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View Poll Results: Assume starting a business is not an option and select one.
A public sector position (govt for example) offering moderate pay, very solid pension benefits and health benefits in retirement 33 68.75%
A private sector position (big corp), moderate to high pay, little/no pension benefits and no guaranteed health benefits (especially if you retire early) 15 31.25%
Voters: 48. You may not vote on this poll

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Re: Which situation would you rather have to facilitate FIRE...
Old 04-03-2006, 09:12 AM   #21
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Re: Which situation would you rather have to facilitate FIRE...

The main advantage, at least in the past, to the Gov. job is ‘Job Security’. I have several friends that working in both. In the private sector, they have had to spend a rather large portion of what they were savings for retirement to get them through periods of unemployment brought on the business cycles. The Government workers, on the other hand, work for less pay but have been able to keep their retirement savings intact. I have worked in both. I don’t believe you could characterize either as always dull, boring, exciting, or anything else. The government job was an IT manager. Very quick paced and constantly changing. The private sector was working for a bank, slow and predictable. IMO it is the type of job that defines it’s characteristics. In government you tend to grow rich slowly. I the private sector, you have the potential to grow rich quickly.
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Re: Which situation would you rather have to facilitate FIRE...
Old 04-03-2006, 10:38 AM   #22
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Re: Which situation would you rather have to facilitate FIRE...

Quote:
Originally Posted by astromeria
I started to follow your advice, but luckily abandoned it. But my friends who held long got shafted in Y2K/2001. Those who exercised but didn;t sell got creamed by AMT on phantom profits. I almost held too long myself--missed the peak when, for just a minute or two, our stock traded at $80, then quickly plummeted to $30. I changed my tune on the next upswing, selling blocks at $50, $60, and $70, while most employees (even execs) waited to hit the magic $80 jackpot again. It never happened. In fact, it went down into the single digits and then split--in the wrong direction!--5 for 1 and dropped to the low single digits again. I recently sold my last hunk o' stock for ~$1000 on a major rise (over 3 bucks--woohoo!).
Yep - it can be pretty tricky. In 1999+ things went really haywire. I held company stock as most of my net worth for over 10 years, but I started averaging out well before 1999 when I projected to RE. In other words it wasn't during the "dot com era". I had a "ladder" where I kept selling chunks.

Luckily my company never cratered. It wasn't one of the super high-fliers of the dot com era (much to the dire disappointment many of the shareholders), but it didn't crash and burn either. It's been cut in half several times over the past decade - but it recovers back to old highs within a year or two.

No question I was lucky....

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Re: Which situation would you rather have to facilitate FIRE...
Old 04-03-2006, 11:11 AM   #23
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Re: Which situation would you rather have to facilitate FIRE...

I worked at ordinary software companies, not dotcoms, although my last company overlapped the "dotcom era," and my previous company overlapped the "Microsoft swallows the world era," which was just as devastating in its own way.*One of my husband's companies was dotcom-related, though not a dotcom itself. My husband dates back to the punch card era, followed by VAX and UNIX. We bought a Mac as a home computer when the Mac Plus came out (86?). At work, I arrived in time for the late-DOS/early Windows era--I documented products running on Windows v1 and was a Beta tester for NT--and we each got to work on an interesting Mac project along the way.

It's satisfying to look back, but I sure am glad it's in the past! I don't have the energy for the long hours or recycled business BS, or sufficient enthusiasm over constantly changing technology any more. The hubster does, though--he has a blast in academia now. Better him than me*
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Re: Which situation would you rather have to facilitate FIRE...
Old 04-03-2006, 01:13 PM   #24
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Re: Which situation would you rather have to facilitate FIRE...

Pretty good answers - A is still leading B as of now.* A couple of thoughts:

A small-medium sized employer could be added as a third option and probably should have been.

Finding a small company to work for and one that will provide you with a considerable amount of stock options could happen but on average I believe it is unlikely.

We all know that most businesses fail and require a lot of time.* I suppose I could have added it as an option.* I was thinking more along the lines of what is most probable, not what is your fantasy/dream situation which I am sure is all to be self-employed millionaires.

Maddy could have a point about future benefits but I think some states will be better off than others.
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Re: Which situation would you rather have to facilitate FIRE...
Old 04-03-2006, 01:25 PM   #25
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Re: Which situation would you rather have to facilitate FIRE...

That's kind of the point though.* It's the much less likely scenarios that have the big potential payoffs.* If someone really wants to create wealth in a shorter amount of time than average, it makes sense to aggressively pursue these options.* You do have some control of the outcome.* You can use your hard work and wits to significantly increase the chances of success.* And the younger you are when you pursue this path, the more time you have to get through a few failures.

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Re: Which situation would you rather have to facilitate FIRE...
Old 04-03-2006, 01:48 PM   #26
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Re: Which situation would you rather have to facilitate FIRE...

I don't disagree.* But, I suppose, even though I am young, I kind of feel average* * I have spent 4 years trying to land one of those jobs and I have had little success. I guess it kind of influences my outlook.* I know some of my failures have been my own doing and I am probably not in the best of places but it is still tough.* *
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