Brings back so many memories of DH being asked to leave GM at age 53.9 years old with 24.5 years of service in 2009. 18,000 engineers were laid off in April 2009 (they called it Black Tuesday) waiting in their cubicles hoping they didn't get the tap on the shoulder. Unfortunately my DH was tapped...he appeared unexpectedly at my place of work that sunny, cold morning telling me "The worse has happened." True, they got evaluation vehicles every 90 days (we did pay monthly for that) but they had no other way home than to drive the company car home. The ones who weren't in the car program were escorted out and into waiting black sedans to take them home. The sedans were in such a long line around the Warren Tech Center it looked more like a funeral procession (I guess it sort of was) . Everything changed for us that day in April 2009. Two kids in college, 2 years from paying off the mortgage, no other debt.....DH could have retired in 6 months but certainly would have stayed until 30 years because he loved, loved his job. Cars were everything to him and as much as I didn't like Michigan cold, it was the job and his love for it that kept us there. Six months severance and 30 days more with the cute Pontiac Solstice hard-top coupe, a big house with lots of stuff we loved that had to be sold. We were emotionally numb but had to keep moving. No one had any money so garage sales went on without customers. The house went on the market quickly as we hoped if we could only move fast enough we could try to get in front of this nightmare that was threatening to destroy everything we had built. A new normal of 20 resumes out per day and constant calls to friends all over the country looking for leads. Anywhere. Our kids at college begged us to not sell the house. "We don't get work, we spend all the savings and blow through the retirement and then lose the house anyway. Then you kids get to take care of us." OK, sell the house, they told us. They learned the hard way, just like us. We did find a buyer for the house ($70K under asking...we took it), packed up our stuff and paid cash to the movers to take it to the local storage place (cash only--and unfortunately it was 5 degrees outside with a 20 below zero wind chill that day). We left Michigan with the dog and prayed we could find work. A "snow bird" relative offered us their house for the winter as a home base, and thankfully by spring DH had a job offer and we could breathe again....a little. SO many people never got jobs or could replace what they lost when everything tanked. It was horrible. Now GM is shaking loose the people that missed the 2008-09 massacre. I feel awful for them if they go through anything like what we experienced. I am grateful DH never could get his foot back in the GM door, but it wasn't for a lack of trying. He tried for years to get back in. It's taken us these last 8 years to get back on financial track so I read this forum to dream about what retirement will be like and to be grateful for the jobs we found in a new state. FI will be sweet indeed when we get there. Sorry if this was rambling but I really am feeling sad for these people.
