My Previous Employer Asked Me If I Would do Contract W*rk for Them; Should I?

[aaronc879]

If you are sure you don't need the money then I would say no. That is a lot of money but it could be triple that and I still wouldn't do it if I didn't need the money.

 

[NateW]

Thank you all again for the continued comments and wisdom. "No thank you" is definitely my response. I think the two reasons I did not say "No" up front is I wanted to be sure in my mind it was the right decision and because a part of me did enjoy the work and felt it was validating because the committee members I supported gave me positive feedback and compliments. Well, I enjoyed the job before the workload doubled over the years.

Yesterday, when discussing with a good friend my need need or desire for positive feedback as it relates to this contracting offer, I realized that it would be far preferable to volunteer for a worthy cause (several come to mind) and validate my self worth that way. I would have a much bigger positive impact on people's lives.

 

[ivinsfan]

Thank you all again for the continued comments and wisdom. "No thank you" is definitely my response. I think the two reasons I did not say "No" up front is I wanted to be sure in my mind it was the right decision and because a part of me did enjoy the work and felt it was validating because the committee members I supported gave me positive feedback and compliments. Well, I enjoyed the job before the workload doubled over the years.

Yesterday, when discussing with a good friend my need need or desire for positive feedback as it relates to this contracting offer, I realized that it would be far preferable to volunteer for a worthy cause (several come to mind) and validate my self worth that way. I would have a much bigger positive impact on people's lives.

Fair enough but the best way to be content is to validate your self worth from within yourself. Don't feel the need to prove anything to anybody.

 

[Markola]

Thank you all again for the continued comments and wisdom. "No thank you" is definitely my response. I think the two reasons I did not say "No" up front is I wanted to be sure in my mind it was the right decision and because a part of me did enjoy the work and felt it was validating because the committee members I supported gave me positive feedback and compliments. Well, I enjoyed the job before the workload doubled over the years.



Yesterday, when discussing with a good friend my need need or desire for positive feedback as it relates to this contracting offer, I realized that it would be far preferable to volunteer for a worthy cause (several come to mind) and validate my self worth that way. I would have a much bigger positive impact on people's lives.

Sounds like you got all the validation and avoided all of the w*rk. Congrats!

 

[NateW]

One thing to keep in mind is that $1,000 per days is not what it seems.
At a minimum, you have to pay Self Employment taxes ---

The self-employment tax rate is 15.3%. The rate consists of two parts: 12.4% for social security (old-age, survivors, and disability insurance) and 2.9% for Medicare (hospital insurance).

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/self-employment-tax-social-security-and-medicare-taxes

Thank you for your comment AmigaDude, I was not aware of this. Another reason not to.

This morning I called the director, as promised. We had a cordial conversation and I simply said that after careful consideration I had to decline the offer (I did not go into details), but appreciated him thinking of me. He is aware that I don't need the income (he attended the memorial service for my close relative that was the source of my inheritance and knew that my windfall was the reason I retired last year). He asked me to let him know in the future if my situation were to change and I was looking for something to do or extra income.

 

[Joggernot]

What I did instead...

I left early, too, and they asked me to come back as a contractor. I decided to go back, but as a "part time" worker for 20 hours a week. That way they had to take care of all the paperwork, and SS and IRS payments. I didn't want to be a self employed contractor. This worked well for me for about four years; then I fully retired. This four years allowed me to move to my retirement home in Texas from NM.

I fired at 58 last July after working at Mega Trade Association as a standards developer. I planned to wait until 62 to retire to accumulate what I believed to be an adequate 401k balance. But two things happened that moved my fire date 4 years earlier: 1) Although I really liked what I did, w*rk became very stressful due to extremely heavy work loads (I basically burned out) and to top it all off, we moved office locations within the city and I went from an office to a cubicle. 2) I received a VERY large inheritance; one that would comfortabally cover at least 10 years of living expenses. So in June 2019 I gave a month's notice and in July I left on very good terms.

Immediately after I fired, DW and I moved to a lower cost of living area about 80 miles west and we are just getting settled in, thus I really have not had much of a break after leaving w*rk.

This Wednesday the Director of the Standards Dept. at Mega Trade Association calls me and says they are short two people in the department and a third is going on maternity leave next month. He asks if I would be interested in doing standards development contract work for at least the time the staff person is on maternity leave. Telework, from home, no travel at a rate of $700 to $1000 per day (I almost fell out of my chair when he said the amount). That rate is at least 3 times what I was paid as a salaried worker there.

I told the director I would call him Monday with my answer.

At face value this looks like a good deal, but these are the reasons I am reluctant to do the w*rk:
1. DW and I would lose our approximately $22,000 ACA I insurance subsidy due to the additional income.
2. I see this as becoming the same stressful full time position I was so happy to leave and at an lower pay rate due to me having to work over my allotted hours to get all the work done.
3. We really don't need the money.
4. DW does not want me to do it.
5. I want my free time. Front and center in my mind is the fact my father died at age 55 from a brain tumor and he never enjoyed or had a voluntary retirement. Don't want that to happen to me. You never know when your time has come to depart this earth.

Is my thinking sane as far as this is concerned?

Thanks.

 

[Global Wizzo]

Real hourly income on contract

I had to come up with an hourly rate for contract work. Figure out what your real rate ought to be.
First reduce 365 days by 9 federal holidays. No paid holidays.
Then remove all weekend days
Next remove 6 weeks paid vacation (30 work days)
Next take your last salary plus bonuses. Add in the % match for 401K, health ins, Medicare and SS and anything your employer paid for you.

Put in your 15% SS and Medicare

That is pretty much what you are replacing.

Divide that by the number of days available to work.

If memory is correct. $1000 a day replaces a 140K salary with a bonus and 401k match.

As a contractor, you can claim a lot of expenses against income, but that is still spent money. So you need to add that cost in as well.

Your Medicare premiums could go up as well.

By now you know you don’t want to go back, just from the headache thinking about this.

 

[Octogirl]

Contract w*rk

Agree with many others:
1.You really don't need the money. Do you want the stress ?

4. DW does not want you to do it. Our spouses are often right.
5. You want your free time. Do you want the $$ for a special purchase or vacation ?



I'm not happy about the part time w*rk I agreed to in January.
I find myself counting the days of work AGAIN.

 

[foxfirev5]

Answer is No. Proceed with happiness. If not why are you here ?

 

[Jeb-NY]

Good decision, too many of my friends failed retirement. Some needed the money but some just missed the work or didn't know how to say no. I give them a hard time at every opportunity.

 

[trumpeting_angel]

I struggle with this. I retired in June '19, but continue to pick up small contracts. It's hard to say no to attorneys I've worked with for decades, and I find I enjoy being wanted. Most of the work I enjoy, but writing the reports (about 30-40% of the work) is excruciating. I regret every case I accept.


With the recent market downturn (and selling a non-performing rental recently for far less than I had counted on), I've become more reluctant to turn these cases down. I know it's dumb. At my age, I should learn to say "no" already!