Coasting until retirement?

[24601NoMore]

I'm 52. Targetting next year sometime. I have made my career in IT sales for last 25 years. It has been pretty stressful, only as good as your last quarter.

I spent 30+ years in IT sales and you're 100% spot on. Regardless of what you achieved previously, you are, indeed, "only as good as your last quarter". And in most cases..stack up too many of those "not good enough" (ie: < quota) quarters and you're unlikely to wind up having a choice as to when you'll be leaving.

No coasting as a physician. Not possible. Though the last month I found it difficult to care all the time, which frightened me.

No coasting in High Tech Sales, either. Also not possible. You either perform and meet some very specific goals, or you're gone - and they'll find someone else who CAN meet those very specific goals. Sounds like that's not been a problem for OP, but trying to coast while still meeting quota is pretty tough to impossible to do in most cases..and if you somehow manage to meet the (usually totally unrealistic and unachievable) quota, they'll just raise it to an even MORE unrealistic and unachievable level next year, because unlike your peers who didn't make their number - you actually proved that you can deliver.

I was also in IT sales for my whole career. Towards the end with my last company, one that went out of their way to screw you as much as possible.

The IT sales industry changed forever after the glory years of the 1980s, 1990s, and somewhat into the 2000s.

AMEN to that! The "glory years" of the IT Sales Industry is long gone. A very good friend of mine (64) has been in IT Sales even longer than I was and we talk about this very thing frequently. IT Sales used to be a decent gig. Now, it's a brutal, soul sucking slog of ever increasing and usually unachievable quota increases, territory changes, politics, politics and MORE politics, totally unmanageable stress that CAN kill you, etc. It's absolutely brutal, and a "career" I wouldn't at this point wish on my worst enemy. The only upside - and I do mean the ONLY upside - is the ability to make some pretty decent cash if you can somehow manage to harden yourself to the point of not caring and just push as hard as you can push..probably 80-100 hours a week, every week. And "coast"? BWAHAHAHAH. Right. GOOD LUCK WITH THAT! If you can figure out a way to do so, more power to ya. But I suspect that probably won't have the outcome you expect.

PS: I also had some VERY "non-significant" equity comp on the table that was unvested when I left at 55. Worth ~ $300K at the time. Now, it's probably worth > $500K as the stock has been on a tear. Hardest thing I had to do is leave those RSUs unvested, but if I hadn't left, they probably would have carried me out horizontally, feet first because the stress was absolutely epic and completely unmanageable. Did it until I literally couldn't do it any longer and my health and sanity won out over the cash when evaluated objectively.

 

[Ncc1701]

I left my high stress, high paying investment sales job at the end of 2018. I've been a low pay, no stress administrative assistant since then and love it. I'll do it for 3 1/2 more years until full FIRE.

 

[SeanPizzle]

Are you losing any benefits. I lost healt insurance on my wife, life insurance, dental insurance. Your choice but there is a lot of things that happen before Medicare kicks in.

I already have budgeted for the HI expenses prior to Medicare. Now with the ACA cap of 8.5% max premiums of AGI, this makes it a much less painful pill to swallow.

 

[24601NoMore]

I already have budgeted for the HI expenses prior to Medicare. Now with the ACA cap of 8.5% max premiums of AGI, this makes it a much less painful pill to swallow.

True..and you may already know this, but the cap is actually 8.5% of AGI for the 2nd lowest cost Silver plan. Choose something more expensive than 2LCS and you'll need to budget more than 8.5% AGI. The converse is also true..choose something less expensive, and you could wind up getting even more subsidy than if you had chosen the 2LCS plan.

 

[SeanPizzle]

I spent 30+ years in IT sales and you're 100% spot on. Regardless of what you achieved previously, you are, indeed, "only as good as your last quarter". And in most cases..stack up too many of those "not good enough" (ie: < quota) quarters and you're unlikely to wind up having a choice as to when you'll be leaving.



No coasting in High Tech Sales, either. Also not possible. You either perform and meet some very specific goals, or you're gone - and they'll find someone else who CAN meet those very specific goals. Sounds like that's not been a problem for OP, but trying to coast while still meeting quota is pretty tough to impossible to do in most cases..and if you somehow manage to meet the (usually totally unrealistic and unachievable) quota, they'll just raise it to an even MORE unrealistic and unachievable level next year, because unlike your peers who didn't make their number - you actually proved that you can deliver.



AMEN to that! The "glory years" of the IT Sales Industry is long gone. A very good friend of mine (64) has been in IT Sales even longer than I was and we talk about this very thing frequently. IT Sales used to be a decent gig. Now, it's a brutal, soul sucking slog of ever increasing and usually unachievable quota increases, territory changes, politics, politics and MORE politics, totally unmanageable stress that CAN kill you, etc. It's absolutely brutal, and a "career" I wouldn't at this point wish on my worst enemy. The only upside - and I do mean the ONLY upside - is the ability to make some pretty decent cash if you can somehow manage to harden yourself to the point of not caring and just push as hard as you can push..probably 80-100 hours a week, every week. And "coast"? BWAHAHAHAH. Right. GOOD LUCK WITH THAT! If you can figure out a way to do so, more power to ya. But I suspect that probably won't have the outcome you expect.

PS: I also had some VERY "non-significant" equity comp on the table that was unvested when I left at 55. Worth ~ $300K at the time. Now, it's probably worth > $500K as the stock has been on a tear. Hardest thing I had to do is leave those RSUs unvested, but if I hadn't left, they probably would have carried me out horizontally, feet first because the stress was absolutely epic and completely unmanageable. Did it until I literally couldn't do it any longer and my health and sanity won out over the cash when evaluated objectively.

Thank you for chiming in. It helps to hear from others who have travelled this path. It is really hard being in my early 50s and just exhausted from the stress and the sheer amount of balls I have in the air. I have 8800 unread emails in my inbox. I only pay attention to those from customers and those directly related to a revenue event. I dare not let anyone know how I am feeling, because there is a (seemingly) neverending supply of 30 year olds ready to step up and take my role. My saving grace is my decades long rolodex of contacts (hey kids, a rolodex is a round file system you can staple business cards to)

Put that coffee down. Coffee is for closers.

 

[SeanPizzle]

True..and you may already know this, but the cap is actually 8.5% of AGI for the 2nd lowest cost Silver plan. Choose something more expensive than 2LCS and you'll need to budget more than 8.5% AGI. The converse is also true..choose something less expensive, and you could wind up getting even more subsidy than if you had chosen the 2LCS plan.

Thanks for that. I need to better understand that part. I basically have budgeted 2K a month for premiums and worst case max 11K per year OOP. If I can come in under that, I'm golden.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

I owned a small business in a small town ( pop. 1000). Everyone knew what you were doing all the time. No rest at home, customers would find you after hours and weekends.


Coasting wasn't an option. I worked an average 52 hours per week. If I wanted to slow down to a 40hour week the client base in my good old home town would say "Stormy's slowing down, he doesn't care anymore". I saw it happen to many peers and knew it would happen to me to.


I ran hard to the finish line, put in a full week and caught he!! from a long time client my last hour of work. Turned the key on the door and moved 350 miles away the next day.


I ran hard til the end. No other choice for being self employed and wanting to sell a business that is increasing in revenue.

 

[Jim59]

I guess the term Coasting is more applicable to those in MegaCorp, or indeed any size of Corp rather than Self Employed/ Business owners. I have decided to retire next year and feel as time gets nearer my motivation will drop and I will slip into a coasting mode. I’ve put in more than my shift for 40+ years, so will not let it concern me.

 

[24601NoMore]

Thank you for chiming in. It helps to hear from others who have travelled this path. It is really hard being in my early 50s and just exhausted from the stress and the sheer amount of balls I have in the air. I have 8800 unread emails in my inbox. I only pay attention to those from customers and those directly related to a revenue event. I dare not let anyone know how I am feeling, because there is a (seemingly) neverending supply of 30 year olds ready to step up and take my role. My saving grace is my decades long rolodex of contacts (hey kids, a rolodex is a round file system you can staple business cards to)

Put that coffee down. Coffee is for closers.

It's pretty tough being in high tech sales in your 50s. Or worse, 60s. Because while a 50 or 60+ year old rep or SE brings a lot to the table in terms of experience and contacts, the 30 year-olds are willing to work basically round the clock doing whatever it takes to make their own name for themselves. And let's face it..few of us in our 50s or 60s want to work 80-100 hours a week, week in and week out. Gets VERY old very quickly, and that's a big part of why I left at 55. Those 80+ hour weeks (plus unbelievable, epic stress on top of that) was going to kill me before I hit 60 if I had stayed.

My very good buddy is 64 and still working as an Account Exec. He's a rock star, but there are as you mentioned no end of 30 year olds willing to go to kickoffs, QBRs, entertain customers and stay out till all hour of the morning 7 days a week doing that. He's told me several times that he'd prefer not to have to deal with that and is perfectly happy going back after a long day and closing down by 9 or 10. 30 year olds are just getting STARTED at 9 or 10 unfortunately..I got to the point I didn't want to even try to keep up with the 24x7 "always on" that seems to be the norm now. Small part of why I ultimately bailed (the insane politics and totally unreasonable/unachievable goals, coupled with constant territory changes was a bigger part)..but it's still worth noting that it's no fun watching all those 20 and 30 year olds in your rearview mirror..of course, few of them are that good and most in my experience fail..but the constant supply of people willing to take your job - often for a lot less comp - does indeed make things even more stressful.

Thanks for that. I need to better understand that part. I basically have budgeted 2K a month for premiums and worst case max 11K per year OOP. If I can come in under that, I'm golden.

My premiums last year were just south of $14K for 2, with $7K PP deductibles. We'll probably exceed $11K this year for OOP. So sounds like you should be good to go, although it is definitely a real mindset shift from having really good healthcare to going onto the "A"CA where you basically pay for EVERYTHING out of pocket - because the deductibles are absolutely insane unless you have one of the basically totally unaffordable plans..but the way I looked at it..I can pay "less" (OK, $14K / yr for 2) and MAYBE have to pay a bunch in deductibles - that's still less, total, than if I chose a higher cost plan with a lower deductible. That would have definitely involved a higher "total" yearly cost even if we didn't need a lot of h/c services..so I went with the "lower" (ha) cost premiums and basically will wind up paying everything out of pocket unless one of us gets hit by a train or comes down with a horrible disease..because we'll likely NEVER hit our annual deductibles..good times! Bottom line - I REALLY miss my corporate healthcare. It was tough walking away from all the unvested RSUs, but I can live with that. ER healthcare on the other hand does totally SUCK compared to what many of us were used to having pre-ER, however. And for those of us who have to be on it for 10+ years pre-Medicare..yikes.

 

[Koolau]

I owned a small business in a small town ( pop. 1000). Everyone knew what you were doing all the time. No rest at home, customers would find you after hours and weekends.


Coasting wasn't an option. I worked an average 52 hours per week. If I wanted to slow down to a 40hour week the client base in my good old home town would say "Stormy's slowing down, he doesn't care anymore". I saw it happen to many peers and knew it would happen to me to.


I ran hard to the finish line, put in a full week and caught he!! from a long time client my last hour of work. Turned the key on the door and moved 350 miles away the next day.


I ran hard til the end. No other choice for being self employed and wanting to sell a business that is increasing in revenue.

Brings back memories. My dad's business (later carried on by DW as mgr.) was retail. People thought nothing of stopping at our house and knocking on the door to ask dad or mom to help them at the business. They always did. For years, mom and dad worked 60 or 70 hours a week. It took 10 years to grow the business to more-or-less self sustaining (IOW looked like it would survive) THAT's when they started to PAY me $.25/hour for the work I'd been doing for free. I was 9 years old - and that was good money for a kid in my neighborhood.

Oddly enough, DW and I went through a similar period with the business - I won't go into the details, but the business nearly failed but DW and I saved it through sheer determination - all this while I was w*rking for Megacorp. It was the most intense year of my life and I was about 30. There was no coasting then - I was lucky to get 5 hours of sleep. There were days I couldn't recall driving home.

I actually look back on that time with many fond memories - not that I'd ever want to face it again. YMMV

 

[RobbieB]

Coasting for me was easy. I was the only guy in the office. Boss moved to SoCal, 3 outside sales guys that worked out of home and car. I might have visitors say once every 2 weeks.

 

[Surewhitey]

I've been coasting for 3 years now. Left MC & moved into my new office (garage shop) coasting for the neighborhood with projects ranging from custom furniture to RE-facing kitchens. Best j*b ever. No commute & take the w*rk you want to & meeting lots of locals.

Averaging 4-6 hrs a day (probably close to the 4).

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I had mentioned this thread to my DW and she just laughed at being able to "coast" at all. She is in the real estate business (property management) and was off for the weekend and updated her voice mail accordingly. When she checked her phone this morning, a property owner was YELLING on the voicemail that there is no reason for her to be taking time off "considering how crazy real estate is right now!!!" She was not impressed.

 

[Jim59]

I had mentioned this thread to my DW and she just laughed at being able to "coast" at all. She is in the real estate business (property management) and was off for the weekend and updated her voice mail accordingly. When she checked her phone this morning, a property owner was YELLING on the voicemail that there is no reason for her to be taking time off "considering how crazy real estate is right now!!!" She was not impressed.

WOW, that individual has severe issues. I hope they seek help before it’s too late.

 

[Koolau]

WOW, that individual has severe issues. I hope they seek help before it’s too late.

I wonder if it's part of our collective Covid 19 hangover. It is a bit scary these days though YMMV.

 

[Motorad]

At one of the Army bases I was assigned to, some of our senior non-commissioned officers who were about a year from retiring were known to be on the ROAD program: retired on active duty.

 

[Koolau]

At one of the Army bases I was assigned to, some of our senior non-commissioned officers who were about a year from retiring were known to be on the ROAD program: retired on active duty.

I think my best HS buddy went through that "program" following Desert Storm. It literally took the better part of a year for him just to recover. Then he mustered out.

Duty in the desert was 16 hours/7days in his supply unit. Though the fighting didn't last too long, his deployment was a significant time. He would have been late 40s. Can't recall if he was E-6 or E-7. I'm pretty sure he suffered from Gulf War Syndrome although I don't know that he was ever diagnosed - if they did that sort of thing at the time. He died pretty young of pneumonia (around age 70 IIRC). Going through Desert Storm would qualify you for "coasting" if anything would, I suppose. YMMV

 

[pacergal]

My last year I coasted, but was not a slacker. In the medical field, you have to see patients daily!
But, I chose to use my accumulated vacation rather than be paid out, so I had a week off every month the last year, and as I accumulated more during the year, I started also taking a 4 day weekend every month, too! I also started scheduling all of the needed medical/dental/vision appointments before retirement and chose to take the whole day off, rather than a few hours to get them accomplished. As a manager, I was able to do that and not impact the actual work of the clinic. I had my management teams support before I put in for the time off. I think I ended the year with only 10 hours of vacation and 4 hours sick leave payout! Good timing.