I've decided to coast (fire)

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gtweath

Dryer sheet aficionado
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Hello! I'm 57, married and have 2 kids who are both now out of the nest. My house is paid for and I have almost no debt. I've been a retail pharmacist for 26 years, most of that at a popular southeastern grocery store based in Florida. The first 15+ years I found the career challenging, but enjoyable. Due to a number of reasons, such as heavier regulation (state, federal, insurance), diminishing insurance reimbursement and online competition leading to corporate expectation of greater workloads with less help, and the ability of computers to monitor an ever expanding list of KPI's the workplace has morphed from challenging to almost brutal. I'm not at a point that I can afford to stop work entirely now, but I do have enough currently saved to retire comfortably when SS kicks in. Starting January I am resigning from my full time manager role, and transitioning to a part time "floating" position within the same company. I will no longer receive benefits (hello ACA subsidies), but will be able to afford my current lifestyle with about half the hours and no management pressures. Even though I will have to drastically decrease additions to savings, my current nest egg will be able to continue to grow until I decide to quit entirely and start taking SS. This forum has been and will continue to be a huge inspiration and education as I make the transition from full time work to part time and beyond.
 
This is what I call having an overflow of your "f*kkit bucket"! Sounds like you're ready. Have you run Firecalc or any other retirement calculators?
 
I have a similar story and thinking of doing the same thing. I've had enough of mega corps insane deadline after insane deadline. Mine is in IT and whatever you deliver is never enough. You used to get a thank you after a project was completed, but now all you get is - what is status of next project?

I'm 56, kids are launched, looking for something fulltime or part time where i just do my job during the day and clock out at end of shift and not think about it until I clock back in. I was going to try to make it to 60 buy can't stand the endless meetings and finger pointing when projects get behind.
 
Nothing wrong with a glide path to FIRE. Enjoy!


And don't even get me started on KPIs, the exalted "metrics" for the bean counting executives. I did Business Intelligence reporting for software directors and VPs and I know about this stuff all to well. If you can imagine it, you can invent a metric for it.
 
Welcome! What will you do with all of your 'new found' time? It's great that you're prepared to slow down!
 
Your floating will keep you in the game and the variety is good as long as your commutes don't bother you. Too bad on the insurance. It will be your primary #1 cost. However it sounds like you're good. Assume your DW doesn't work. You're in a profession that would allow you to change your mind if you decide to do that. Good luck
 
ziggy29 said:
Nothing wrong with a glide path to FIRE. Enjoy!


And don't even get me started on KPIs, the exalted "metrics" for the bean counting executives. I did Business Intelligence reporting for software directors and VPs and I know about this stuff all to well. If you can imagine it, you can invent a metric for it.
Click to expand...

lol
 
I was in a very similar situation at your age. I called it "The Glide Path"...I loved it. I was still working, still drawing a nice check, not touching my "nut"... I think it's a great way to transition from full time work to full time retirement.

I hope it works out for you, and you enjoy it to the fullest!

Keep us posted!
 
gtweath said:
Hello! I'm 57, married and have 2 kids who are both now out of the nest. My house is paid for and I have almost no debt. I've been a retail pharmacist for 26 years, most of that at a popular southeastern grocery store based in Florida. The first 15+ years I found the career challenging, but enjoyable. Due to a number of reasons, such as heavier regulation (state, federal, insurance), diminishing insurance reimbursement and online competition leading to corporate expectation of greater workloads with less help, and the ability of computers to monitor an ever expanding list of KPI's the workplace has morphed from challenging to almost brutal. I'm not at a point that I can afford to stop work entirely now, but I do have enough currently saved to retire comfortably when SS kicks in. Starting January I am resigning from my full time manager role, and transitioning to a part time "floating" position within the same company. I will no longer receive benefits (hello ACA subsidies), but will be able to afford my current lifestyle with about half the hours and no management pressures. Even though I will have to drastically decrease additions to savings, my current nest egg will be able to continue to grow until I decide to quit entirely and start taking SS. This forum has been and will continue to be a huge inspiration and education as I make the transition from full time work to part time and beyond.
Click to expand...

How long do you plan to coast?
 
gtweath said:
If I were to take SS at 62 and had no further growth in my portfolio, firecalc has me at 95%, so I think I'm good.
Click to expand...

That is great... if for some reason the part-time floater thing doesn't work out you can just quit and still have 95%+ confidence that you'll be ok.
 
ziggy29 said:
Nothing wrong with a glide path to FIRE. Enjoy!


And don't even get me started on KPIs, the exalted "metrics" for the bean counting executives. I did Business Intelligence reporting for software directors and VPs and I know about this stuff all to well. If you can imagine it, you can invent a metric for it.
Click to expand...

+1000

I haven't thought about KPIs in 6 years. I'm not going to think about them anymore. [emoji23]

ETA: OP you mentioned ACA subsidies. Make sure you're okay with the limits on income.
 
Greetings from another pharmacist. I did retail my entire career for 18 years until February of 2018 when I quit because I knew store closings were coming. I had also reached the point where I didn’t have the energy or desire to continue working in the community pharmacy setting.

I was also working for a grocery store chain and the industry just kept shifting towards lower reimbursements, increased workloads including MTMs and vaccinations, and don’t get me started on the drug addiction epidemic. For years I floated full time and then I was put in a store that didn’t remain open even a year after I arrived. I quit without another job lined up and after 6 months of searching I’ve been working as a consultant pharmacist for a little more than a year. Best professional decision I’ve ever made!

I’m 45 so I plan to work at least 5-10 more years. I feel like my current job allows me to do that while still keeping my sanity!

My point is you may want to explore employment options outside retail where you can be treated like a human being and maintain full employment with benefits if that is important. If not and part time floating is what will work for you I wish you the best and I hope your schedule won’t be as last minute and constantly changing as mine was when I was a floater.
 
RxMan said:
I’m 45 so I plan to work at least 5-10 more years. I feel like my current job allows me to do that while still keeping my sanity!

My point is you may want to explore employment options outside retail where you can be treated like a human being and maintain full employment with benefits if that is important. If not and part time floating is what will work for you I wish you the best and I hope your schedule won’t be as last minute and constantly changing as mine was when I was a floater.
Click to expand...

If I had more than 5 years to work or still had kids at home and needed the benefits I would definitely search for another option such as you mention but I'm looking forward to working fewer hours and at least at my company much greater autonomy of schedule. We'll see how it goes. At least I won't have the management (Pharmacist in charge) headaches and responsibilities. Just this month had to deal with some major employee drama issues, a subpoena as a witness in a DEA case against an MD, an insurance audit and the annual state drug inspector visit.
 
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Good luck! It sounds like you have a good plan. I’ve always argued the PIC position is inherently unfair. You are responsible for the results but don’t have control over the variables that impact those results such as staffing, hours, and policies.

I hope you enjoy being a floater. Leave the big problems for the regular pharmacists and do your job and go home! It’s great! :dance:
 
Hello I am also a pharmacist with 30 years of hospital experience most of which I was the only pharmacist staffing. At some point in my career the I questioned the trade-off of my mental/physical well-being vs finance reward
by continuing to work in a sometime highly pressured environment.

The finance reward is not as necessary in this stage of life when the children will be out of the nest. I agreed with reducing the hours to adjust. I am also planning to reduce my hours to work maybe 2 days a week before completely retiring. I feel it necessary to do this to maintain competency if I am to continue to work.

I hope that you can figure out the health insurance. Is a high deductible health plan an option?
 
bfrank12 said:
I hope that you can figure out the health insurance. Is a high deductible health plan an option?
Click to expand...

I am eligible for company insurance the first year, after that we'll see what the insurance environment is. Maybe ACA, maybe healthshare. Maybe Medicare for all ;) . Either way I'm no longer willing to sacrifice myself by working fulltime at this job just for insurance.
 
Welcome!

gtweath said:
If I were to take SS at 62 and had no further growth in my portfolio, firecalc has me at 95%, so I think I'm good.
Click to expand...

Have you run any firecalc scenarios with portfolio losses? We're in the longest bull market in history. It can't go on forever. Nobody knows when the next bear market will come, but if I were looking at retiring in the next 5 years and were still in the market, this would be something that I would plan for... Just in case.
 
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