Hobo
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2008
- Messages
- 274
But the problem is that in today's service economy finding a better paying job is tough. Yes there are good jobs out there for people with the right skills, but not enough of them. And companies who are always seeking to improve their stock price are seeing their employees as a source of profit enhancement. Thus the constant reduction of benefits, the slowing of wage growth while annually increasing healthcare costs, etc. I put in the majority of my working life into a major corporation that promised if I stuck with them I'd receive good pay and a good retirement. They are highly profitable and aren't under pressure to put jobs offshore. I'm a courier and pkgs can't be delivered here by someone in Mexico. The emphasis is always on our stock price. I'm 47, have no desire to switch into something else at this point. Easy to make those remarks but if you've put 21 years of your life into something and it goes bad you may feel different about it.
What you describe is a lesson what NOT to do for anyone seeking early retirement. You have broken many of the fundamental rules of following the path to ER: 1) Never count on a company or organization being around for your entire lifetime. Companies go bankrupt, they merge, they so many things that will break their promise of a good pension when you retire, 2) Be in control of your own finances - never trust some other organization with your future, 3) Beware of working for one company for too long... you are likely to be trapped by the "golden handcuffs", ie, when you are making too much money to quit, but not learning new skills where you are.
I could list a few more rules, but I think you get the idea. You must be in control of your own finances and your own life (including career). The road to ER is littered with the bodies of people who died from broken promises by well-intentioned big companies.