As way of introduction, the last 2.5 years at my job has been very stressful. Think "crunch" time with no vacations, 60-80 hrs per week, lots of stress, threats of job termination etc. Ultimately we were successful and obtained the outside project needed to save the jobs for myself and my DH.
Today I had my formal evaluation with my supervisor. There was no acknowledgement of the effort I had put in to obtain the outside project. His only comment was I was deficient because I had not yet started seeking a second outside project. To be successful at getting the second project would require another two years of "crunch" time, while maintaining progress on the first project all with no additional personnel. I cannot imagine taking on this extra stress. By the time I got the first project funded, I was completely burned out. I suspect that if we don't try for a second project, there will not be any more salary raises.
My husband and I had previously decided to RE in two years when both of us qualified for early retirement health benefits. Since our company recently discontinued early retirement health benefits, this plan no longer works. DH has some health issues. We need 16 years of health insurance (between the two of us) to get to Medicare. In my state, health insurance similar to what we have now, would cost $10,000 per person per year. This would increase our rate of withdrawal in retirement by about 30% and makes me very uneasy with the high inflation in healthcare costs. I think there may be high inflation overall in the future due to the current deficit spending. There is no possibility for part time work in our area. It would be impossible for us to get other high-paying jobs at this stage of our lives, so changing jobs is not an option.
The most reasonable plan of action seems to be to suck it up (swallow the anger), maintain the first project, reduce the stress levels by not trying to get a second project, and accept the fact that we will have health insurance, but our salaries will stagnate. This would also mean that we would constantly have to deal with criticisms that we are not living up to our job expectations. Using this approach, we should be able to last for another four to five years and increase our nest egg to hedge against inflation. If inflation doesn't pick up and the ecomony heals, there is still the possibility that we could leave earlier. DH agrees with this response to the situation.
Has anyone on this forum ever had to deal with this type of situation? Can anyone suggest any approaches for surviving in this type of job environment?
Today I had my formal evaluation with my supervisor. There was no acknowledgement of the effort I had put in to obtain the outside project. His only comment was I was deficient because I had not yet started seeking a second outside project. To be successful at getting the second project would require another two years of "crunch" time, while maintaining progress on the first project all with no additional personnel. I cannot imagine taking on this extra stress. By the time I got the first project funded, I was completely burned out. I suspect that if we don't try for a second project, there will not be any more salary raises.
My husband and I had previously decided to RE in two years when both of us qualified for early retirement health benefits. Since our company recently discontinued early retirement health benefits, this plan no longer works. DH has some health issues. We need 16 years of health insurance (between the two of us) to get to Medicare. In my state, health insurance similar to what we have now, would cost $10,000 per person per year. This would increase our rate of withdrawal in retirement by about 30% and makes me very uneasy with the high inflation in healthcare costs. I think there may be high inflation overall in the future due to the current deficit spending. There is no possibility for part time work in our area. It would be impossible for us to get other high-paying jobs at this stage of our lives, so changing jobs is not an option.
The most reasonable plan of action seems to be to suck it up (swallow the anger), maintain the first project, reduce the stress levels by not trying to get a second project, and accept the fact that we will have health insurance, but our salaries will stagnate. This would also mean that we would constantly have to deal with criticisms that we are not living up to our job expectations. Using this approach, we should be able to last for another four to five years and increase our nest egg to hedge against inflation. If inflation doesn't pick up and the ecomony heals, there is still the possibility that we could leave earlier. DH agrees with this response to the situation.
Has anyone on this forum ever had to deal with this type of situation? Can anyone suggest any approaches for surviving in this type of job environment?