Finally Retired

[Ger0n1mo]

I finally retired on February 5.

I put in to be in the 2020 class, but missed it by a couple months. I had planned to retire in April 2020 but due to Covid, working from home and a pending company merger I decided to hold off. We closed on a lake home in Indiana last March, closed on our house in Pennsylvania in August and then moved. I called my boss late July to tell him I was retiring and he suggested for me to just continue working from Indiana and hold out for a severance package. The company said they were planning to do a 20% reduction so I knew I stood a good chance of getting a package. The company planned to complete the merger in June, then August, then October and finally did so in November. The new org announcements kept being delayed as well.

On Sunday night, January 24, those in IT being RIF'd in the U.S. (first group) were sent a blind invitation to a meeting on Monday morning by the CIO. The meeting lasted all of about 3 minutes just to say we were being let go in two weeks. No Q&A, little details on the severance package, etc. Most of the impacted were caught off guard and totally surprised. Most did not meet with HR until the day before being terminated.

For me, I hit the jackpot. 14 month's severance including health, dental and vision coverage. That will get me to within 11 months before I can be on Medicare. Obviously, my good fortune is tempered by the bad news of others. I had many meetings over the past two weeks with my employees to help get organized for their next steps. Very bittersweet emotionally.

I am going against conventional wisdom on retirement. My new house is 90% more than the old house that I was in for 27 years. I was going to pay it off over 3 or 4 years to kind of control taxes. But, with the very low mortgage rates I will just keep the mortgage until the time I decide I am done with it. I suspect keeping the money in the stock market will far surpass my mortgage rate. I will have a tritoon delivered in the spring and I am replacing my dock (did not have a clue how expensive that was going to be). I have also been prepping for other hobbies and as a somewhat DIY'r I know I will stay busy. My justification is the quality of life I now have and the fact that my mother-in-law lives with us after having a stroke several years ago. She is mostly okay, able to take care of herself, just gets confused and tires out easily. This prohibits my DW and I from traveling as much as we'd like and kind of confines us to the house, lake and short jaunts. I don't care to have multiple residences for snow birding and decided to have one more expensive house. Touching water adds about $200K to the price.

Please wish me well. I seldom post on this forum but I watch it closely for good advice.

[pacergal]

Welcome to Retirement!
It sounds like you have a well thought out plan.
Bless you and DW for caring for your MIL.
Hope to hear more from you over time
Take Care!

[finnski1]

Congrats on the severance package. Sounds like a pretty good one and sounds like you did luck out. Also nice that you had a boss that actually looked out for you in that scenario.

[AZ2020]

Congratulations on your retirement!

I also waited for a separation package and it was well worth the wait. Good to see it worked for you too.

Enjoy your time on the water.

[Go-NoGo]

Congrats - all in all, it worked out very well for you - great to hear that. Wishing you the best!

[street]

I wish you a long enjoyable retirement!

[Time2re]

Congrats! Love to hear how a plan works out so well. Enjoy your new freedom.

[Dtail]

Congrats and yes nice to get that severance package. I volunteered for severance knowing it was 1 year of pay and medical.

[cat4ever]

Congrats! And smart move on the mortgage IMO (but there are others that hold a different one). I must say I'm jealous of your severance package. I waited a good six months through two different reductions but my name never came up so I pulled the plug anyway. Very glad I did.

Anyway, welcome to the club.

[Out-to-Lunch]

Congrats!

Shall we put you in the Class of 2021 thread?

[Lawrencewendall]

Congrats from the Graduating Class of 2019!

[Lstansbury]

Congrats! Stay healthy and enjoy that water... let us know how it goes, I'm 6 months away, is my best guess.

[Vacation4us]

So happy for you! What a great boss you had, a rare thing for sure. The package was definitely worth the wait.

Enjoy the lake house, I am jealous I want to be on the water too! Time will tell if that happens.

[naggz]

Congrats! Excellent upside to your OMY decision. I hope the extra time wasn't overly stressful to negate some of the financial benefits.

I also agree with the decision on the mortgage, it is usually a prudent financial decision, as long as the debt doesn't weigh you down mentally and emotionally.

[SpinDoctorTX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ger0n1mo I finally retired on February 5.

Congrats from the class of 2016!

I tried to wait for a package as an employee of a spin-off co., but didn't trust my options for early retirement carrying over with me. I left immediately after hearing that there was nothing for me to worry about. .

You're good people taking care of your MIL. Caregiving often seems like a thankless job, however the rewards can be worth it. Of my two siblings, I'm the one who will house my DM whenever she gives up on living alone. We moved to a split plan when we bought the current home in 2009, so she has "the wing" to herself when she snowbirds in Houston. We are very close, and I'm extremely fortunate that she is Mom to DH as well. With 4 bosses in the house (we all believe that we're right 100% of the time- including the cat), it's a good thing that we all have somewhere to have "me time".

Quote:

Originally Posted by cat4ever I'm jealous of your severance package. I waited a good six months through two different reductions but my name never came up so I pulled the plug anyway.

+1, but for a bit 12 mos.