RIF'd and FIRE'd

[txtig]

At long last, after being steadily employed since I was 14 years old, my last day of w@*k was four days ago. When I first posted to this forum three years ago, I was shooting to retire in the summer of 2017. Last year, I decided to move it up to the summer of 2016, and I was able to stick to that plan.

About six months ago, I was talking to my boss and he casually asked what my thoughts were on retirement. I paused a few seconds trying to figure out if I should tell him the truth. I decided to be up front about it and told him what I was thinking. He then told me to let him know before I made any decision and he might be able to lay me off. My Megacorp has been downsizing for a couple of years, with accompanying severance packages. Well, several weeks ago, I let him know I would be interested in volunteering for a layoff if it was available. I had about a week of anxious waiting, but he finally comes in and tells me that HR had approved his request to RIF me. Getting a package was icing on the cake.

So, I'm now ready to embark on this next phase of my life. So far, it just feels weird to me . . . not getting up early to trudge into the office, and knowing that I won't ever be doing that again. Weird, but awesome. DW retired in May of this year, so we're making our plans for what we want to do for the next couple of years. Planning on some extended travel and spending time with the grandkids. I feel blessed.



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[RobbieB]

That's sweet! I guess not all Megacorps are evil eh?

Good for you, welcome to the club!

 

[Dawg52]

Congrats. Life is good in retirement land.

 

[Koolau]

That's sweet! I guess not all Megacorps are evil eh?

Good for you, welcome to the club!

Nah! They're all evil! But apparently, not all bosses are evil.

I missed a generous buy-out by about 16 months, but don't think I would (could) have waited even had I known. At some point, how much is a year and a half of your life worth once you are already FI? YMMV

 

[pb4uski]

Take that boss and his DW out for a nice dinner!

 

[Al in Ohio]

That is great. Good for you. Wish we all could go out that way!


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[MBAustin]

Great news, txtig! Enjoy your freedom, you've earned it!

 

[martyp]

I sooooo much wanted to be RIF'd. I would have been eligible for up to 6 months salary. It wasn't in the cards though.

 

[harley]

Sweet! That's how I went out too, although I had to fight a bit to get the RIF. But getting it was a nice financial bonus, as well as making me eligible for retiree medical coverage a year early. Congratulations on a smooth exit. It does take a little while to get used to the new life, but after 10 years of it I'm here to tell you it's one of the best decisions you'll ever make. Good luck going forward with your life.

 

[Happyrick]

Congrats! Hopefully your eligible for unemployment also, you should look into it. Each state is different but yes in many cases you can draw it and receive a package at the same time.

 

[Nodak]

Congratulations!

 

[2Pizzas]

Great move. I think I would play up the "I was fired" aspect to those that didn't know the truth just to gage their reactions.

 

[txtig]

Congrats! Hopefully your eligible for unemployment also, you should look into it. Each state is different but yes in many cases you can draw it and receive a package at the same time.

I plan to look into this. But, I think I need to wait until I get my final settlement check from Megacorp.


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[txtig]

Great move. I think I would play up the "I was fired" aspect to those that didn't know the truth just to gage their reactions.

Great idea. May be good for some grins. But, I don't know if I could pull it off with a straight face!!


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[highlow65]

Congrats, great boss

 

[nuke_diver]

Always great when it works out in your favour.

I ended up with something similar and effectively got 3 more months pay than I was planning even though I stopped working 3 months earlier than planned...so a 6 month retirement bonus

 

[Texas Proud]

Some of the people who are saying the boss is 'great' might not know how the corp budget works...

At my mega, if someone quit, that did not give the boss a reduction... he had to RIF someone to get credit... so he might have wanted the OP to stick around long enough so he could RIF him abd get credit for being the bad guy to the upper mgmt.... sorry to say, but that is how it worked where I was....


I was always amazed that they would get rid of positions and then have to make 'investments' for 'other work' and hire someone else... the only good thing is that for most of the people they were able to move to a different dept and be that 'investment'....

I moved 8 times in 15 years... but got hit with the last RIF as they had moved most of the good jobs out of Texas and I did not want to move... now, most of those moves were not RIFs, but them asking me to go do something that they knew I could do.... but the last two were RIFs....

 

[dixonge]

Go out with a bang! Awesome, congrats. Now get busy doing nothing! (Well, you know what I mean)

 

[highlow65]

Some of the people who are saying the boss is 'great' might not know how the corp budget works...

At my mega, if someone quit, that did not give the boss a reduction... he had to RIF someone to get credit... so he might have wanted the OP to stick around long enough so he could RIF him abd get credit for being the bad guy to the upper mgmt.... sorry to say, but that is how it worked where I was....


I was always amazed that they would get rid of positions and then have to make 'investments' for 'other work' and hire someone else... the only good thing is that for most of the people they were able to move to a different dept and be that 'investment'....

I moved 8 times in 15 years... but got hit with the last RIF as they had moved most of the good jobs out of Texas and I did not want to move... now, most of those moves were not RIFs, but them asking me to go do something that they knew I could do.... but the last two were RIFs....

Your right in my case. I own a small business and would never want to work for a megacorp, or anyone else for that matter. But in this case at least it was win win.