Time = money/ money > time cartoon

[MarieIG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigdawg I've heard that these "unlimited vacation policies" are unlimited UNPAID vacation days. I may be wrong.

It's paid, but it's really bogus. You still have to do all your work, projects, meet goals, respond to clients, deal with emergencies, take calls from supervisors who suddenly need to know what's going on when you're not there, meet billable hours, etc., which you simply can't do with "unlimited" time off.

[JoeWras]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarieIG It's paid, but it's really bogus. You still have to do all your work, projects, meet goals, respond to clients, deal with emergencies, take calls from supervisors who suddenly need to know what's going on when you're not there, meet billable hours, etc., which you simply can't do with "unlimited" time off.

Exactly

[trumpeting_angel]

My father ER at age 52, and did a little consulting work after that. At 67, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and he lived until 69. I always thought, what if he had worked (he hated his job) until 65? And had a lousy two years of retirement?


My mother also died from cancer (72) as did my only sibling (47). I have learned (oh so gradually!) to reduce stress and eat a plant-based diet. Exercise is a perpetual goal, not fully realized.



I loved my job, but it got more stressful as things changed over the years. I began working only four days/week. I semi-retired, moved to Vermont, and worked three days a week, then 2, and then retired. It wasn't early, but I had been winding down for years.

[Koolau]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarieIG It's paid, but it's really bogus. You still have to do all your work, projects, meet goals, respond to clients, deal with emergencies, take calls from supervisors who suddenly need to know what's going on when you're not there, meet billable hours, etc., which you simply can't do with "unlimited" time off.

I thought the same way until I became Financially Independent. After that, I began to relax and press the issue of vacations as being "my problem." The world didn't end, megcorp still made money, I was much more sane. Now, I'm sure I took a hit on my performance appraisal, but so what. After all:

Time > Money. YMMV

[PatrickA5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut +1 An increase in vacation time to at least 4 weeks would do wonders for employee retention, IMO. Not everybody wants to trade their time for all the extra stuff like this guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4KsvFnCy0I

Watching that made me a little nauseous.

[ExFlyBoy5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PatrickA5 Watching that made me a little nauseous.

Just a little a nauseous ? "The bonus of *only* taking two weeks off in August. Sorry...I will be taking ALL of August off. And September, October, November, December....

[Koolau]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4KsvFnCy0I

I really loved Neal McDonough in Band of Brothers, Justified and other shows. Even this ad really sucks me in with it's snarky take on Americans vs Europeans (though not mentioned specifically.)

BUT, coming back to reality, why would anyone w*rk longer and harder just so they can drive to w*rk in a new EV Cadillac instead of driving to the gym or favorite lunch counter or golf in their used ICE Buick or Toyota instead? YMMV

[Calico]

Parody of the Cadillac commercial:

https://www.popsugar.com/celebrity/F...Video-34464395

I would rather spend time with the gal in this commercial than the "driven" guy in the Cadillac commercial and all his "stuff."

[Koolau]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calico Parody of the Cadillac commercial: https://www.popsugar.com/celebrity/F...Video-34464395 I would rather spend time with the gal in this commercial than the "driven" guy in the Cadillac commercial and all his "stuff."

Can't deny the better message of the second video, but Neal is just so cool in the first one (bad message and all.) AND, no matter the message, BOTH of them are STILL off to W*RK! Don't know what Neal's j*b is in his video, but I'd bet money it has NOTHING to do with manure! - - -

[Chuckanut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Koolau Can't deny the better message of the second video, but Neal is just so cool in the first one (bad message and all.) AND, no matter the message, BOTH of them are STILL off to W*RK! Don't know what Neal's j*b is in his video, but I'd bet money it has NOTHING to do with manure! - - -

Let me get this straight.... If I work like a dog putitng in a huge amount of time on the job, I get to buy more fancy toys. If I drive an EV, I can grow more green veggies. Right? Either way it seems I am stuck having to buy an expensive new car.

[Jeffman52]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeWras It sounds great, especially to people entering the workforce, but it is a trap because you simply can't have unlimited time off. If everyone took their unlimited hours, then NOTHING would get done. And the biggest trap of all is that this benefits the company because: The company doesn't have to carry accrued vacation on the books The employee doesn't get an accrued vacation/PTO payout when they quit In practice, it comes down to both peer pressure and management pressure. High achievers never take the time. They make everyone else cranky because they feel they can't take the time since superman/woman is always working and they'd be compared to them. Then there is the opposite problem of the worker who decides they'll take off every Friday, and a month in the summer, waiting for management to challenge them. A good friend of mine works for such a company. He is in management. He says the biggest problem is getting people to take time. He also had to fire someone who did exactly as I mentioned (Every Friday, month in summer). The employee simply didn't have enough time to get the tasks done required of them. There are a few nice things about it, many revolving around sickness and disability. --- I still think my first megacorp had it right. Everyone was required to take at least 5 days in a row at some time during the year, their choice. It allowed for forced downtime that tech workers typically don't want to take.

All of the above is 100% true. The Mega Corp I still W**k for went to unlimited time off and I already see the difference. Most feel the pressure to continue each day without a break because that is what everyone else is doing.


I contacted my boss a few days after the policy was implemented and very clearly told him I was still going to monitor my time off the way I was before and would be taking at "least" as many days off as before. I highly recommend that others do the say. I not only didn't get push-back but he had not thought about doing the same and now does his time off the same way.


Time> money. I like many others on this website have seen friends and family pass away early and some never got to retire at all. Some were only retired a few years and were gone. At some point just realize that you have more than enough to let go of the J*b. My BIL retired last year and before he moved to Florida to enjoy his retirement were were having a beer and he said "Keep this in mind. How much money do you really need?"

[Gumby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut Let me get this straight.... If I work like a dog putitng in a huge amount of time on the job, I get to buy more fancy toys. If I drive an EV, I can grow more green veggies. Right? Either way it seems I am stuck having to buy an expensive new car.

Well, they are car commercials.

[pjigar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeWras They are paid days, but the whole thing is a huge trap

+1. It becomes a race as to who takes the least amounts of vacations in the team that way you can impress your boss. One of my acquaintance took way too much vacation after this new policy and one day his manager called in and told him: "You have been taking too many days off". So no, it's not unlimited vacation. It's a trap.


I take vacations as if I still have my old 4+1 weeks of paid time off.

[Hobbes]

I retired last year at age 53. I am forgoing some of the highest-earning years of my career in exchange for free time at a relatively young age. We have enough money to live comfortably with an acceptable safety factor. We're not rich, but can maintain the same lifestyle as before retirement, travel, hobbies, etc. This is good enough for us.



I'm gladly trading that earned money for the free use of my time.

[daylatedollarshort]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hobbes I retired last year at age 53. I am forgoing some of the highest-earning years of my career in exchange for free time at a relatively young age. We have enough money to live comfortably with an acceptable safety factor. We're not rich, but can maintain the same lifestyle as before retirement, travel, hobbies, etc. This is good enough for us. I'm gladly trading that earned money for the free use of my time.

One of our neighbors pointed out that when we retired many of her peers in her field high paying field were just hitting their stride at our ages. We'd rather be hitting the parks and concert venues. It has been over 10 years now since we retired early and my only regret is I wish we had saved more and retired even earlier. A few years ago I started keeping a spreadsheet of all our fun events days - like going to wine country or seeing Imagine Dragons in concert. I'm up to around 400 events now. We would not have had had the time or energy to do most of those if we were both still working full time. And being off I have time to look for deals so we can go out often and it doesn't cost too much.

[Koolau]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut Let me get this straight.... If I work like a dog putitng in a huge amount of time on the job, I get to buy more fancy toys. If I drive an EV, I can grow more green veggies. Right? Either way it seems I am stuck having to buy an expensive new car.

Yes, and W*RKING longer as well! Sorry, I'll take one of those horrible old ICE cars and FIRE.

[Dtail]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hobbes I retired last year at age 53. I am forgoing some of the highest-earning years of my career in exchange for free time at a relatively young age. We have enough money to live comfortably with an acceptable safety factor. We're not rich, but can maintain the same lifestyle as before retirement, travel, hobbies, etc. This is good enough for us. I'm gladly trading that earned money for the free use of my time.

Good decision and good first post after 8 years.

[Hobbes]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dtail Good decision and good first post after 8 years.

Ha. I lurk around here occasionally, but I guess I've never actually posted. Thanks.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hobbes Ha. I lurk around here occasionally, but I guess I've never actually posted. Thanks.

Where is Calvin?

[Koolau]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hobbes Ha. I lurk around here occasionally, but I guess I've never actually posted. Thanks.

Please continue. We welcome new voices and new blood.