I stopped trying to Optimize and set my date

[Romer]

Not really an Introduction as I have been here for a few months.

I have been procrastinating about my retirement date and for one reason or another it has slowly moved to the right. Not because I can’t afford to retire, but because I have been continually working to optimize it. I am an Engineer and can’t help myself.

I was going to go after Thanksgiving, but my lead PM has surgery then and will be out the month of December. So I decided to cover for her and make it early January so I can transition to her.

Now I am working to optimize health Insurance. Due to the good advice I received here I looked at past medical expenses. And except for the year my wife had knee surgery our expenses have been medium never really hitting the Out of pocket max and typically not the deductible. So for 2022 open enrollment I am lowering the cost of the policy by taking higher deductible and out of pockets. Other than that it is the same policy. Although not a big change while an active employee, it is $400/month under Cobra. Megacorp will also provide a $1000 contribution to my HSA and allow me to earn $800 with incentives like a check up if I am still an active employee on Feb 1st (Vacation counts).

I have 10 weeks of vacation so I plan on taking that after my last day and then switching to the same policy under Cobra so deductibles etc carryover. I will increase my HSA contributions so I can max out 2022 before I run out of vacation and then pay the Cobra part of the policy out of my HSA for the rest of the year. Another great suggestion by this forum

I then was thinking if I went half time for two months starting end of Jan, I could then extend the time my vacation will last covering my health insurance as an active employee

But then I stopped and thought “where does it end?” Heck if I stay on even with vacation until July I will earn a prorated bonus for 2022 and then there will be something else after that. I could extend my time so I can use Cobra a full 12 months next year. The Cobra cost is close to retiree medical from my previous megacorp where I am already being paid a pension. I can only go the retiree medical Jan-Dec so not the best option this year, but good for 2023. And for a few more years until I can sign up for Medicare.

My management knew I was planning on retiring but it has been general, first around Thanksgiving and then mid January

So I set my date as Tuesday Jan 25th as my last day in the office and that will then carry me with Vacation until April 8th. My boss thanked me for being so flexible up to now and working to ensure I left things in a good place and supporting a team member who will be out.

Yes, I could have optimized it more, saved a few more dollars by working another month or two or going half time. I decide it was time to draw a line in the sand. Make it official and work to that.

Working 4 days a week, with vacations and Holidays I have 45 work days left. Let the countdown begin officially now. It has only been a general idea up until now.

This site has been a great resource to me. I came here with a plan and have modified it multiple times. I have refined my models, my assumptions all the while I understand that a plan is just an idea and good for making decisions in the near term with little accuracy of what is going to be in 5, 10 or 20 years. However, a plan makes you think through everything and enables a quicker response as things change with a better understanding of how those will impact you.

I have gotten a lot in a short time from this site. Hopefully I can give back and maybe letting someone else know its OK to stop optimizing will be useful to someone out there.

 

[skyking1]

congrats to you. Now you can start optimizing the rest of your life.

 

[HI Bill]

Congrats! Are you sure that your vacation time won't be paid out as a lump sum as of your last day? The last few times I left companies, they did it that way, and my insurance was terminated in the month with my last working day.

Good luck! Actually pulling the plug is the hardest part. Most of us here RE in our peak earnings years, so we always leave something on the table. I FIRED on March 5 this year, working just a few days into March, to get one more month of insurance paid by my employer, as my COBRA is closer to $1300 / month for my wife and I!

 

[SecondCor521]

I remember optimizing the last few months of my job. I used the employee gym. I timed my leave so that I could give my two week notice the day after my last good options vested. Etc. Seemed important at the time. I was just nervous, like probably almost everyone else.

Five years later, with some unexpected side income and a nice market run, I'm at 0.80% net WR. Now I try to figure out how to spend more money, give more away, and avoid taxes. I do a lot of reading and thinking about estate taxes.

 

[ImThinkin2019]

Congratulations to you!

I am newly retired, in the process of buying health insurance for DW and myself. Right now due to the Covid thing, health care is subsidized so a $1500/month policy will cost us about$200/month until the subsidy ends. Maybe in January....

 

[whatnot]

Congratulations on your decision. Yes retirement always leaves $ on the table. But life is short, so enjoy the next phase of life!

 

[Romer]

Congrats! Are you sure that your vacation time won't be paid out as a lump sum as of your last day? The last few times I left companies, they did it that way, and my insurance was terminated in the month with my last working day.

Yes I am sure. Lots of people here do it. You just need to coordinate with HR

 

[RxMan]

Congrats! It must be exciting to know you’re only a couple of months away from retirement. Let us know how life is on the other side!

 

[USGrant1962]

Congrats! Are you sure that your vacation time won't be paid out as a lump sum as of your last day? The last few times I left companies, they did it that way, and my insurance was terminated in the month with my last working day.

Good luck! Actually pulling the plug is the hardest part. Most of us here RE in our peak earnings years, so we always leave something on the table. I FIRED on March 5 this year, working just a few days into March, to get one more month of insurance paid by my employer, as my COBRA is closer to $1300 / month for my wife and I!

In my megacorp that was pretty much the only difference between resigning and retiring. Retiring let your PTO run, so I had months of health coverage and other benefits, got paid for holidays, and accumulated more PTO along the way. I worked half time from December through March, and was then off until July 5.

A small optimization I did was figure out exact days of part time work to extend my PTO over the Independence Day holiday and get paid for that.

 

[Souschef]

Congrats. I am an engineer also, and was subjected to something I called "decision creep". I married DW in November 2007. Then waited for my profit sharing in January 2008. Then waited for my bonus in March 2008. Then waited for my profit sharing in January 2009.
At that point my BS bucket overflowed, and I retired 2 days after the profit sharing hit my 401K.

 

[pb4uski]

....I have 10 weeks of vacation so I plan on taking that after my last day and then switching to the same policy under Cobra so deductibles etc carryover. I will increase my HSA contributions so I can max out 2022 before I run out of vacation and then pay the Cobra part of the policy out of my HSA for the rest of the year. Another great suggestion by this forum...

Smart. While you can pay for Cobra out of your HSA you don't have too... you could pay the Cobra from taxable account money and then let the HSA money grow tax-free and you can then always withdraw what you paid for Cobra from the HSA anytime you want. You can also make contributions to you HSA after you retire and get a deduction and increase that tax-free HSA growth (assuming that you health insurance is HSA-eligible, which it appears to be).

We kept contributing after I retired and then moved the HSA's to Fidelity and invested them aggressively.... when I turned 65 I did withdrawals for all of our eligible medical expenses to that time.... and we now do an annual withdrawal in March of each year for the prior year's Medicare Part B and Part D premiums, Medicare deductible, dental and vision, etc. If we ever need nursing home care we'll use whatever is left in the HSA.

 

[Montecfo]

Congratations!

You can't retire without leaving money on the table. But you retire so you don't leave your life on the table.

Cheers!

 

[Jim59]

Well done. Many succumb to indecision and the OMY (one more year) syndrome.

 

[Katiek]

Congratulations. I'm sort of in the midst of decision creep as well, so it's good to read about someone who was able to pull the trigger.

 

[Romer]

As an update, I did move my date again a few weeks and worked an agreement to mutual benefit

I am on vacation this week and then will work full time for 3 weeks until end of January

I will then go part time 2 days a week until the 3rd week of February. I will then be on vacation until my 400 hours runs out

With part time and two holidays that will be the 3rd week of July. This allows me to be on active medical insurance plan until then and switch to Cobra last week of July

That provides a better bridge for them and allows me to extend my coverage so Cobra could be used this year and next if needed (18 months)

They really treat me well and continue to tell me how much I am appreciated and they really appreciated my being flexible with my date.

My only concern is we just won a big spacecraft program in my area under my control. There is a lot of opportunity and work to get this program up and running. It can be fun being on the ground floor for something, but you don't really get to see the end product for years. It isn't really a concern, more of a thought that crosses my mind as I should start thinking about letting go as my brain fills with all the stuff that needs to get done.

I address that concern by running worst case scenarios on my numbers and still in every case I come out fine for retirement. If not now, then when?

I know some people retired involuntarily, some couldn't wait to get away from their situation. Mine has been a great career where I have made a difference in every job I have had from designer to executive. Although it has the same BS and politics as most megacorps, that all seems to melt away when I walk out to the highbay and look at a spacecraft being built and wonder what it will see through its lifetime.

Looking at my numbers does snap me back to getting on with my life and moving forward with my plans. I need to work with HR over the next week to submit the job change to make me part time in February and then it will become real with 6 work days left at that point

The only driver I have for a date is a trip we planned in Mid March so I have a few more weeks of flexibility. We will see how it goes

42 Calendar days and 18 work days to go

 

[skyking1]

Sounds good burning up all the PTO and staying on the company insurance. Don't let the romance of a new project drag you back in, you can do this

 

[Jim59]

400 hours of holiday time, WOW. Is there a bunch of carry-over hours included ? Even so, that’s a lot. With your actual working days only at 18, 1 less than me, you really need to forget about getting involved in any new projects. In fact, the management should make sure you are kept well away, other than maybe mentoring of a younger person.

That time will fly in and should be spent clearing out your files, e-mails and generally just being available.

 

[Romer]

I get 160hours PTO a year plus 40 hours of personal time. With Covid haven't done much so the PTO carries over to a cap of 400. Why I am off this week keeping it so its at 400 end of February. Anything over and I lose it

 

[skyking1]

DW's PTO tops out at 420. Coincidence? I think not

 

[SecondCor521]

I get 160hours PTO a year plus 40 hours of personal time. With Covid haven't done much so the PTO carries over to a cap of 400. Why I am off this week keeping it so its at 400 end of February. Anything over and I lose it

I used to work for a company that instituted a PTO cap. There were people I knew who were so dedicated to their job that they would "take time off" so that they wouldn't hit the cap, but then they'd work on their "days off" because they were so committed.

I never was that committed and never got close to the cap. Having young kids and a SAHM wife at the time helped burn the PTO.

 

[RetMD21]

Nice that you are helping them out and they are not paying vacation as a lump sum. I have seen horror stories here

 

[Jim59]

What’s the difference between PTO (planned/paid ??) and personal time ?

 

[SecondCor521]

What’s the difference between PTO (planned/paid ??) and personal time ?

I'm not the OP, but PTO is either "Paid Time Off" or "Personal Time Off". The way it worked at my company, we accrued X.XX hours of PTO per paycheck and we could use it for vacation or sick time (or anything we wanted really).

This method means the company just knows they're paying you if you're away from work and they don't particularly care why. It can also be an incentive to be healthy -- the fewer sick days you take the more vacation days you have.

 

[Romer]

What’s the difference between PTO (planned/paid ??) and personal time ?

PTO actually covers both the vacation and the personal time to as they phrase their benefit. I didnt clearly define that.

I have 400 hours of Accrued Vacation which can be rolled over year to year to a cap of 400 hours. I earn or acrue 160 hours a year based on my years of service

Every year we get 40 hours Granted time which doesn't roll over and you are supposed to use it for personal things like DR appointments, being sick etc. But there isn't anything that keeps you from using it as a day off. However, the policy clearly states you cant use the Granted time as a bridge to retirement like you can Accrued.

 

[Romer]

My boss hasn't been able to find any good candidates to replace me as of yet. he asked if I would

work Full Time Next week
Switch to Part Time the week after at 20 hours
then for 3 weeks consult 10 hours a week with 10 hours of vacation to get me to the part time level

this would help transition to the interim person he has in mind and keeping an eye on him

Then My vacation would last until August 9th at PT keeping Health benefits, 401K matches and I would only need to come in for an hour to checkout

So not retiring in Feb, but will only be working a few hours in March and then Vacation

Kind of like retirement until August with benefits.