Class of 2022

[ImThinkin2019]

roadyrunner - Jan 2022
dadu007- - Jan 2022
oldmedic - Jan 2022
caninelover - Feb 2022
Escapevelocity - Feb 2022
Ozinvestor - March 2022
Sean Pizzle - March 2022
Aiming_4_55 - March 2022
Pompanobeach - April 2022
fassmac - April 2022
Goingcamping - April 2022
ejw93 - April 2022
Present Aside - April 2022
YVRRocketSurgery - April 2022
Jeffman52 - May 2022
GTP2022 - May 2022
Jim59 - 6 May 2022
nhcycling - June 2022
plex - June 2022
beernutzbob - June 2022
retire48in2018 - June 2022
Physics Guy - June 2022
Poopycat - June 2022
Silent Walker - July 2022
Skyward1 - July 2022
CaliKid - September 2022
BGH1 - September 2022
firemediceric - October 2022
mountainsoft - December 2022
Panda Bear - XX 2022
Sam Cro - XX 2022
Dreams of Freedom - XX 2022
Callitaday - XX 2022
dd564 - XX 2022
Chris Texas - XX 2022
Bee4 - XX 2022
oiseux - XX 2022
cyber888 - XX 2022
ImThinkin2019 June 2022

 

[Jim59]

Quote this post and remove the text and quotes leaving the list.

roady-runner - Jan 2022
dadu007- - Jan 2022
oldmedic - Jan 2022
caninelover - Feb 2022
Escapevelocity - Feb 2022
Ozinvestor - March 2022
Sean Pizzle - March 2022
Aiming_4_55 - March 2022
Pompanobeach - April 2022
fassmac - April 2022
Goingcamping - April 2022
ejw93 - April 2022
Present Aside - April 2022
YVRRocketSurgery - April 2022
cynicalbuthopeful - 1 May 2022
Jeffman52 - May 2022
GTP2022 - May 2022
Jim59 - 6 May 2022
nhcycling - June 2022
plex - June 2022
beernutzbob - June 2022
retire48in2018 - June 2022
Physics Guy - June 2022
Poopycat - June 2022
ImThinkin2019 June 2022
Silent Walker - July 2022
Skyward1 - July 2022
CaliKid - September 2022
BGH1 - September 2022
firemediceric - October 2022
mountainsoft - December 2022
Panda Bear - XX 2022
Sam Cro - XX 2022
Dreams of Freedom - XX 2022
Callitaday - XX 2022
dd564 - XX 2022
Chris Texas - XX 2022
Bee4 - XX 2022
oiseux - XX 2022
cyber888 - XX 2022

 

[Bustergordon]

Hi everyone! Just found this forum and am thrilled. DH and I are planning on a June 30, 2022 retirement and I'm super excited.

A little about us: at time of retirement, DH will be 50 and I'll be 48. We're currently planning on moving from high tax CA to no income tax WA when we retire.

We love to travel, cook and eat out. Our plans for retirement include learning new languages (my husband currently is studying Italian, and I'll try to learn both Italian and German) and working out a lot. I'm also looking forward to knitting and taking up archery, while my husband is looking forward to rowing more.

 

[skyking1]

Welcome to the forum, but stay in California

Just kidding

 

[Bustergordon]

Welcome to the forum, but stay in California

Just kidding

Hahaha! We have had a little vacation condo in PDX for many years and have gone to Seattle frequently for his rowing regattas, so we think of ourselves more as PNWers than Californians.

Where in Seattle are you? We are coming up from PDX in a couple of weeks to look at real estate, mainly Bainbridge and Mercer Islands.

 

[skyking1]

South of Puyallup out in the sticks.

 

[caninelover]

Has anyone else's megacorp pushed their return to office dates back?

Mine had announced September but now says TBD again. I see some companies have pushed their return dates as Jan 2022 or later (Amazon for example just announced Jan 3 2022).

I have really been thinking about FIRE'ing a couple of months early. My current date is Feb 2022 (to allow for some matching contributions to pay in January - but they are pretty minor so no issues with foregoing them) but now I am thinking of pulling the plug Dec 31 2021 (although I'll stay in the Class of 2022 since my first officially retired day will be Jan 1 2022).

I really dread the thought of heading back to cubicle-land. My boss would probably approve permanent remote work but I don't want to even bother since I'm so close to FIRE - would just rather leave.

If that's the case I may spill the beans at work in the next couple of weeks or so. That would give my boss ~ 4 months notice - I don't think there is a risk of them marching me out the door right now but even if that happened I'd be ok. I just pretty much want to get this news out there already and officially start winding things down.

 

[SeanPizzle]

Has anyone else's megacorp pushed their return...

If that's the case I may spill the beans at work in the next couple of weeks or so. That would give my boss ~ 4 months notice - I don't think there is a risk of them marching me out the door right now but even if that happened I'd be ok. I just pretty much want to get this news out there already and officially start winding things down.

My paranoid side says to keep the date to myself until I am within 30 days of leaving. But I have worked in sales where once you give notice, you are usually walked to the door that same day.

 

[caninelover]

My paranoid side says to keep the date to myself until I am within 30 days of leaving. But I have worked in sales where once you give notice, you are usually walked to the door that same day.

Yeah that makes sense. I'm in a business role so no danger of taking clients or sales with me when I go.

 

[Jim59]

Agreed, I’ll keep my plans to myself at Mega Corp. I think some know it won’t belong. Probably announce my intention to retire beginning of December.

 

[oiseux]

I'm sadly thinking I'm being pushed into early Jan 2023 for tax optimization, so I've removed myself.

Quote this post and remove the text and quotes leaving the list.

roady-runner - Jan 2022
dadu007- - Jan 2022
oldmedic - Jan 2022
caninelover - Feb 2022
Escapevelocity - Feb 2022
Ozinvestor - March 2022
Sean Pizzle - March 2022
Aiming_4_55 - March 2022
Pompanobeach - April 2022
fassmac - April 2022
Goingcamping - April 2022
ejw93 - April 2022
Present Aside - April 2022
YVRRocketSurgery - April 2022
cynicalbuthopeful - 1 May 2022
Jeffman52 - May 2022
GTP2022 - May 2022
Jim59 - 6 May 2022
nhcycling - June 2022
plex - June 2022
beernutzbob - June 2022
retire48in2018 - June 2022
Physics Guy - June 2022
Poopycat - June 2022
ImThinkin2019 June 2022
Silent Walker - July 2022
Skyward1 - July 2022
CaliKid - September 2022
BGH1 - September 2022
firemediceric - October 2022
mountainsoft - December 2022
Panda Bear - XX 2022
Sam Cro - XX 2022
Dreams of Freedom - XX 2022
Callitaday - XX 2022
dd564 - XX 2022
Chris Texas - XX 2022
Bee4 - XX 2022
cyber888 - XX 2022

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

Hi everyone! Just found this forum and am thrilled. DH and I are planning on a June 30, 2022 retirement and I'm super excited.

A little about us: at time of retirement, DH will be 50 and I'll be 48. We're currently planning on moving from high tax CA to no income tax WA when we retire.

We love to travel, cook and eat out. Our plans for retirement include learning new languages (my husband currently is studying Italian, and I'll try to learn both Italian and German) and working out a lot. I'm also looking forward to knitting and taking up archery, while my husband is looking forward to rowing more.

Welcome to the thread.
I'm fascinated but not surprised by the number of people moving to lower tax jurisdiction for retirement. Kind of the best of both worlds with no income tax WA and no sales tax OR next door!

While the missus typically picks up languages way better, I'm horrible with languages. But it opens up so many more doors when travelling! I'd love to dedicate some time getting better than the few phrases learn to just get by.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

South of Puyallup out in the sticks.

We get KVOS in Vancouver and growing up, I kept seeing the Puyallup Fair commercials during summer vacation... "Do the Puyallup". It's on my bucket list to visit!

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

Has anyone else's megacorp pushed their return to office dates back?

My megacorp is pretty progressive as we've had a work at home program in place for over a decade now. The teams I've been on just agree to go into the office a few days a month to touch base/socialize in person. I can't see myself going into the office until January and don't see myself going in more than a half dozen times before I retire.

Similarly, I've been thinking about pulling the plug earlier too. Not too serious for now but I suspect I'm more susceptible to things pushing me over the edge as the remaining total comp shrinks by the month and pales next to the current state of my nestegg. Or maybe ask me again after the markets correct.

The missus' team has started to head into the office once a week on a rotational basis. It'll likely creep up to a few days a week in the office by September. She really enjoys the time saved from not having to prep and commute.

 

[caninelover]

My megacorp is pretty progressive as we've had a work at home program in place for over a decade now. The teams I've been on just agree to go into the office a few days a month to touch base/socialize in person. I can't see myself going into the office until January and don't see myself going in more than a half dozen times before I retire.



Similarly, I've been thinking about pulling the plug earlier too. Not too serious for now but I suspect I'm more susceptible to things pushing me over the edge as the remaining total comp shrinks by the month and pales next to the current state of my nestegg. Or maybe ask me again after the markets correct. [emoji23]



The missus' team has started to head into the office once a week on a rotational basis. It'll likely creep up to a few days a week in the office by September. She really enjoys the time saved from not having to prep and commute.

Same with me, I enjoy the time and stress saved from not commuting, almost 2 hours a day for me. Megacorp did say 3 days a week when we return but that is still 3 days too many for me. Honestly even with fully remote work I just feel burned out and done.

Thankfully my stash looks pretty good to support my desired lifestyle which is why I'm thinking of a bit earlier. I'm itching to go now but two people on our team are heading out on parental leave and I don't want to leave everyone in a big lurch so I think end of year is good.

 

[Jim59]

Same with me, I enjoy the time and stress saved from not commuting, almost 2 hours a day for me. Megacorp did say 3 days a week when we return but that is still 3 days too many for me. Honestly even with fully remote work I just feel burned out and done.

Thankfully my stash looks pretty good to support my desired lifestyle which is why I'm thinking of a bit earlier. I'm itching to go now but two people on our team are heading out on parental leave and I don't want to leave everyone in a big lurch so I think end of year is good.

Is there any benefit to retiring early January? Perhaps first working day ? Paid new year holidays etc

 

[Bullwinkle]

No guarantees that I'll be offered a package. It just sure seems like my megacorp like to give them out to folks in their 50's but I've known a few colleagues that tried to wait for one for a few years before deciding to just pull the plug and retire.

I've heard multiple references to this "departure package" idea and never really known what it was, and here seems as good as any place to ask. Is it really what it sounds like, that someone pays you money to stop working? It makes sense that people get signing bonuses to encourage people to join, but why would anyone ever get money to leave? If they like you, why would they encourage you to leave, and if they don't, why would they give you anything other than directions to do the door? I assume this is a concept that's common in certain kinds of work? What kinds of work? And what's the rationale? Just curious. I'm in IT and I'd never heard of it before reading this board.


Anyway, to get on topic, I'd like to show myself the door by the end of 2022, but I can't be sure, so nothing "official." It's not the numbers, if only things were so easy. But as far as numbers go, I think end of the year, right before new years and open enrollment is best, that way when I sign up for ACA I put a small number in the income box. From previous experience, that makes a difference.

The startup is looking more substantial by the day, so not much chance of it helping me with my decision by kicking the bucket. It's on the way to a medium-sized company and by the end of 2022 it should be enough to say I "did the startup thing" and wish them well. I don't need the options, but if the company is profitable by then, then I can take the leap and just buy them.

I've let it be known I want out from management and back to IC, call it another "been there done that" checkbox checked. Hopefully that will relax the stress out a bit, and we can all stop pretending I'm something I'm not, and we'll have someone else running the team by the time I bow out. I really don't care if they never do promotions or raises, I have enough. Actually in practice I never cared, but now I don't even have the nagging feeling like I should care.

After that, there's so much I've wanted to do but hard to look forward to it because of the anxiety. It should be a good disruption but it's a disruption all the same and I'm not totally sure how DW will take it. But, hoping she's ok with things, then I need to start getting my own stuff done. No more "I'm too busy with work" excuse! But, I would still like to summon, at will, a chunk of time in which I'm not supposed to be doing anything, not behind on anything, not eying a deadline. That's something to look forward to.

 

[Jim59]

In my world “departure” packages are simply redundancy packages. In hard times for businesses they want to down size and offering packages us a way of reducing headcount. Some offer enhanced packages to encourage staff to leave quickly and quietly.

If they don’t get enough volunteers then we move to compulsorily redundancies.

Of course there is a business to run so not all roles / employees would be selected/ accepted.

 

[caninelover]

Is there any benefit to retiring early January? Perhaps first working day ? Paid new year holidays etc

Not really. Our annual HSA contribution is mid-Jan ($500) and there is a quarterly contribution to our retirement plan at the end of Jan but not enough enticement for me to work that full month

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

Re: Departure Packages...
For my megacorp, it's basically a monetary lump sum incentive to get current employees to voluntarily to leave, though there might be strings attached like "must complete current project" or "must stay until new staff trained" or "cannot join a competitor within 1 year".

My megacorp forces departments to reduce their operational budgets annually for existing work, in order to drive efficiency improvements. Most of the efficiency is through automation and process improvement which will lead to staff reductions. Other times, it makes more financial sense to hire new junior employees to support a new product instead of re-training senior employees. It's "easier" to reduce the staff/force them out by offering incentives to leave voluntarily, particularly for those closer to retirement/able to start collecting their pension (as low as age 55). Less drama, less chance to be sued for wrongful dismissal.
Sometimes it's a broad program which, unfortunately for my megacorp, that some of the better staff take the money and run. They'll do a broad approach when they need a lot of staff to leave. Other times it's more targeted.

I suspect it's more common with big, old, publicly traded megacorps like mine with a lot of tenured staff, complex processes, etc where it's difficult to be nimble yet have to meet annual financial guidance.

 

[Bullwinkle]

In my world “departure” packages are simply redundancy packages. In hard times for businesses they want to down size and offering packages us a way of reducing headcount. Some offer enhanced packages to encourage staff to leave quickly and quietly.

I see, so it's like overbooked airplanes. Well, but not really, because on an airplane you paid for your ticket so you're liable to fuss if it doesn't get you where it was supposed to! But, if the company is doing well but doesn't happen to need your position, but will want you back later, so they leave with a present so you'll have warm feelings and want to come back later? It seems far fetched! I'm not complaining of course, I'd love to get one of those!

Maybe this just means I grew up in the "new economy" where there's no concept of loyalty to a workplace.

 

[Jim59]

Not sure if I was clear Bullwinkle buts it’s not really as you describe. Departure/ Redundancy packages, based on your age and years of service, are a legal requirement for employees who are selected for redundancy and hence losing their livelihoods.

Very unusual that company even think about re-employing them. Some won’t work again and need the package to survive, some win a watch and move into a new company very soon or immediately after being made redundant with a generous severance package.

 

[caninelover]

In my world “departure” packages are simply redundancy packages. In hard times for businesses they want to down size and offering packages us a way of reducing headcount. Some offer enhanced packages to encourage staff to leave quickly and quietly.

If they don’t get enough volunteers then we move to compulsorily redundancies.

Of course there is a business to run so not all roles / employees would be selected/ accepted.

Yes this is accurate. In most companies the older longest tenured staff are paid the most so these voluntary exit packages tend to be based on a combination of age + years of service.

They go in and out of vogue, I think. Sometimes companies don't like to offer the voluntary package because too many of their desirable experienced staff leave. Other times they really need to cut the payroll and start with the voluntary packages but eventually move to involuntary ones.

 

[Present Aside]

Maybe this just means I grew up in the "new economy" where there's no concept of loyalty to a workplace.

I always wonder when people think there was "loyalty". Was it in the 90s? 80s? 70s? Before? I grew up in the Detroit area and I can assure you by the time I was 11 in 1980, I knew that lifetime employment and loyalty were not something that existed anymore. I have had five companies that I was loyal to. That is I worked very hard for them and they paid me a market rate for my effort (if they did not, I left). I would be then loyal to the next company as long as it was a mutually beneficial relationship.

Re: Departure Packages...
I suspect it's more common with big, old, publicly traded megacorps like mine with a lot of tenured staff, complex processes, etc where it's difficult to be nimble yet have to meet annual financial guidance.

That has been my experience. I have worked for all sorts of different sized companies and only the bigger ones have done it. We have a few every year (I am now in HR and see all of this - when I was an engineer, I only saw the impact to my area) but they have been primarily a result of an acquisition a few years ago and the implementation of new processes. When someone gets a package at our w*rk, the position is eliminated and cannot be back filled so they are used only when you are sure you can handle the permanent loss of a person. Of course some areas do this better than others and will try to bring back the person as a contractor a few months later to help finish some project.

The reduction in headcount seems to be the primary metric they use to prove efficiency gains. That is not bitterness speaking, that is knowledge based upon the data they use. I won't get a package and I would not give one to anyone on my team. I couldn't afford to give up a position and my boss won't want to give up mine.

 

[Jim59]

Milestone reached today. Started part-time working, down to 3 days

(Please quote the latest version of the list, then remove the quote tags.)

roady-runner - Jan 2022
dadu007- - Jan 2022
oldmedic - Jan 2022
caninelover - Feb 2022
Escapevelocity - Feb 2022
Ozinvestor - March 2022
Sean Pizzle - March 2022
Aiming_4_55 - March 2022
Pompanobeach - April 2022
fassmac - April 2022
Goingcamping - April 2022
ejw93 - April 2022
Present Aside - April 2022
YVRRocketSurgery - April 2022
cynicalbuthopeful - 1 May 2022
Jeffman52 - May 2022
GTP2022 - May 2022
Jim59 - 6 May 2022
nhcycling - June 2022
plex - June 2022
beernutzbob - June 2022
retire48in2018 - June 2022
Physics Guy - June 2022
Poopycat - June 2022
ImThinkin2019 June 2022
Mrs & Mr Bustergordon - 30 June
Silent Walker - July 2022
Skyward1 - July 2022
CaliKid - September 2022
BGH1 - September 2022
firemediceric - October 2022
mountainsoft - December 2022
Panda Bear - XX 2022
Sam Cro - XX 2022
Dreams of Freedom - XX 2022
Callitaday - XX 2022
dd564 - XX 2022
Chris Texas - XX 2022
Bee4 - XX 2022
cyber888 - XX 2022