Retirement Fail Approaching Completion

Looks like I'm heading for a complete retirement fail.

Been flirting with it off and on as I've been contracting for the company I retired from in July of 2020.  Have just received an offer to go back direct as of the beginning of June that I plan to accept.

If I take a look at their "Total Compensation," the salary plus the 401(k) match and the company's retirement contribution comes in at my former contract rate before it got raised at the end of January.  If the annual bonus pays out (always a big if) it's well in excess of my current contract rate.  And that's even without counting paid vacation, holidays, other fringe benefits.  So, no complaints financially-- maybe that means my contract rate is too low, but it already felt kind of like golden handcuffs.

Talking to others who've been through the same exercise, I can expect the company to bridge my gap in service, but was told not to expect confirmation of that until next calendar year.

The offered position also gives me a chance to get off of the merry-go-round I've been on with this OEM customer since 1999, that has continued while contracting.  And I will still be working with a system for which I was one of the jackasses at the manger-- looking back that direction more than 15 years, I'm not sure there were any wise men present.

The most important parts of this retirement failure is it continues to give me a reason to not be around the house while SWMBO is trying to get to work in the morning-- don't need that drama on a daily basis.

You could end up working at 77 like my dad if you aren't careful.

You don't need the money, so you must enjoy the work. Congrats on the new/old gig. Hopefully you're able to enjoy the new money outside of work.

I define retirement as choosing most of the work you do and doing most of the work for people of your choosing. Employment status has nothing to do with it.

With this context, you have chosen to work for this company and appear to have chosen the type of work. The coercion is minimal - if the offer disappeared overnight, you wouldn't be desperate the next day.

I don't count that as a fail.

Came here to post that I don't think that qualifies as a fail.  Just make sure that you get what you want out of the deal. 

Karacticus said:

give me a reason to not be around the house while SWMBO 

One of the biggest problem no one talks about... 

Will admit that it is nice for any job to be x number of bad days from retiring again.   Of course, you have to be careful promising that, as you feel like you've wimped out if you don't follow through, especially when SWMBO has a new kitchen to pay for and she's got a new truck on the way. 
 

It very much parallels the career learning I've had about never announcing that there are people you'd quit if you had to work with again. 
 

One of the intentions I had for retirement was to apply skills/knowledge/learning to projects I wouldn't have to stake my career on. This opportunity offers that. 

mr2s2000elise said:

Karacticus said:

give me a reason to not be around the house while SWMBO 

One of the biggest problem no one talks about... 

My dad work for a company for 20 years and then got fired and decided to do freelance engineering work.  He setup a drafting board in the basement with a phone.  

It was a big adjustment for my mom - she was raising 5 kids at this point and she had her routine now changed by a guy that came up for coffee, lunch, toilet, snack and who knows what else.....it was not an easy adjustment. 

Datsun310Guy said:

mr2s2000elise said:

Karacticus said:

give me a reason to not be around the house while SWMBO 

One of the biggest problem no one talks about... 

My dad work for a company for 20 years and then got fired and decided to do freelance engineering work.  He setup a drafting board in the basement with a phone.  

It was a big adjustment for my mom - she was raising 5 kids at this point and she had her routine now changed by a guy that came up for coffee, lunch, toilet, snack and who knows what else.....it was not an easy adjustment. 

 

Yup. Know of 3 people who retired during covid. 2 have working spouse, 1 has stay at home.  Of the 3 retired people, 2 of them couldn't stand it, and went back to work.  People think of the $ when retiring, and skip over a lot of other stuff. 

In reply to Datsun310Guy :

When my father retired, my mother said, "I've packed your lunch every morning for 30 years, and I'll keep doing it. Just don't come bug me at lunch time."

SWMBO consistently sez' she's going to retire at the same time I do.

She's seven years younger than I and she took two years off during COVID so I think expecting nine extra years of not having to work is pretty selfish.

This is the Minor Rant thread; right? 

IMHO, anyone who retires and then goes back to work doesn't have enough project cars in their fleet.

The large aerospace company I work for has about a third of the staff in my area being retired employees contracting back in. Most of them didn't have retirement plans outside of money. They thought drinks on the beach would be enough. That's why I am adamant that everybody needs work. Not everybody needs employment.

Also, for the few who made it to the end with their spouse, they realize the spouse they married 40 years ago isn't he same person. One old manager of mine came back because after 35 years of international travel for the company, he could finally be home and work on his projects. His wife was so excited. After 35 years of staying at home work on projects, they could finally travel the world. Completely opposite retirement goals. 18 months later he owns half the stuff he did when he retired and is back at work.

In reply to Johnboyjjb :

Having spent (and now continuing) a career in the aerospace industry, starting to wonder if this is something specific to the industry. 

Kind of like the institutionalized cardiac recovery plan that was present while I worked at Boeing-- your heart attack was just part of the medical plan, especially for first line supervisors in manufacturing. 

Add me to the group that doesn't think this is a fail.  Being engaged in something productive and satisfying is a big part of how most of us are wired. As long as you get the satisfaction that you're looking for without added stress I don't see a downside.  Oh and you'll still have an income which is never a bad thing.  Please update this thread as you get more into it as it is of interest to me.

I've posted on here before that I've been working 4 day weeks starting at the beginning of 2018.  I was surprised at what a change just that one additional day of time off made and not all in a good way.  Spring / Summer / Fall months no problem as there's almost always something I could be doing either in the yard or around the house.  Summer Fridays at the island, well that goes without saying.  Late November through early April on the other hand it often takes a bit of motivation to get into something.   Having lived this for several years now I really can't imagine going from full bore work to full retirement all in one step.  Two recent conversations with boss man are indicating that they will put me onto three day weeks at the beginning of next year, he's made it very clear he wants me to stick around for as long as I want to do so.   My role will morph into a consulting / mentoring position and the thought of staying engaged with the work, the crew and my customers without having to be the lead dog and the all the associated stress is very appealing.  Time will tell.

Johnboyjjb said:

That's why I am adamant that everybody needs work. Not everybody needs employment.

I also believe that - you NEED to have a hobby, something to DO.

I am single digits away from retirement, and this year has been especially challenging for me philosophically, as the delicate balance between my hobby and my work has just tipped; work is getting in the way of the stuff I WANT to do.

Karacticus said:

Been flirting with it off and on as I've been contracting for the company I retired from in July of 2020.  Have just received an offer to go back direct as of the beginning of June that I plan to accept.

Welcome back?  :)

Some work in this world can be enjoyable.  I'm friends with a few Fellows here and I have to admit, that would be pretty hard to retire from.

In reply to 11GTCS :

Back when I was working 4 10 hour days I learned that you had to pace yourself on that "extra" day off. 
 

When it was new to me, I attempted to pack way too much into that day, and there was a lot available to pack in when working 10 hour days-- that turned out to be exhausting and stressful. You need to spread the things that need to be done out across more than that one extra day. 
 

Part time should be better for impact than 10 hour days, but it's still something to keep in mind. 
 

And yeah, transition through part time work on the way to full time retirement sounds like an excellent idea, especially the way the "life" side of work/life run seasonally around here. 

SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) said:

Johnboyjjb said:

That's why I am adamant that everybody needs work. Not everybody needs employment.

I also believe that - you NEED to have a hobby, something to DO.

I am single digits away from retirement, and this year has been especially challenging for me philosophically, as the delicate balance between my hobby and my work has just tipped; work is getting in the way of the stuff I WANT to do.

Yep.  Right now work is doing wonders for my bank account, but being away from home for weeks on end has definitely put a damper on my hobbies.  Then on the weekends I am home, it's a bit of a scheduling scramble to see my friends and get at least some level of emotional recharging before heading back to the solitude of the hotel-work-hotel cycle. 

I have so many projects in waiting that if I retired tomorrow I'm not sure I'll live long enough to finish them all.  I do plan to try.

Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:

 Right now work is doing wonders for my bank account

That is what's driven my semi-retirement failure.

I had it all worked out, two days a week. My employer was onside, yet when my boss recently asked to firm up the arrangement so they could plan, I bailed. I started thinking about how many of those two day weeks were going to become one if I was scheduled for Sunday but wanted to race. I have no debt. We live frugally. After years of scrimping and saving, it's nice being able to do what I want, when I want. And I can't give it up. So I'm still three days/36 hours, which I took a pay cut to do, but it's a compromise.

What's prompting going from contracting back to full time work?  Was the contracting full time, was it not flexible, etc.?

I'm a few months from retirement and have companies sniffing around to hire me for part time work.. I'm waffling on it but my wife is pushing for it. 

My wife plans to keep working, she works from home, and we live in a small condo.  If I sat in there daily we'd be divorced in a month.

I'm building another house and a shop currently, and I plan to pretty much treat my projects like a job, just with more flexibility and the occasional trip to wherever strikes our fancy.

Two things prompting going back direct.

First is that the new position is a program chief systems engineer and for continuity, I don't think that kind of position should be held by a contractor. If I really wanted to stay a contractor, I'm fairly confident that would have been accommodated. 
 

The second is that being a contractor allowed me access to my 401(k) under what is called the rule of 55.  That rule also left me stuck with my company's 401(k) service provider, who provides the level of service you'd expect from the lowest bidder, though at an admittedly low cost. 
 

Now that I'm within spitting distance of age 59 1/2, I will soon be able to access retirement funds without needing the rule of 55. Intent is to transfer all or nearly all current funds out of my 401(k) into a rollover IRA prior to starting the new position. Once completed, I will get a better service provider and be able to access the funds unencumbered by the rules of the 401(k) plan. 
 

New contributions, company match, etc into the 401(k) would be unaffected.