Hi, I'm Andie
I'm 52, live in Manhattan with my husband (same age). Our only dependants are cats.
It wasn't a complete surprise (because the company was making cuts), but I was a little bit surprised to get RIF'd a few weeks ago. I got a generous package (52 weeks salary continuance, prorated bonus eligibility, etc), so it's not panic stations yet. But I was the primary breadwinner in the family (my substantial salary was double my husband's).
Now I'm trying to decide what to do. This is the first time I've been unemployed in 25+ years, and for many of those years, I worked 50-80 hours a week in a career (financial services law - although in non-traditional roles) that I really enjoyed, and there wasn't a lot of time to do much else.
In the past few years, however, I have spent a lot of my spare time developing my skills as an artist and using those skills to support the work done by volunteer groups in my community. So I've got something else - not my "career" that provides a great deal of satisfaction and that feels really meaningful.
And so, there was a part of me that did the Snoopy dance when I got RIF'd. BUT - there is another part of me that isn't sure if I'm ready to leave behind that traditional job, and I'm also not sure we're financially ready for me to stop working completely and be able to live at the (high) standard to which we've become accustomed.
Our situation is also somewhat complex because we're expat Canadians with our assets in both Canada and the US.
I'm not ready to share numbers yet here, but I'll say for now that:
1. If we both stopped working tomorrow and moved back to Canada, we'd be fine. We'd be able to live a comfortable life outside a major city, but we wouldn't be able to support my husband's mother and spend the way we'd hoped on experiences (like travel, hobbies, etc).
2. If we managed to keep working (part-time or full-time) after my salary continuation runs out and earn enough to leave our retirement assets alone for 5 years, and leave our pensions alone until normal retirement age (65 for employer pensions, 67 for government pensions), we would have almost 2x the annual income in scenario 2 above. But that still wouldn't fully fund the life we were hoping to have.
3. I could seek out a similar role, although the odds are I won't be paid nearly as much. And I think I'd probably have to work a lot harder than I've worked for the past couple of years. There would be a lot less time for my hobby/volunteer work. Not to mention the fact that I'd end up spending a lot of this prime time (at age 52) hunting for a job instead of enjoying being paid to not work. But I do like my day job career, so this wouldn't be a complete hardship. Maybe it would be worth it for a few more years.
I really don't know what to do. There is a part of me that just says - "Go for it! Go help make the world a better place, and pursue your passions." It would be great to spend more time with my husband and our families, and he's also got passions (writing) he'd like to pursue.
But I have NEVER been frugal (although my husband has been frugal, and has good habits). His only weak point is that he craves space - I could live in a shoebox, but he wants a detached home with 3+ bedrooms.
So, I suppose I'd like to hear in particular from the formerly non-frugal who have managed the transition to "moderate spenders".
And a more particular question I have is whether anyone has suggestions for resources that help us navigate the US/Canada assets issue.
I'm 52, live in Manhattan with my husband (same age). Our only dependants are cats.
It wasn't a complete surprise (because the company was making cuts), but I was a little bit surprised to get RIF'd a few weeks ago. I got a generous package (52 weeks salary continuance, prorated bonus eligibility, etc), so it's not panic stations yet. But I was the primary breadwinner in the family (my substantial salary was double my husband's).
Now I'm trying to decide what to do. This is the first time I've been unemployed in 25+ years, and for many of those years, I worked 50-80 hours a week in a career (financial services law - although in non-traditional roles) that I really enjoyed, and there wasn't a lot of time to do much else.
In the past few years, however, I have spent a lot of my spare time developing my skills as an artist and using those skills to support the work done by volunteer groups in my community. So I've got something else - not my "career" that provides a great deal of satisfaction and that feels really meaningful.
And so, there was a part of me that did the Snoopy dance when I got RIF'd. BUT - there is another part of me that isn't sure if I'm ready to leave behind that traditional job, and I'm also not sure we're financially ready for me to stop working completely and be able to live at the (high) standard to which we've become accustomed.
Our situation is also somewhat complex because we're expat Canadians with our assets in both Canada and the US.
I'm not ready to share numbers yet here, but I'll say for now that:
1. If we both stopped working tomorrow and moved back to Canada, we'd be fine. We'd be able to live a comfortable life outside a major city, but we wouldn't be able to support my husband's mother and spend the way we'd hoped on experiences (like travel, hobbies, etc).
2. If we managed to keep working (part-time or full-time) after my salary continuation runs out and earn enough to leave our retirement assets alone for 5 years, and leave our pensions alone until normal retirement age (65 for employer pensions, 67 for government pensions), we would have almost 2x the annual income in scenario 2 above. But that still wouldn't fully fund the life we were hoping to have.
3. I could seek out a similar role, although the odds are I won't be paid nearly as much. And I think I'd probably have to work a lot harder than I've worked for the past couple of years. There would be a lot less time for my hobby/volunteer work. Not to mention the fact that I'd end up spending a lot of this prime time (at age 52) hunting for a job instead of enjoying being paid to not work. But I do like my day job career, so this wouldn't be a complete hardship. Maybe it would be worth it for a few more years.
I really don't know what to do. There is a part of me that just says - "Go for it! Go help make the world a better place, and pursue your passions." It would be great to spend more time with my husband and our families, and he's also got passions (writing) he'd like to pursue.
But I have NEVER been frugal (although my husband has been frugal, and has good habits). His only weak point is that he craves space - I could live in a shoebox, but he wants a detached home with 3+ bedrooms.
So, I suppose I'd like to hear in particular from the formerly non-frugal who have managed the transition to "moderate spenders".
And a more particular question I have is whether anyone has suggestions for resources that help us navigate the US/Canada assets issue.
Last edited: