Class of 2020

[Draggon]

I am right along side you. We already bought our retirement home and I spend most weekends there in “Shangri-La” and then weekdays back in the city. I have a foot in both worlds. It’s hard - a marathon. Some days are better than others. When at work I focus on the income. When at home I focus on the future.

I used to ride long distance bike events, 100-200 miles. I never thought of the last mile, always just about getting to the next aid station. I am trying to use that same mental attitude now. Step by step, day by day.

It's good to have company - misery loves it, I hear...

I've done 50 and 75 mile mountain bike rides in the past, and you're right. I focused on the next "sag stop" in order to get through it. I'm just not seeing many sag stops in the next 497.5 days... I guess those must be my weekends since I cherish them so much!

 

[Draggon]

as far away from supervision and management as you can get.

I've come to believe that's the only likely path to w*rk happiness (or at least non-miserableness) in today's cutthroat world.

Is 62 really considered early retirement?

Heck of a lot better than some of the articles I've read recently about people having to work to and past 70 to sustain themselves.

 

[COZICAN]

My OMY to the class of 2021 may not hold up. I'm so done with everything related to my job except the paycheck.

Coz

 

[ugeauxgirl]

My OMY to the class of 2021 may not hold up. I'm so done with everything related to my job except the paycheck.

Coz

Me too. I had to go to a summer meeting for my company and it was like torture. It cemented my determination to get out.

 

[CoastboundPNW]

My OMY to the class of 2021 may not hold up. I'm so done with everything related to my job except the paycheck.

Coz

Me too. I have about 9 months to go. For me it's a combination of an increasingly unhealthy work culture, not finding the same interest in the work itself and the big one - just wanting to live life and get off the darn hamster wheel.

 

[HI Bill]

My former company is considering an IPO next month, which will affect the ESOP valuation. Staying another 9 months is a hedge against falling ESOP valuation, which is about 20% of my portfolio. It won't cover all potential losses, but could help.

Well, the IPO went through, and wouldn't you know it, the share price went up, and now my ESOP shares represent 27% of the portfolio instead of 20% (an even greater risk in terms of lack of diversification).

Still, here w$rking, as I don't know how transitory this spike will be, and planning on an upgraded house in a decade. Argh.

 

[Draggon]

It seems lately that I'm only focusing on the annoying things that happen as I approach my retirement date, so I thought I'd post a positive development. My retirement date is 11/1/2020 - likely 11/2/2020 since 11/1 is a Sunday, but I'm not certain how that works. I currently have one one-week vacation scheduled next April. I told DW not to schedule any more vacations next year before I retire (we already have a couple trips scheduled afterward). This allows me to utilize PTO (Paid Time Off) to get out of here sooner. Currently projected at my wedding anniversary date of 9/24/2020 if I'm calculating correctly. That takes me from 489 CDTR (Calendar Days 'Til Retirement) to 451 give or take.

I'll still track it based on the actual retirement date, but it was a fun exercise!

 

[ugeauxgirl]

Serious setback- the person I hired to succeed me did not pass her licensing exams. I don't think she's going to get another chance as this is not the first time she failed them. I feel terrible about this as she quit a very lucrative job for this opportunity. (I told DH I feel like I ruined her life but he says this is illogical, taking a new job always has risks. I know this is true but I still feel horribly guilty about this anyway.)

Also, now I am back to square one. I have to find somebody else. Unless I find someone pretty quickly, my target date is going to be pushed back. AARGH.

 

[COcheesehead]

Serious setback- the person I hired to succeed me did not pass her licensing exams. I don't think she's going to get another chance as this is not the first time she failed them. I feel terrible about this as she quit a very lucrative job for this opportunity. (I told DH I feel like I ruined her life but he says this is illogical, taking a new job always has risks. I know this is true but I still feel horribly guilty about this anyway.)

Also, now I am back to square one. I have to find somebody else. Unless I find someone pretty quickly, my target date is going to be pushed back. AARGH.

You didn’t take the tests, they did. I wish you the best finding another person. I’ll be waiting for you next year.

 

[nobody]

Serious setback- the person I hired to succeed me did not pass her licensing exams. I don't think she's going to get another chance as this is not the first time she failed them. I feel terrible about this as she quit a very lucrative job for this opportunity. (I told DH I feel like I ruined her life but he says this is illogical, taking a new job always has risks. I know this is true but I still feel horribly guilty about this anyway.)

Also, now I am back to square one. I have to find somebody else. Unless I find someone pretty quickly, my target date is going to be pushed back. AARGH.

Was going to post about my setbacks but after reading your post, its less significant. Sounds like she should of studied a lot more... Wising you some better luck.

 

[Draggon]

I feel terrible about this as she quit a very lucrative job for this opportunity.

I'm sure she took the job contingent upon passing the exams. That's on her.

Also, now I am back to square one. I have to find somebody else. Unless I find someone pretty quickly, my target date is going to be pushed back. AARGH.

Does.... not.... compute.... Is this a contractual thing or just feelings of obligation??

 

[ugeauxgirl]

I'm sure she took the job contingent upon passing the exams. That's on her.



Does.... not.... compute.... Is this a contractual thing or just feelings of obligation??

The terms of the retirement "Package" are that I have to recruit and train my successor- plus some other stuff. The benefit of the retirement package is a nice severance pay plus benefits. Also, this is the way I want to leave for a number of reasons. However, I've accumulated more money than I thought I would, and could really just walk. Just quitting is looking more attractive from a stress perspective.

 

[gamboolman]

Moving back to Class of 2019 - barely....

Will retire at end of Dec 2019. First effective day of retirement will be 1-Jan-20.

 

[HI Bill]

Moving back to Class of 2019 - barely....

Will retire at end of Dec 2019. First effective day of retirement will be 1-Jan-20.

Congrats!

 

[nobody]

Was lined up to sell my house in KC and buy a place in Colorado Springs. Was supposed to close on KC house June 28 and new house on July 5th. On June 26 after my movers had everything loaded on the truck, I got a call that the Buyer was having trouble with financing I kept getting the story one more week and we can close. To make a long story short last Friday buyer canceled the contract. This is 6 weeks after the original closing date. Buyer came back and wanted to live in my house for a month while he continued to try and get financing but was unwilling to pay any rent. I said no and he canceled the sale.

I was lined up to buy a place in Springs that would of been a really good place that meet my hard to find needs. Had to cancel on buying that house due to fail to sell mine in KC.


All of my stuff is now in storage in Springs, no foreseeable sale for my house in KC since the market has slowed way down.



Feels like everything I have worked for and tried to plan for is now falling apart. This has been the worst summer of my life.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

Ugh, what a mess. Hang in there. This too shall pass...

 

[COcheesehead]

That's horrible nobody. Did they have an earnest money down?

 

[MRG]

Was lined up to sell my house in KC and buy a place in Colorado Springs. Was supposed to close on KC house June 28 and new house on July 5th. On June 26 after my movers had everything loaded on the truck, I got a call that the Buyer was having trouble with financing I kept getting the story one more week and we can close. To make a long story short last Friday buyer canceled the contract. This is 6 weeks after the original closing date. Buyer came back and wanted to live in my house for a month while he continued to try and get financing but was unwilling to pay any rent. I said no and he canceled the sale.

I was lined up to buy a place in Springs that would of been a really good place that meet my hard to find needs. Had to cancel on buying that house due to fail to sell mine in KC.


All of my stuff is now in storage in Springs, no foreseeable sale for my house in KC since the market has slowed way down.



Feels like everything I have worked for and tried to plan for is now falling apart. This has been the worst summer of my life.

Sorry to hear that. Hang in there, we made a similar move from KC to SWCO 3 years ago. We were able to get a HELOC on our KC home moved to CO and 6 months later our home sold. Hopefully there is a better deal waiting for you.

 

[nobody]

That's horrible nobody. Did they have an earnest money down?

yes $1000, but evidently buyer gets his back since he couldn't get financing, but yet I lost mine on the place in Springs cause I lost my contingent deal. Seems I can't win.

 

[COcheesehead]

yes $1000, but evidently buyer gets his back since he couldn't get financing, but yet I lost mine on the place in Springs cause I lost my contingent deal. Seems I can't win.

I am surprised the Colorado buyer took a contingency since the market is/was so hot here.

Though none of this is your fault. I wonder what your brokers guidance was through all of this. They should have been on top of any closing issues to at least guide you on actions to take to protect yourself.

 

[JDARNELL]

I took a contingency on my McMansion in the springs in May. Offers was above list price with no appraisal and another 10k increase if I got another offer. I accidentally met the buyers when they came back to view the house to show their older kids. They were vested in the community and had lost another house due to similar issues as yours. I only let the contingency run a month then I could cancel. No way was I gonna miss prime moving season. We are seeing slower housing and price decreases in the springs as compared
To early in the season. I know sellers who got greedy and missed the school moving window.

 

[Rianne]

yes $1000, but evidently buyer gets his back since he couldn't get financing, but yet I lost mine on the place in Springs cause I lost my contingent deal. Seems I can't win.

So sorry. Hope this makes you feel better...in 2012 we sold our house in MI at a $60K loss. Plus had to update small stuff, faucets, lighting and a few other things (maybe another $5K) to sell. That hurt. But we took the hit and moved on. Those were scary times. Would you consider taking a loss at a lower sale price?

 

[Toocold]

I've been targeting 3/2020 for the past couple of years and I can now see a "glide" path. There has been a reorg and a new CEO for the business unit has taken over. My team has been reorged (without my agreement) and I can immediately see a diminishing role in the future. I have a call with the CEO to talk next week and we'll see how it goes. I'm thinking it's 60/40 of hitting that date. I'm also talking with his boss the following week -- got to love megacorp politics.

Financially, we're fine, well we're more than fine -- but it's always tough to leave a situation where I'm making very good money. Does anybody else look at compensation vs contribution to net worth as a factor? For example (not real numbers), if a person's net worth is 5M and the annual comp is 500k, that's a "10%" contributor. At what threshold should one stay and cruise? I have no risk of being let go, although that would make the decision easier.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

For me the money isn't much of a factor anymore. The question for me is how much longer am I willing to trade my time for money I will probably never spend.

My older brother's best friend died of a sudden heart attack two weeks ago. I have known him quite literally my whole life. He was 51- which is 4 years older than me. That clarified the issue for me.

Answer, not much longer. Less than 200 days on my countdown timer.

 

[Toocold]

My older brother's best friend died of a sudden heart attack two weeks ago. I have known him quite literally my whole life. He was 51- which is 4 years older than me. That clarified the issue for me.

I know the feeling. Two of my colleagues passed away -- one from a freak accident and another from cancer. Starting at age 45, I'm noticing more of such incidents.