Walking away from money

[T-bird]

theoretically anyone who early retires-walks away from money-in fact i would say anyone who retires at any time-walks away from money-not including social security.

the point is to RETIRE!

The point is to WALK AWAY from it. DW had her concerns when I strongly encouraged her to ER last year. Now she volunteers 2 days a week and spends time doing what she wants. She hasn't quite said I was right but if her attitude is any indication she is just fine with "her" decision. When the numbers make sense and you have had enough of the "BS" load at w*rk it's time to move on. When folks ask how I can be leaving w*rk I just remind them that they don't get that time back that they w*rk beyond what they need. I always said that when I "grow up" I wanted to be retired. Well I have 14 more w*rking days to achieve "grown up" status and I cannot wait.

T-bird
Class of 2013 (14 w*rking days to go)
DW Class of 2012

 

[Mulligan]

Dude, the best half is yet to come.

I hope you are correct, Micheal, as my body parts voted and it was a split decision. My knees, lower back, and eyes dissented from the positive viewpoint.

 

[Midpack]

The annual appraisal review (did everyone just shudder?) went well. Good customer feedback and the maximum annual pay raise = 2% Any bets that the corporate offices have the same limits?

Shudder, more for having to give 7-12 a year (that's no fun either), than to receive...

And the latter brought back some memories (thanks ). Our corporate [-]nepotists[/-] managers got around the published maximum raises that all other sites (like mine) had to comply with, no exception, by promoting each other incessantly, bi-annually on average. I don't know how many corp folks went from Supervisor>Manager>Director>Vice President>Senior Vice President>Global PooBah or whatever without ever changing responsibilities. Some of our senior leaders had one person reporting to them, with only one reporting to their direct report, and then all the [-]peons[/-] others reporting to the third guy (rarely a woman). Several departments, Purchasing & HR come to mind, had nothing lower than manager!!!

Ah, the good old days.

And best of luck with your decision, we all wrestle with walking away from money/perks. Like Michael noted (twice), the trick is to have something better (activities) to retire to.

 

[Buckeye]

I'm nearing a decision point that's weighing heavy on my mind.

Still working megacorp. Travel at 60%, work most nights and weekends. I like the work and colleagues. The down-side is I feel like I'm working 2 jobs. It's only possible now because we're at the empty nest stage.

Next week I interview for a university position. The pay would be roughly 40% of what I make now. Of course, a 40 hour week with 20% travel looks inviting. It seems like the type of job that I'd enjoy long term. Hitting the gym at lunch, free tuition, etc. I really like the dean and I know that long ago he made a similar transition.

The hardest part is walking away from that pay check. I think we are OK to ER now (55) but the wife is nervous. Logically, I'm ready for the change. Emotionally, it's unsettling to walk away from the career that I'm built, including the checks that comfortably exceed my needs. Maybe it's because I grew up poor. Adults are always living with the echos of their childhood.

Anybody else make a similar decision?

Yes, I did it at 51 (3 years ago) and I never looked back. The year before I resigned, I made approximately $180,000 and I didn't even have to put up with tons of travel. We lived on much, much less than my paycheck. I could have worked there for many more years if I had desired to do so but my BS bucket was full and life is too short. Get out while you have your health.

 

[ERhoosier]

theoretically anyone who early retires-walks away from money-in fact i would say anyone who retires at any time-walks away from money-not including social security.

the point is to RETIRE!

Generally agree- except for some time-limited corp ER 'buy-outs'. I know folks in troubled (or shrinking) companies who saw the writing on the wall & took their buy-out when some of their buddies did not. Then months later there were mass lay-offs with little or no severance. In the end those who took the buy-outs & ER'd walked INTO $$ not away from it.

But agree with your philosophy. Everyone eventually leaves the 'gravy train'- either for retirement of the big dirt nap. IMHO- All deserve some of life's time-line devoted to

 

[Milton]

Generally agree- except for some time-limited corp ER 'buy-outs'. I know folks in troubled (or shrinking) companies who saw writing on the wall & took their buy-out when some of their buddies did not. Then months later there were mass lay-offs with little or no severance. In the end those who took the buy-outs & ER'd walked INTO $$ not away from it.

If an employer is doing business in a jurisdiction that permits involuntary layoffs with little or no severance, why would it offer voluntary buy-outs? I guess it might be good for employee morale, but if the business is troubled/shrinking that is probably a minor concern.

Oh well, no one ever said that megacorps are logical!

 

[BizzyC]

I'm nearing a decision point that's weighing heavy on my mind.

Still working megacorp. Travel at 60%, work most nights and weekends. I like the work and colleagues. The down-side is I feel like I'm working 2 jobs. It's only possible now because we're at the empty nest stage.

Next week I interview for a university position. The pay would be roughly 40% of what I make now. Of course, a 40 hour week with 20% travel looks inviting. It seems like the type of job that I'd enjoy long term. Hitting the gym at lunch, free tuition, etc. I really like the dean and I know that long ago he made a similar transition.

The hardest part is walking away from that pay check. I think we are OK to ER now (55) but the wife is nervous. Logically, I'm ready for the change. Emotionally, it's unsettling to walk away from the career that I'm built, including the checks that comfortably exceed my needs. Maybe it's because I grew up poor. Adults are always living with the echos of their childhood.

Anybody else make a similar decision?

From your first post, it seemed like your wife was more anxious about the possible change. Have you sat down with her to go over the numbers specifically? Maybe seeing the numbers on paper would give her more confidence?

And yes, I'm also planning to walk away from a nice paycheck next year. In my case it will go from 6 figures to 1 figure-- "$0"! I know what you mean though, there is some weird psychological stuff around the decision. For me it just comes back to, I want to play the game on my own terms. The whole point of building up the funds, to me, was to be able to enjoy a long and secure retirement. When I "grade my own paper" my scoring system puts a lot more weight on having many years of financially secure freedom than on having a large amount of $$ in the bank when I die.

 

[marko]

You can be walking toward one thing or walking away from another. How you view that depends entirely on you. The choice is easier if you are able to stay focused on what you are walking toward, and that path leads to your objectives, even if it is a different route.

And, to answer your final question, I am sure many of us have made choices where something was given up in exchange for something else. In my case I left a fair chunk of $$ on the table, even when I wasn't certain we had achieved FI. It's not always about the money.

+1, +1 !

 

[ChainsBeGone]

I think you are focused too much on the monetary aspects. You are already FI, and your current paycheque exceeds your expenses: so there isn't any real point to worrying about the different pay scales for the two jobs. Instead, think about the non-economic aspects, e.g.:

- will you miss your colleagues and customers at the current job?

- will the college job provide new stresses that you haven't considered (frustrations with bureaucracy, condescension from career academics, slacker students, etc.)?

- what impact would there be for you if your friend the dean retires or himself takes a new job somewhere else?

- how sure are you about the 40 hour work week and 20% travel?

This is great advice. I had 4 years to go to reach mandatory retirement, and each year meant a little over $4000 each year extra in the pension ($400K savings equivalent using 4% withdrawal strategy) for life. Hard to walk away from what essentially was the equivalent of an extra $100K in savings for each "one more year" spent working. However, once I had enough, the non-economic factors became the essential decision criteria for choosing to retire this year.

 

[Chuckanut]

However, once I had enough, the non-economic factors became the essential decision criteria for choosing to retire this year.

At some point time and health become more important than money. Money should be a means to improve quality of life. When it starts getting in the way of that to often, money starts to lose its value.

Like my old grand pappy said "Anybody who thinks money is more valuable than time needs to talk to a rich old man."

 

[growing_older]

Like my old grand pappy said "Anybody who thinks money is more valuable than time needs to talk to a rich old man."

Sure, a rich old man has lots of money and not so much time. No surprise he says time is valuable.

A poor young man (or woman) has lots of time and no so much money. Probably says money is valuable.

It depends a lot on where you see yourself in the process of moving from one state to the other.

 

[UserRequested]

Sure, a rich old man has lots of money and not so much time. No surprise he says time is valuable.
.

A rich old man with an 18 year old model girl friend will say .." I know I haven't got much time, but i'm sure as hell going out with a bang!"

 

[Badger]

I had a similar circumstance. I left a good paying job that had 30-40% travel but the BS bucket was getting full. Began teaching at a local college which was really my first choice although the income was quite a bit less. Within a year a competitor from my former employer made an offer of 2.5X my income and a position that included a generous annual bonus and a fast track. My wife and I talked it over and decided that my love for teaching and the lifestyle difference we would enjoy together was worth more than the money. I've had a great time teaching for the past 20 years before retiring. Next to marrying my wife it was the best decision I've ever made and we still became the millionaires next door.

Cheers!

 

[Chuckanut]

My wife and I talked it over and decided that my love for teaching and the lifestyle difference we would enjoy together was worth more than the money. I've had a great time teaching for the past 20 years before retiring. Next to marrying my wife it was the best decision I've ever made and we still became the millionaires next door.

Cheers!

You are an inspiration.

 

[xyz]

Tekward,
Left my corporate job this year 1 year older than you. I don't give details around my finances but was making serious $. Most were shocked that I would give up such a "great" job but I felt I have earned enough and no longer need to do that any more. It's been a very interesting 3 months besides having the time of my life I have turned down two significant opportunities and have done some light consulting. It's interesting to see the fun money making opportunities I can play with and the same will probably happen to you. Then again I prefer to hang out at the pool.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

It's interesting to see the fun money making opportunities I can play with and the same will probably happen to you. Then again I prefer to hang out at the pool.

We met this guy the other week who was pretty much a serial entrepreneur. He had just come back from a round the world trip, all tax deductible as a business expense, buying merchandise he sells online and in a store he owns. This guy had a million different projects going on all over the globe. One was a merchandising contract for a famous rock band. It seemed like a pretty cool life.

It was really interesting meeting him and hearing about all of his different money making ventures.

 

[Tekward]

Thanks to all for the great input. I'm back from vacation in Florida, spending the weekend catching up on w*rk, before packing Sunday for travel. All this has me ready for a change. My 3 DDs are excited about my interview on 3/29. I'll be asking lots of questions about culture, travel, flexability, etc.