Were your last few career years a slog?

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investingdad
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Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by investingdad »

Would be interested to hear from folks that slogged through the last few years before retiring.

I’m in a bit of a tricky spot. At the moment, we’re both 48 and have just a tiny bit over 30x expenses. We could get expenses down if we wanted to but our lifestyle is pretty nicely balanced right now.

My wife earns more than double what I do and her career continues to be upwardly mobile (awesome!) with high visibility to executive leadership. I’m an engineer in an individual contributor role, and a role that is very thankless at that. No need for details, but my colleagues in our group all agree. We are specialized and our role is not transferable.

I elected to stay in this role beyond the point where I can easily move in the org, primarily because it offered flexibility around our kids schedules and extracurricular stuff. Zero regrets about that. Both are now in high school.

Based on my forecast, I think three years puts us easily over the finish line. My wife may work longer as she enjoys what she’s doing.

I, however, am fed up. Working from home the last 16 months has been great and kept me enthusiastic. However, the VP of our mega Corp decided everyone has to be back in the office, period. I’m 40 minutes away which means almost an hour and a half of non productive time per day.

I can manage three more years but it’s going to be a slog. The hardest part will be the grin and bear it attitude while months of work is discounted in a few sentences by leadership because it’s not the answer they wanted.

If we were at 40x, I’d be done now. But we’re not quite there.

Any similar experiences from folks that may be able to commiserate? I know, I know be grateful, first world problem…I get it. But I still want to vent and this is a good place.
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Beachey
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by Beachey »

There are a lot of jobs out there right now that are offering work from home. My suggestion would be to polish up your resume and apply to something that interests you. You have to have transferable skills. If nothing else will give you perspective on your present situation. My commute is not as long as yours but the pandemic has made it very apparent how wasteful that time is.
jebmke
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by jebmke »

Best years of my career; worked hard but most rewarding and interesting.
Don't trust me, look it up. https://www.irs.gov/forms-instructions-and-publications
yoga
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by yoga »

Does your wife mind if you quit?
smitcat
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by smitcat »

At one point in a similar situation we started our own business - wish we really had done that much earlier on.
Normchad
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by Normchad »

The past three years have been a slog for me. I’m not sure how much longer I’ll work, but I expect those will be a slog as well.

Best of luck to you. You can definitely COASTFire at this point if you wanted too. Keeping in doing what you’re doing is probably easiest though.
brianH
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by brianH »

Beachey wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:52 am My suggestion would be to polish up your resume and apply to something that interests you.
This what I would do, regardless of your age or expected retirement date. The fact that you are FI just seals the deal.

Try to find a job that meets your requirements, even if it pays a little less.
PowderDay9
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by PowderDay9 »

Apply to some work from home jobs. If you get one, then tell your VP that you are leaving because of his/her draconian office policy. Leaders that take extreme positions on WFH and don't allow any flexibility need to pay with loss of talent.
Last edited by PowderDay9 on Sun Aug 01, 2021 1:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
SQRT
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by SQRT »

Yes, they were. I reached FI by about age 50 and by 53 I was really getting tired of working. Took me 3 more years to plan my exit and train my successor. I’ve been retired for about 15 years now, and my only regret is my attitude that last 3 years of working. Would have been better to leave on a high note.
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climber2020
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by climber2020 »

investingdad wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:38 am If we were at 40x, I’d be done now. But we’re not quite there.
Why do you need 40x expenses? That may be a reasonable debate for a 30 year old looking to stop working, but you're almost 50, and if you're lucky, have maybe 10 to 20 good years left before your body irreversibly breaks down.
Ependytis
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by Ependytis »

I’m in the last 16 months of my career. I’ve enjoyed this time more than any period of my career. The reason is I can’t be fired in terms of my attitude because I have more than 60 times my annual spending. If I do if I do get fired, oh well. I work from home virtually so that has made a huge difference. I don’t have people constantly calling me or visiting my office so I can focus and I can leave to play pickle ball or run an errand whenever I want. If I was in your situation, I would probably take off a couple hours here and there to make it more bearable. Anyways congratulations and good luck.

At 48, I think I would put more time in to have a bigger multiple. You never know what the future holds. For example, someone mentioned in another thread, the white elephant is divorce. You don’t want to be 50 something, and have to go back to work after being off for years.
Wannaretireearly
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by Wannaretireearly »

I can also see this happening to me.
My tolerance for bs is waning fast. I do try to tell myself only I can control my attitude and happiness each day.

I'm younger than you and have at least 5 to 8 years to go.
I've got to somehow make them good/happy years at work. E.g. I've wondered when the right time is to tell the boss i no longer want to chase promotions/more work.

On the financial side, how padded is your X number?
Perhaps you're good to retire now.
“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?“
MathWizard
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by MathWizard »

Yes.

The president and the VP above me changed about 3 years ago.
My clients like me, my staff likes me, but the VP and people that she has brought
in are making it a slog. Prior to this VP, all my bosses were very complimentary.

Since the VP came in, the other groups under her are bleeding money, our is
the only group increasing the money coming in. I've offered low cost alternatives
to the other groups to staunch the bleeding, and offered assistance to implement them
only to be rebuffed.

Being in IT, at my age, going to another employer is problematic, so I am
setting myself up to retire.
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quantAndHold
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by quantAndHold »

30x is “enough” by most any measure. Do you have a specific reason why you want 40x? Anyway, if your wife is going to continue working, and I’m guessing you will continue building on that 30x, just at a slower rate.

Yes, the last few years was a slog. I ended up leaving earlier than planned, with about 30x at the time (it’s more now, because the market has gone up faster than we can spend it). Best decision I could have made. Mental and physical health improved immensely. I looked at finding another job, but I was just so much happier not working.
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Watty
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by Watty »

investingdad wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:38 am Any similar experiences from folks that may be able to commiserate?
I retired out of corporate IT when I was 58. I was a "techie" and did not have the right personality to go into management, which was fine with me since I enjoyed the hands on work and was always well paid even if I did not earn an executive salary.

In one form or another I had been doing similar work for 35 years since I graduated from college. Along with all the normal job frustrations the work was interesting enough at times but after I had been doing it for over 20 years it was not exciting just because I had done so many similar things before.

For at least the last ten years I just sort of considered it to be a job sort of like the guy at the grocery store who bags your groceries. Lots(most ?) of people have jobs like that where they just sort of do their work and then go about their day. I still was productive and did my work so I was not coasting but I focused more on my life outside work.

I had good contacts in my field and could have found a similar job with a different company but it would have been pretty much the same as long as I was doing a similar job so I stayed where I was at since it had some good points and I knew what to expect.

It was the career that was getting old as much as the particular company I was working for.
investingdad wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:38 am My wife earns more than double what I do and her career continues to be upwardly mobile (awesome!) with high visibility to executive leadership.....
......
kids ...... Both are now in high school.
Be sure to look at what you clear after taxes. If you stopped working your family after tax income would not be reduced by 33% because a lot of your income is just going to pay for taxes.

If you became a stay at home parent while your wife worked then that might not really delay hitting your target retirement numbers by very much. Perhaps instead of three years I would guess that it might be something like 3.5 years.

People usually talk about the advantages of having a stay at home parent when their kids are young but once kids get into high school they can run into more serious problems with things like sex and drugs if they have too much totally unsupervised time. Even being around just to make sure they stay focused on their schoolwork could be important. They may not talk about it much but the pandemic has been really hard on some teenagers too so they might be able to use some extra TLC to help them get through this.

This is also about the last chance you will have to really get to know your kids as young adults before they head off to college or whatever they do. If you have to start doing the long commute then that is a lot of time that you will not be able to see your kids.

If your wife agrees then being a stay at home dad for a few years could have a lot of advantages.
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investingdad
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by investingdad »

My wife is very conservative and though she has an actual financial background, she remains skeptical about having enough. She is just as close to our portfolio as I am so it’s not like she isn’t in the loop. I’ve certainly spent a lot of time thinking about this whereas she hasn’t.

I’d like to get to 40x as we have two kids’ college costs we intend to cover. And 40 feels more comfortable. Granted, I’m not accounting for SS which will come into the mix down the road.

There’s a psychological component here as well. After 25 years of trying to stay relevant and remain important and employed, it’s hard to just switch that off.
MarkRoulo
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by MarkRoulo »

investingdad wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:38 am Would be interested to hear from folks that slogged through the last few years before retiring.

I’m in a bit of a tricky spot. At the moment, we’re both 48 and have just a tiny bit over 30x expenses. We could get expenses down if we wanted to but our lifestyle is pretty nicely balanced right now.

...
I’m an engineer in an individual contributor role, and a role that is very thankless at that. No need for details, but my colleagues in our group all agree. We are specialized and our role is not transferable.

I elected to stay in this role beyond the point where I can easily move in the org, primarily because it offered flexibility around our kids schedules and extracurricular stuff. Zero regrets about that. Both are now in high school.

...

I, however, am fed up. Working from home the last 16 months has been great and kept me enthusiastic. However, the VP of our mega Corp decided everyone has to be back in the office, period. I’m 40 minutes away which means almost an hour and a half of non productive time per day.

I can manage three more years but it’s going to be a slog. The hardest part will be the grin and bear it attitude while months of work is discounted in a few sentences by leadership because it’s not the answer they wanted.

If we were at 40x, I’d be done now. But we’re not quite there.

Any similar experiences from folks that may be able to commiserate? I know, I know be grateful, first world problem…I get it. But I still want to vent and this is a good place.
I've been where you are, though the details differed.

Two (maybe) key differences:
  • I've been working for my current boss off-and-on for 20+ years. Mostly on. We get along well.
  • I'm still an individual contributor, but a well thought of, highly visible individual contributor
So ... the job became a slog, I tried waiting it out (often things just go in waves and after getting bad they get good again) and when things didn't get better and I didn't see how they COULD get better I told my boss I was going to quit and he should start planning for this.

Again, I have a good relationship with my boss, so I wasn't worried about being let go immediately or any other sort of retaliation.

He counter-offered with part-time, mostly out of the office (this was pre-COVID). My wife wanted this so I agreed to try it.

And ... it has worked out very well.

Even the grindy stuff is much easier to tolerate when it is only 20 hours a week rather than 40.

Additionally: There is corporate (or divisional) policy and then there is what actually happens. I have no idea what my company's pre-covid work-from-home policy is/was. I didn't really care. My boss was okay with it, so ... fine!

Depending on your relationship with your boss (not the VP, I hope), I'll toss out four suggestions:
  • Forgetting about the overall policy, can YOU work from home? Or maybe come in once a week for face-to-face meetings and work from home the other four days? I am NOT suggesting asking the higher-ups. Just ask your boss if he is okay with this and if so then do it! If folks higher up care enough to make a big deal about it, they'll let your boss know and then you can decide what to do. But often this just isn't worth the trouble, so if your boss is okay with it and you do it then no one will care enough to try to stop it.
  • Depending on the "work from home" answer for you, can you go part-time? A horrible commute three days a week and four-day weekends is very different from a horrible commute five days a week and two day weekends.
  • Shop your resume around. It doesn't cost much and you might find something. Often just looking makes you feel better.
  • Is there anything you can do to make the job more pleasant (not much is going to compensate for 90 minutes of commute, I agree)? If so, maybe try doing this? Again, don't ASK, just do ii! Your boss will let you know if he/she doesn't want you doing the thing to make the job more interesting/tolerable.
tibbitts
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by tibbitts »

investingdad wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:38 am Based on my forecast, I think three years puts us easily over the finish line. My wife may work longer as she enjoys what she’s doing.

I, however, am fed up. Working from home the last 16 months has been great and kept me enthusiastic. However, the VP of our mega Corp decided everyone has to be back in the office, period. I’m 40 minutes away which means almost an hour and a half of non productive time per day.
If you continue working, what will you do in three years if, for example, equities are 30% lower than today? What does that do to your 40x?

I was only about 17mi from my employer's office, but at typical commuting hours the trip averaged roughly 40min each way due to traffic(with frequent accidents adding even more time.) I'd say that 40min in traffic is draining, while 40min on a clear highway, less so. You should probably say which applies to you, since things like shifting hours can help with traffic, but not with distance. It sounds like you have a job similar to mine where you had some flexibility, but not regular work-from-home (pre-pandemic, that is.) I retired just before the pandemic, but work-from-home would have been a mixed bag for me, and for the type of work I was doing toward the end of my career (vs. a few years before), probably less productive for my employer. My former employer isn't doing work-from-home post-pandemic, but I'm sure still provides some flexibility for unusual circumstances.
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by supersharpie »

climber2020 wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 9:53 am
investingdad wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:38 am If we were at 40x, I’d be done now. But we’re not quite there.
Why do you need 40x expenses? That may be a reasonable debate for a 30 year old looking to stop working, but you're almost 50, and if you're lucky, have maybe 10 to 20 good years left before your body irreversibly breaks down.
I think that's a bit of an exaggeration. Plenty of people have a number of "good years" into their 70s and sometimes even 80s.
jebmke
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by jebmke »

supersharpie wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 11:45 am I think that's a bit of an exaggeration. Plenty of people have a number of "good years" into their 70s and sometimes even 80s.
A former colleague of mine just turned 95. He is still writing books and plans to go back to Paris later this summer on his annual trip (disrupted last year).

I had a taxpayer stroll into one of my TaxAide sites a couple of years ago. She sat down and said: "I just turned 100 this week - shouldn't I not have to pay taxes once I am 100" and then she winked at me and we started her return. She did say she was irritated at her great grand niece who didn't want her to drive up to the center where we were doing taxes so it appears she does have some limitations.

edit: also, some people want to leave a legacy (charity, heirs) so their x-expenses may not accurately reflect their plans since the residual wouldn't find its way into expenses.
Last edited by jebmke on Sun Aug 01, 2021 11:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
Don't trust me, look it up. https://www.irs.gov/forms-instructions-and-publications
supersharpie
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by supersharpie »

jebmke wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 11:50 am
supersharpie wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 11:45 am I think that's a bit of an exaggeration. Plenty of people have a number of "good years" into their 70s and sometimes even 80s.
A former colleague of mine just turned 95. He is still writing books and plans to go back to Paris later this summer on his annual trip (disrupted last year).

I had a taxpayer stroll into one of my TaxAide sites a couple of years ago. She sat down and said: "I just turned 100 this week - shouldn't I not have to pay taxes once I am 100" and then she winked at me and we started her return. She did say she was irritated at her great grand niece who didn't want her to drive up to the center where we were doing taxes so it appears she does have some limitations.
Yeah. I was really suprised by the poster's sentiment about aging. Nearly all of my relatives in their 70s are still going strong.
jebmke
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by jebmke »

^ and that was 10-20 good years after attaining age 50 :shock:

I'm 68 - two years left. :?

it was nice knowing y'all
Don't trust me, look it up. https://www.irs.gov/forms-instructions-and-publications
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The Man with the Axe
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by The Man with the Axe »

investingdad wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:38 am
My wife earns more than double what I do . . .
Your work accounts for less than 1/3 of your family's annual income.

Your family is not entirely dependent on your earnings. That is a real luxury. Your wife's success should empower you to take some risk. If you really dislike your job, you should look for something else to do (or negotiate a different relationship with your employer). BTW: Thank your wife for making that possible.
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by qwertyjazz »

investingdad wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 10:59 am My wife is very conservative and though she has an actual financial background, she remains skeptical about having enough. She is just as close to our portfolio as I am so it’s not like she isn’t in the loop. I’ve certainly spent a lot of time thinking about this whereas she hasn’t.

I’d like to get to 40x as we have two kids’ college costs we intend to cover. And 40 feels more comfortable. Granted, I’m not accounting for SS which will come into the mix down the road.

There’s a psychological component here as well. After 25 years of trying to stay relevant and remain important and employed, it’s hard to just switch that off.
Maybe think more CoastFi for your income at least - how much can your income decrease and you still overall increase your savings given your wife’s job? Maybe look for a downgrade job at home
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The Man with the Axe
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by The Man with the Axe »

investingdad wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 10:59 am
Granted, I’m not accounting for SS which will come into the mix down the road.
Consider setting up your accounts at ssa.gov and identifying what the expected SS benefits are for you and your wife. This forum has a link to an excellent SS benefits calculator, here: https://www.bogleheads.org/blog/portfol ... alculator/ You can use that calculator to adjust your expected benefit numbers for various factors, including early retirement.

Next: Plug your projected SS benefits numbers into the Other Income/Spending tab in Firecalc.

If your current long-term planning is premised on never receiving any SS benefits, you are probably taking a hyper-conservative approach to your planning. Adding your estimated SS benefits to the analysis could really move the needle for you (in particular if you and your spouse have long work histories).
l8_apex
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by l8_apex »

Yes. I actually quit as I was fed up with my boss. A couple of months later the company president asked if I'd come back. I agreed, but worked 3 d/w. That worked for about a year at which point it seemed that they had their people vs workload mostly under control. That was reason enough for me to say I'm done.

All of this happened with a very modest nest egg, but I was really sick of the stare-at-a-computer screen slog.
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climber2020
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by climber2020 »

supersharpie wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 11:45 am
climber2020 wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 9:53 am
investingdad wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:38 am If we were at 40x, I’d be done now. But we’re not quite there.
Why do you need 40x expenses? That may be a reasonable debate for a 30 year old looking to stop working, but you're almost 50, and if you're lucky, have maybe 10 to 20 good years left before your body irreversibly breaks down.
I think that's a bit of an exaggeration. Plenty of people have a number of "good years" into their 70s and sometimes even 80s.
Many certainly do. And others get cancer and die in their 40s. It's a gamble.

In any case, I'm of the opinion that maximizing the early good years should be a priority; regardless of how old you are, your healthiest remaining years are likely to be the ones right now. I'm barely in my 40s and in good physical shape, but there's no question that I'm not as sturdy as I was when I was 25. If I had 30x expenses and didn't enjoy my job, I'd be out.
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ClevrChico
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by ClevrChico »

PowderDay9 wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 8:34 am Apply to some work from home jobs. If you get one, then tell your VP that you are leaving because of his/her draconian office policy. Leaders that take extreme positions on WFH and don't allow any flexible need to pay with loss of talent.
This, 100%. Find another job, one that offers permanent wfh.
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Picasso
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by Picasso »

PowderDay9 wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 8:34 am Apply to some work from home jobs. If you get one, then tell your VP that you are leaving because of his/her draconian office policy. Leaders that take extreme positions on WFH and don't allow any flexible need to pay with loss of talent.
100% agree. The old style “butts in seats” attitude to do the same thing you can do from home absolutely screams control, distrust, and disenfranchisement.

I jumped from such a company for fully remote promotion at ~35% comp increase. The job market is hot.
Financologist
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by Financologist »

Try this: Give it your all at work and take crap from nobody. If they don't like this version of you let them pay you severance.

Option 2: 30x + your wife's prospects = high likelihood of financial success. Quit, take a break and keep your options open.
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flyingaway
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by flyingaway »

If it were me, I would just retire. Your wife likes her work and makes much more money. She will be able to increase your multiplier.
RJC
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by RJC »

OP,

In a similar situation as you but still have 15 years to go until the pension kicks in. Luckily my job isn't horrible but not sure I will be able to make it that long. Spouse is killing it and enjoys the work. At 25x expenses already (not including pension)...

Best of luck!
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investingdad
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by investingdad »

Picasso wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 1:07 pm
PowderDay9 wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 8:34 am Apply to some work from home jobs. If you get one, then tell your VP that you are leaving because of his/her draconian office policy. Leaders that take extreme positions on WFH and don't allow any flexible need to pay with loss of talent.
100% agree. The old style “butts in seats” attitude to do the same thing you can do from home absolutely screams control, distrust, and disenfranchisement.

I jumped from such a company for fully remote promotion at ~35% comp increase. The job market is hot.
Your adjectives 100% describe the VP in question. There are other adjectives but I won’t list them.

Honestly, part of the issue is my long term manager took a lateral move with a promotion. She was a great engineer and manager who gave the team 100% flexibility. Objectives being met? Cool, no need to share details about leaving early, working remote, whatever…just do it. And she went to bat for the team, because all of us are senior engineers.

New manager means well but came from outside. He has no pull and isn’t prepared to challenge leadership. Falls in line way too easily.

That loss of trust is a major downer.
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by ZWorkLess »

I'd think hard about whether maybe you should stop slogging. Talk to your spouse. Look at the numbers. Think of all the ways you quitting work now could make the next few/many years of your wife's working easier. What could having you available FT and happily NOT slogging change for your family?

I think our culture devalues the many benefits of having one spouse not working for pay. Think about it. Retire now if your spouse feels good about it. #stopslogging
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investingdad
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by investingdad »

Thanks for the thoughtful replies, everyone.

At this point, no reason to take action until end of the calendar year. Bonus is paid in December and I have several weeks of vacation to use.

I figured I’m not the only one in this sort of position so appreciate the input.
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investingdad
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by investingdad »

I figured I’d follow up on FIREcalc results.

Social security makes a big difference, I’m just hesitant to rely on something outside my direct control.

If I use a 48 year time frame, one more year of working, bump spending by 10% over current spending, include deducts for college costs, and use 18k a year for SS (plus same for my wife), I get a 98% success rate.

Constant spending power.

No SS drops it to 87%.

I like to think I’ll make it to 96. :D

I think the answer is hang in there for 17 months, then evaluate.
fortunefavored
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by fortunefavored »

supersharpie wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 11:53 am
jebmke wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 11:50 am
supersharpie wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 11:45 am I think that's a bit of an exaggeration. Plenty of people have a number of "good years" into their 70s and sometimes even 80s.
A former colleague of mine just turned 95. He is still writing books and plans to go back to Paris later this summer on his annual trip (disrupted last year).

I had a taxpayer stroll into one of my TaxAide sites a couple of years ago. She sat down and said: "I just turned 100 this week - shouldn't I not have to pay taxes once I am 100" and then she winked at me and we started her return. She did say she was irritated at her great grand niece who didn't want her to drive up to the center where we were doing taxes so it appears she does have some limitations.
Yeah. I was really suprised by the poster's sentiment about aging. Nearly all of my relatives in their 70s are still going strong.
Zero of mine. All dead before 70, all diagnosed with something terminal in their 60s.

You can always hope to get lucky, but I sure wouldn't spend those hours in a 9 to 5 job for money I didn't need. The OP has plenty of money and a working spouse.. no need to give those years up.
Dottie57
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by Dottie57 »

The last years of work was a real slog. I liked the work but the environment was harder each year. After retiring my hysical also showed I was severely anemic so had less energy. This took se real years to cure but 3 years later am doing well.
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by Dottie57 »

fortunefavored wrote: Mon Aug 02, 2021 10:19 am
supersharpie wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 11:53 am
jebmke wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 11:50 am
supersharpie wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 11:45 am I think that's a bit of an exaggeration. Plenty of people have a number of "good years" into their 70s and sometimes even 80s.
A former colleague of mine just turned 95. He is still writing books and plans to go back to Paris later this summer on his annual trip (disrupted last year).

I had a taxpayer stroll into one of my TaxAide sites a couple of years ago. She sat down and said: "I just turned 100 this week - shouldn't I not have to pay taxes once I am 100" and then she winked at me and we started her return. She did say she was irritated at her great grand niece who didn't want her to drive up to the center where we were doing taxes so it appears she does have some limitations.
Yeah. I was really suprised by the poster's sentiment about aging. Nearly all of my relatives in their 70s are still going strong.
Zero of mine. All dead before 70, all diagnosed with something terminal in their 60s.

You can always hope to get lucky, but I sure wouldn't spend those hours in a 9 to 5 job for money I didn't need. The OP has plenty of money and a working spouse.. no need to give those years up.
My dad’s family has a massive amount of heart disease. In doing genealogy I see heart disease on most death certificates. Dad died at age 90. My mom’s cooking was much healthier than what was served where he lived. Work to stay healthy!
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JoeRetire
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by JoeRetire »

investingdad wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:38 amAny similar experiences from folks that may be able to commiserate? I know, I know be grateful, first world problem…I get it. But I still want to vent and this is a good place.
Sorry, I can't commiserate.

My final work years were not a slog at all. And then once I had an end date in mind (about a year out) it was a breeze.

But if venting makes you feel better, good on you.
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basspond
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by basspond »

It sounds like you have hit the wall. You can either hang your head and tuck your tail or you can readjust your attitude to the goal that is just up the hill. It was pretty easy for me when I concentrated on the payoff ahead.
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beyou
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by beyou »

Personally it depends on the day you ask me.

Having an end in sight is a great comfort some days, scary as hell other days.

My spouse makes much less but I am the one soon to retire due to changes I wont tolerate at my employer and
a similar situation at most of our competitors. I have had enough, but continuing to get a severance package at some point.
COVID delayed possibly, but eventually I'll get that severance and be gone. Some day I just love the lack of commuting but the projects are still projects with their stresses. Commute is coming back...depending on the delta variant :-) Commuting regularly may push me over from sometimes a slog to mostly a slog.
supersharpie
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by supersharpie »

fortunefavored wrote: Mon Aug 02, 2021 10:19 am
supersharpie wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 11:53 am
jebmke wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 11:50 am
supersharpie wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 11:45 am I think that's a bit of an exaggeration. Plenty of people have a number of "good years" into their 70s and sometimes even 80s.
A former colleague of mine just turned 95. He is still writing books and plans to go back to Paris later this summer on his annual trip (disrupted last year).

I had a taxpayer stroll into one of my TaxAide sites a couple of years ago. She sat down and said: "I just turned 100 this week - shouldn't I not have to pay taxes once I am 100" and then she winked at me and we started her return. She did say she was irritated at her great grand niece who didn't want her to drive up to the center where we were doing taxes so it appears she does have some limitations.
Yeah. I was really suprised by the poster's sentiment about aging. Nearly all of my relatives in their 70s are still going strong.
Zero of mine. All dead before 70, all diagnosed with something terminal in their 60s.

You can always hope to get lucky, but I sure wouldn't spend those hours in a 9 to 5 job for money I didn't need. The OP has plenty of money and a working spouse.. no need to give those years up.
That's awful, but definitely not the norm. I agree with you though, there is no point to continuing to work a job you dislike once you are financially set. My wife and I plan to retire in our 40s.
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Meg77
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by Meg77 »

investingdad wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:38 am I, however, am fed up. Working from home the last 16 months has been great and kept me enthusiastic. However, the VP of our mega Corp decided everyone has to be back in the office, period. I’m 40 minutes away which means almost an hour and a half of non productive time per day.
I work in financial services, another industry known for "old school" ideas and formalities, and another which has been in the news for requiring workers back to the office. But I haven't seen it. Take JP Morgan. Jamie Dimon has been adament about staff returning, but I have several friends who work there who say they haven't even had conversations with local management about a return date.

At my own firm we reopened LAST JULY over a year ago now, and we STILL don't have everyone back - and the parking lot is suspiciously empty on Fridays and probably always will be. Whole teams are getting "exceptions" to continue WFH, any employee with kids is having to and being allowed to WFH whenever their kids need care or have to be quarantined due to exposure to the virus or any other reason. People like me even without kids regularly text the boss they'll be WFH on days without meetings, and some teams have formally arranged 2 days home, 3 days in rotating schedules for people.

Long story short - don't take the bosses at their word that you have to go back. You might be very surprised how quickly they allow a permanent WFH arrangement if you politely and sincerely offer to quit/retire otherwise. My own assistant just did that very thing. Her last day the office was last week. Turns out we'd rather have her employed at home than have to fill her spot. Other lower level staff - analysts, HR reps - have negotiated similar situations. And meanwhile the top brass has been beaming into (still video) meetings from their vacation homes all over the US all summer long, so it's not like they are here to enforce attendance anymore anyway!
"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest." - Benjamin Franklin
rich126
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by rich126 »

I haven't retired yet, but likely will within 2 years. Not sure about a slog but just kind of aimless/confusing. Fortunately I've had options but in my case I think I've been having issues with trying to please too many people. When younger I just plowed forward and was a bit more selfish, clueless and maybe driven. Now I'm trying to be thoughtful of a sick relative, I'm recently married and want to think of her and her family, my own interests in work and where I want to retire, etc. And clearly you can't make everyone happy.

Most recently I'm wondering if moving 2,000 miles and starting a new job that I won't likely keep for more than 16-24 months was worth it. In many ways, the answer is an easy "no". In another way it was an easy "yes" since Sunday I got to see my father for the first time in 20 months and spent 3-4 hours helping him out. You often have to weight sacrifices vs. rewards and sometimes the rewards are for others.

Generally I've enjoyed more years of my work life than most people do. Had one terrible 2 year stretch but also had some great 10+ yr stretches. My father keeps questioning me why I want to retire at 60. I tell him I don't need a structured day to survive. I will be happy with my computer, tv, and an at home gym with some family and friends.
----------------------------- | If you think something is important and it doesn't involve the health of someone, think again. Life goes too fast, enjoy it and be nice.
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by jebmke »

fortunefavored wrote: Mon Aug 02, 2021 10:19 am
supersharpie wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 11:53 am
jebmke wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 11:50 am
supersharpie wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 11:45 am I think that's a bit of an exaggeration. Plenty of people have a number of "good years" into their 70s and sometimes even 80s.
A former colleague of mine just turned 95. He is still writing books and plans to go back to Paris later this summer on his annual trip (disrupted last year).

I had a taxpayer stroll into one of my TaxAide sites a couple of years ago. She sat down and said: "I just turned 100 this week - shouldn't I not have to pay taxes once I am 100" and then she winked at me and we started her return. She did say she was irritated at her great grand niece who didn't want her to drive up to the center where we were doing taxes so it appears she does have some limitations.
Yeah. I was really suprised by the poster's sentiment about aging. Nearly all of my relatives in their 70s are still going strong.
Zero of mine. All dead before 70, all diagnosed with something terminal in their 60s.

You can always hope to get lucky, but I sure wouldn't spend those hours in a 9 to 5 job for money I didn't need. The OP has plenty of money and a working spouse.. no need to give those years up.
Indeed. But I also made a pact with myself to try to never take a job just for the money. I was lucky in that it never came to that.
Don't trust me, look it up. https://www.irs.gov/forms-instructions-and-publications
sherwink
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by sherwink »

I quit work years ago. Management sincerely asked me to stay on when I told them I wanted to retire. I liked the people I worked with and respected them and the organization. But leaving was, in hindsight, the absolute correct choice--probably both for the organization and me. No regrets whatsoever.
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by humblecoder »

supersharpie wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 11:53 am
jebmke wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 11:50 am
supersharpie wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 11:45 am I think that's a bit of an exaggeration. Plenty of people have a number of "good years" into their 70s and sometimes even 80s.
A former colleague of mine just turned 95. He is still writing books and plans to go back to Paris later this summer on his annual trip (disrupted last year).

I had a taxpayer stroll into one of my TaxAide sites a couple of years ago. She sat down and said: "I just turned 100 this week - shouldn't I not have to pay taxes once I am 100" and then she winked at me and we started her return. She did say she was irritated at her great grand niece who didn't want her to drive up to the center where we were doing taxes so it appears she does have some limitations.
Yeah. I was really suprised by the poster's sentiment about aging. Nearly all of my relatives in their 70s are still going strong.
Devil's advocate here :twisted:

On my father's side, there is a family history of dementia/Alzheimers starting in the early/mid 70's. My life planning is based upon the assumption that I may carry on this family "tradition". If I end up being in good health by the time I am 75, I'll consider that to be gravy.

My point is that, for every example that you give of somebody in their 90's running marathons, I can give you a similar example of somebody in their 70's essentially having low to no quality of life. In other words, YOUR experience isn't necessarily the norm for all. Life is never guaranteed.
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JoeRetire
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by JoeRetire »

basspond wrote: Mon Aug 02, 2021 12:07 pm It sounds like you have hit the wall. You can either hang your head and tuck your tail or you can readjust your attitude to the goal that is just up the hill. It was pretty easy for me when I concentrated on the payoff ahead.
Bingo!
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PhillyPhan
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Re: Were your last few career years a slog?

Post by PhillyPhan »

investingdad wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:38 am Would be interested to hear from folks that slogged through the last few years before retiring.

I’m in a bit of a tricky spot. At the moment, we’re both 48 and have just a tiny bit over 30x expenses. We could get expenses down if we wanted to but our lifestyle is pretty nicely balanced right now.

My wife earns more than double what I do and her career continues to be upwardly mobile (awesome!) with high visibility to executive leadership. I’m an engineer in an individual contributor role, and a role that is very thankless at that. No need for details, but my colleagues in our group all agree. We are specialized and our role is not transferable.

I elected to stay in this role beyond the point where I can easily move in the org, primarily because it offered flexibility around our kids schedules and extracurricular stuff. Zero regrets about that. Both are now in high school.

Based on my forecast, I think three years puts us easily over the finish line. My wife may work longer as she enjoys what she’s doing.

I, however, am fed up. Working from home the last 16 months has been great and kept me enthusiastic. However, the VP of our mega Corp decided everyone has to be back in the office, period. I’m 40 minutes away which means almost an hour and a half of non productive time per day.

I can manage three more years but it’s going to be a slog. The hardest part will be the grin and bear it attitude while months of work is discounted in a few sentences by leadership because it’s not the answer they wanted.

If we were at 40x, I’d be done now. But we’re not quite there.

Any similar experiences from folks that may be able to commiserate? I know, I know be grateful, first world problem…I get it. But I still want to vent and this is a good place.
Interested in your annual spend and if you could see this dropping over the next few years? In a separate thread you revealed your nw and by some simple math you appear to be spending over 130k per year. Perhaps a few of the big line items within this spend will drop off? Care to share more about what goes into this annual spend?
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