now. And well, isn't that the goal? If Mama ain't happy....NOBODY is happy!

Sorry that I did not read the other posts. Yes a small business takes a lot of work which is why my wife has a business partner to split the work and I help out in doing the payroll, billing and taxes. My wife admitted to me that she enjoy being a business owner because she has no boss and she tells her employee what to do and they do it…which is satisfying. Her business took a hit during Covid-19 but the business is recovering. Glad that she is happier now. My wife is also happy and she is planning to retire in about 10 years and she is using her money to buy properties since she believes like I do that we may see inflation in 1 or 2 years and owning multiple properties is what we want if high inflation do occur.