I could use advice and/or encouragement from others in similar situations.
In about four weeks, I'm starting a government job after working as a consultant part time for two years. The main reason I'm doing this is to get good health insurance and to take some pressure off my wife.
I'm nearly 57 and she's nearly 59. I'm in good health. Her health is not as good.
She has a government job too, but I could tell the stress of carrying our insurance was affecting her health. Specifically, she was diagnosed with an ulcer. After I accepted the position a few weeks ago, she feels much better. Coincidence? Maybe, but I don't think so.
It also will be nice to have disability insurance, FMLA protection, etc. And I do get 13 paid holidays and three weeks of paid vacation. That being said, my take-home pay will be a bit less in the government job than with the consulting gig.
Financially, we really don't need me to do this. We could both quit tomorrow and we'd be fine. I have about $1.2M in tax-deferred accounts, $600K in Roth, and $600K in brokerage (with another $1M to come in a month or two once an estate is settled). My wife has around $250K in tax-deferred. Yeah ... I've been the saver, and also the high earner. We have no kids.
But my wife does not want to stop working, and I see why. If she stopped, I think her health would deteriorate instead of improve. And if she keeps working, we wouldn't qualify for Affordable Care Act subsidies, etc. I'd really have no choice but continue on her insurance.
I'm not really excited about returning to full-time work, particularly because I went the consulting route after a terrible experience of being terminated from a nonprofit where I last worked full-time (and then some) -- my failed attempt to "give back."
But I did learn my lesson. I leaned not to trust anybody. I put to rest any lingering thoughts of "making a difference." I like to think I'll be a lot smarter in the new full-time workplace. I just want to be fairly compensated for the work I do.
It is definitely liberating to know I could say "F U" and walk out the door anytime. Earlier today, I was dealing with the government's IT help desk, and I was on the receiving end of some snippy emails that would not have been tolerated in most private workplaces. Part of me wanted to say ... "Screw it, I'm just hanging it up now."
But I didn't. I do realize it's no small thing for a 57-year-old of my gender and demographic to be hired these days. But my skills do match the job description very well, so they will be lucky to have me. Also, I was told I'll be in the office two days a week and remote three days a week. That's a good mix. The office is less than 10 minutes from home.
Anyway ... thanks for reading my musings. I'd be interested in thoughts from those in similar situations. What keeps you going at work when you don't really need to be at work, except for the insurance? In my situation, I can start drawing my tax-deferred savings in 2.5 years. Does the promise of turning age 59.5 help?
In about four weeks, I'm starting a government job after working as a consultant part time for two years. The main reason I'm doing this is to get good health insurance and to take some pressure off my wife.
I'm nearly 57 and she's nearly 59. I'm in good health. Her health is not as good.
She has a government job too, but I could tell the stress of carrying our insurance was affecting her health. Specifically, she was diagnosed with an ulcer. After I accepted the position a few weeks ago, she feels much better. Coincidence? Maybe, but I don't think so.
It also will be nice to have disability insurance, FMLA protection, etc. And I do get 13 paid holidays and three weeks of paid vacation. That being said, my take-home pay will be a bit less in the government job than with the consulting gig.
Financially, we really don't need me to do this. We could both quit tomorrow and we'd be fine. I have about $1.2M in tax-deferred accounts, $600K in Roth, and $600K in brokerage (with another $1M to come in a month or two once an estate is settled). My wife has around $250K in tax-deferred. Yeah ... I've been the saver, and also the high earner. We have no kids.
But my wife does not want to stop working, and I see why. If she stopped, I think her health would deteriorate instead of improve. And if she keeps working, we wouldn't qualify for Affordable Care Act subsidies, etc. I'd really have no choice but continue on her insurance.
I'm not really excited about returning to full-time work, particularly because I went the consulting route after a terrible experience of being terminated from a nonprofit where I last worked full-time (and then some) -- my failed attempt to "give back."
But I did learn my lesson. I leaned not to trust anybody. I put to rest any lingering thoughts of "making a difference." I like to think I'll be a lot smarter in the new full-time workplace. I just want to be fairly compensated for the work I do.
It is definitely liberating to know I could say "F U" and walk out the door anytime. Earlier today, I was dealing with the government's IT help desk, and I was on the receiving end of some snippy emails that would not have been tolerated in most private workplaces. Part of me wanted to say ... "Screw it, I'm just hanging it up now."
But I didn't. I do realize it's no small thing for a 57-year-old of my gender and demographic to be hired these days. But my skills do match the job description very well, so they will be lucky to have me. Also, I was told I'll be in the office two days a week and remote three days a week. That's a good mix. The office is less than 10 minutes from home.
Anyway ... thanks for reading my musings. I'd be interested in thoughts from those in similar situations. What keeps you going at work when you don't really need to be at work, except for the insurance? In my situation, I can start drawing my tax-deferred savings in 2.5 years. Does the promise of turning age 59.5 help?
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