Quit and retire or stay?

Non-investing personal finance issues including insurance, credit, real estate, taxes, employment and legal issues such as trusts and wills.
CaptainT
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Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2022 7:20 am

Re: Quit and retire or stay?

Post by CaptainT »

Quit! Take the summer off with your teens.
In the fall focus on figuring out what you want to do to add meaning and structure to your time. That might be work that might be volunteering that might be start a company or a charity or expand your landlord buisness. You will need structure and activities but take the summer off and then focus on what productive use of your time makes you fufilled
slyfox1357
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Location: San Diego

Re: Quit and retire or stay?

Post by slyfox1357 »

Been in my share of dysfunctional toxic IT departments. Usually, they are a part of broader toxic companies. People come and go, culture never changes.

Don't let the moving around of a few pieces and a few conversations fool you into thinking things will change. They won't.

Retire and enjoy your life, free of not just working in an unending toxic environment but also taking on the unnecessary challenge of trying to be change agent in an untenable, static situation.

Free yourself of all that nonsense, don't lean into it and make it worse.
SurferLife
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Re: Quit and retire or stay?

Post by SurferLife »

We are in a nearly identical situation. We have decided to retire and pursue a large-scale gardening future known as homesteading, perhaps even breaking into the farming category. I can't imagine you will regret the decision to retire, but I think sacrificing another year or more of time with your kids for a job you don't like will likely have some regret attached to it. That's the other reason we have chosen to retire next year, to give our kids more of our time while we can still have a big influence on their life. Lastly, doing things like gardening provide much needed physical exercise for me, and I owe it to my family to do what I can to live as long as possible. I am currently not exercising while working, and so retiring and gardening is a sort of forced exercise program which no doubt will make my life better in every way.
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JustHappen
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Re: Quit and retire or stay?

Post by JustHappen »

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Last edited by JustHappen on Mon Sep 12, 2022 8:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Wannaretireearly
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Re: Quit and retire or stay?

Post by Wannaretireearly »

Amy2017 wrote: Wed May 25, 2022 5:46 pm Gardening is my new passion as well. I have spent many evening gardening at my backyard for the last two years. When my neighbors or even their guests come to see my backyard because they want to know what I plant that look so beautiful, I am always so proud of myself. One of the main reasons I choose to continue working for now is because of my kids. I could tell both of them feel relived when I told them I plan to continue working. In addition to the security the job provides, they are afraid I may become a helicopter mom if I have too much spare time. But I will quit if the work becomes stressful again. This time I will have everything already prepared, including personal and work documents separated and calendar synced, etc. I could pull the trigger any time. Thanks a lot for all the wonderful advice and support here.
Ha, helicopter parent and kids fear of, sounds familiar.
Happy gardening. I’ve got to water my chilli plants 🪴
You are very , very well prepared financially to not work!
“At some point you are trading time you will never get back for money you will never spend.“ | “How do you want to spend the best remaining year of your life?“
HENRYGRUGER
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Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2020 11:32 pm

Re: Quit and retire or stay?

Post by HENRYGRUGER »

Amy2017 wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 7:09 pm I have been thinking about quitting my job after working for the same company for almost 19 years. I have confirmed with HR that there is no difference in benefit between retiring and resigning in our company. So I drafted a resignation letter the other day. Still some lingering fear prevents me from pulling the trigger.

Here is my current financial status - 51 years old widow with two teenage kids
401K: 1.35 million in 3-fund portfolios
Roth IRA: 480K in 3-fund portfolios
529: 250K
HSA: 19K
I Saving Bond + CD: 76K
Cash: 320K
Rentals: Close to $4 million worth with gross yearly rent $210K. Net profit between $140K and $150K. No mortgage. Manage them myself. (Rental properties were bought during housing crisis for total over $1 million initially.)
Primary residence: 800K. No mortgage.
Other income: Yearly Social Security Survivor Benefit for kids, total $46K until they are 18 years old
Salary: $130K
Total assets (excluding primary residence): 6.4 million with no debt and no mortgage.

Living Expense: $170K, including Roth contribution$7K, 401K contribution $26K, 529 contribution $30K, nanny salary $20K


Based on the numbers above, I think my family could keep our current living standard without my salary, which is a little over $130K. However, here are my thoughts.

When I first joined IT department of the company, which is a mid-sized public company, I was very excited and motivated. The career path has many ups and downs, which I have endured and preserved. Due to various reasons, the employee, especially developer, turnover rate in our team has been very high even before the pandemic. Almost all employees hired so far are in manager positions, such as project managers, directors, BAs, so we have many more people managing than working. When something does not go well, since I am usually the only one actually doing the work, most of the time it is me taking the blame without much support from the clueless director, who was newly hired in November by the new CIO. To compensate for lacking internal resources, contractors are hired to rescue, who seem only care about money, not quality of work. Because the managers have no clue what those contractors work on, they then hire more contractors to oversight current contractors. It is a total mess! Another challenge is that in order to keep up with current IT technology, there is constant learning. I have been thinking about maybe getting another certificate, but then ask myself what is the point to force myself to learn when I may already have enough to not work any more.

With that being said, what keep me stay is the benefit, paycheck, and working at home. We have been working at home for almost 2 years since the pandemic started. I could definitely say I don’t miss the social connection at work and never do. We could theoretically take vacation at any time with no limit. But this does not work well because you will just have more work when you come back. If I don’t work, I am also afraid I may set a bad example for my kids, who will think they don’t need to study hard when they have enough money.

Since working at home, I have taken an interest in gardening. Last year I hired a landscape company to completely redesign our backyard. Nowadays whenever I have time, I am eager to work on various projects at the backyard. I envision this will be my retirement life if I do resign. I used to read investment forums intensively. But only once a while now since most of my investments are on autopilot. I also enjoy travelling. But with both kids still in school, we could only take vacation during school break.

Maybe due to my age or reaching FI or the toxic working environment or burnout or all of above, I almost lost temper more than once during last couple of weeks. My original plan was waiting until either my younger kid goes to college or I get laid off, whichever comes first. But these days whenever I receive another email complaining why some task is still not complete or asking about project status, I immediately feel so annoyed that I literally want to quit. I have not discussed the retirement plan with my kids yet. But they know I have been very frustrated lately. I am not really looking for another job. So either quit and retire or stay. I really appreciate some feedback or reassurance on my conflict thoughts.
Amy:

There is an old expression, "When you have won the game, get up from the table."

With the financial where with all you current possess, working is no longer a requirement. Your rental income and other holdings provide more than adequate income. You should seriously consider submitting your notice. In addition, if your moral compass tells you to send a note to your CEO and thank him for what he did your your when your husband passed, do it.

If you find that you retired prematurely, you always have the option of coming back into the workforce...in your old field or in another one...of your choosing.

If you have already made your decision, somewhere else in this long thread, God Bless You and your kids and I wish you a long and happy life.
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JustHappen
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Re: Quit and retire or stay?

Post by JustHappen »

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colddeadfish
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Re: Quit and retire or stay?

Post by colddeadfish »

Truth
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AnnetteLouisan
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Re: Quit and retire or stay?

Post by AnnetteLouisan »

Can you ask for a six month sabbatical?
Keenobserver
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Re: Quit and retire or stay?

Post by Keenobserver »

Absolutely no reason why anyone would stay a second where they are not very happy with those assests/ portfolio. Life is short and you are not getting any younger.
Topic Author
JustHappen
Posts: 211
Joined: Wed Oct 11, 2017 12:02 pm

Re: Quit and retire or stay?

Post by JustHappen »

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Greentree
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Re: Quit and retire or stay?

Post by Greentree »

I imagine that you are a very good employee. My opinion is that you are complicating the decision with incorporating your relationships with the company. It sounds like the relationship with the CEO is beyond work and is personal, which is great. You don't owe the company anything because of that. You've put in good work and proven to be a value.

Whether you can retire or not is based on what you want. A person like your CEO who is reasonable and a good person, will understand your decision and support you. They should not expect you to continue to work, against your desire, because they help you personally.

Think about what you want and make your decision based on that. Good luck!

Edited to say: if you want to negotiate to stay, name the terms that would make you stay. You don't have to feel like they are reasonable. You don't have to consider how much money they have, etc. It may be doubling of your salary for 6 months. You can kindly state that you are not trying to be unreasonable, but this is what it would take for you to stay. It will be an offer that, if accepted, you'll be happy to stay and make a good chunk, and if not, you'll be happy to retire. Don't sell yourself short, and you won't be burning a bridge by negotiating.
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AnnetteLouisan
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Re: Quit and retire or stay?

Post by AnnetteLouisan »

1. If you tell him the project will likely fail, it begs the question how long you knew this and why you didn’t say something sooner. Your corporate colleagues can accuse you of having hidden something, or at worst, sabotage.

2. If you are perceived as being critical to the project and you leave, you could be blamed for why the project failed. (“this was an excellent project but she left us in the lurch after we poured all that money into it so it failed.”)

Either way, you lose. Right?

Honesty is absolutely the best policy but there is such thing as too much information. I loved the Man in the Grey Flannel Suit, whose lesson was that truth is right and noble even when difficult - very true. Absolute candor in the corporate context is great when you look like a young Gregory Peck and your boss is a Hollywood actor with no actual legal department. But corporations like to deflect blame and find scapegoats, especially when high profile projects fail, so I wouldn’t provide extra reasons to find you at fault or expect that candor will get you a big promotion like it did Gregory Peck.

If you know a way to salvage the project, by all means say so. Moreover, they may have other goals for that project of which you are unaware, like publicity or the sale of the company.

That’s why so many people leave saying they want to spend more time with their families. In your case it has the benefit of being true. It’s also a reason that is understandable to your CFO and others without disadvantaging you or exposing you to additional risk, like clawback of your pension or tarnishing of your reputation.

Bottom line: If you tell your boss you have no faith in the project and that it is likely to fail, you put him in a very awkward position since he will have to tell others and then you have issues 1 and 2 above.
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JustHappen
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Re: Quit and retire or stay?

Post by JustHappen »

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randybobandy
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Re: Quit and retire or stay?

Post by randybobandy »

If you retire I don't see a reason to care what the CFO thinks. You should do what will make you the most happy.

-RbB
Grammar and spelling matter. | Quoting the OP isn't a necessity.
NextMil
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Re: Quit and retire or stay?

Post by NextMil »

What do you want to do?

It really doesn’t matter what we think. All that matters is what you think. Do you have the money? Absolutely.

But what will make you happy? Do you get pride from working? Would puttering around the garden make you happy? We have no clue, only you know what is in your heart.

I didn’t read all the posts, but if someone hasn’t said it already. Well done, sir. Well done.
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tyrion
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Re: Quit and retire or stay?

Post by tyrion »

It sounds like you are in a financial situation where you don't need to work. But it also sounds like derive other benefits from work that aren't as easy to quantify. Something to do with your time, a way to interact with others (at a distance), feeling valued for your contributions, etc.

I'm the same age, work in a similar career (also from home) and while I don't have your financial resources I'm in a situation where I could possibly retire and could certainly take a few years off or switch careers.

If I was in your shoes I would come up with a set of criteria that would keep me at the job. And if you can't come up with those criteria then maybe they don't exist and you should decline any additional offers for you to stay on.

But perhaps you would stay for X months at part time if they provide you a salary increase, one or more peers to train and transition work to, and a break from bureaucratic busy work? That's always how I've hoped my career will end - fading away while offloading all of my work tasks. But if it ends abruptly then the company will soldier on and figure out how to do without my contributions. And that's okay too.

Best of luck to you.
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