hurricanegirl
Junior Member
Joined: Dec 21, 2010 16:28:17 GMT -5
Posts: 231
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Post by hurricanegirl on Aug 1, 2017 16:48:55 GMT -5
it happened to me. The company I had worked for - for 18 years closed the location I worked in, moving all operations to it's 6 other locations. I was offered a position in Memphis, TN and declined.
This was 2008 when the economy was really sour and the jobs were not there
I was 58 y/o
I received a great severance package, was "deemed essential to plant closing" and offered a retention bonus as well
I was also eligible to be a 99'er (99 weeks of unemployment benefits) due to extensions
Health insurance was my biggest problem. almost 800 mo
Thankfully I had only 22 months remaining on my mortgage and no debt!!!
I made it, signing up for SS at 62 - no reason not to. DH is 10 years older than I and (god forbid) my survivor benefits would be the same as if I had waited until age 70 to collect on my own record
Medicare at 65 was a huge money saver (saving me approx. 600 mo)
Not easy, but doable.
It is now 9 years later and I live very comfortable on my ss, pensions, investment, savings, which I do project should last me minimally 20 more years
I see way too many high wage earners living paycheck to paycheck,,,,
stay debt free, live within your means (whatever that might be), distinguish between needs and wants and you will get through this and any other setback
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Apple
Junior Associate
Always travel with a sense of humor
Joined: Dec 17, 2010 15:51:04 GMT -5
Posts: 9,938
Mini-Profile Name Color: dc0e29
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Post by Apple on Aug 1, 2017 18:06:35 GMT -5
I've been doing whatever I can to be set up to take early retirement at age 46, if it was ever made available to me. So, in case of a RIF, I'd have access to my pension and TSP right away. The only bad thing is my job is not usually one "on the list" of being allowed the early out. So, if it were not due to illness or disability, I'd love it. If it was a disability/medical retirement, it's still pretty good financially, but it would suck to be that sick because I wouldn't get to enjoy retirement the way I envision. You might think about volunteering for a RIF.
A gf moved with the company to Omaha from CA. Hated it and couldn't fit in with the culture. When the RIF came not enough people were willing to take the buy-out and she volunteered. They didn't give her relo costs back but between the buy-out $ and deducting the moving costs on her taxes she did o.k. Happily employed in Sonoma County, CA.
I absolutely would volunteer, and will apply every time the opportunity happens, however... I'm on a minimally staffed crew. We have to cover 24/7 and the amount of people we have just covers it with no overtime. It would have been rare for an electrician to get it, but even more rare for my position now. But, if they need to remove full time positions, and will fill in positions with existing employees (eliminating their job, retraining them for mine), I might have a chance that way. It's just not a position they will eliminate for 2+ years. Unless they change the rules and make minimum crew 2 people instead of 3, but they had that in the past with some bad results. I've even thought about changing jobs when I hit 23 or 24 years so that I have a better chance of getting out early, but really don't want to risk that it won't happen, because I have it pretty good right now.
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Deleted
Joined: Jun 1, 2024 13:52:59 GMT -5
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2017 19:12:35 GMT -5
<snip>
It is now 9 years later and I live very comfortable on my ss, pensions, investment, savings, which I do project should last me minimally 20 more years So- what if you live longer than that? Just curious- I'm thinking some of my major expenses (travel, church pledge, other charities, car maintenance) will go away if I enter long-term care so I should be OK. I think I was preparing for this contingency most of my adult life. When I was 31, Dad (who was 54) was "demoted" from his position as Regional Manager for a steel manufacturer. He and Mom sold the house, moved to Myrtle Beach, and Dad worked very hard to start a second career as a financial advisor (he'd been investing their funds for years) but found it hard to acquire clients and to sell them appropriate products when he was being pressured to sell higher-margin products. Fortunately, they didn't need the income. They bought a house for cash and lived there till Mom died last year; Dad is now in a nice Assisted Living place and probably still has $500K or so left at age 86. So, I saw what can happen and the difference it can make if you're living on less than you make and you minimize your monthly expenses. In my case, the job went sour when i was 61. I'm pretty sure I would have been fired eventually but chose not to hang around. I looked at the numbers again, talked it over with DH, and quit. One of the best decisions I ever made. The only change I made in spending was to cut the mortgage payment back. We'd refinanced halfway through a 15-year mortgage and I was making extra payments so that it would still be paid off in 7 years; I cut back to what the actual required payment was. We also started withdrawing from savings but since my net worth 3 years later is up 7.5% that hasn't been a concern. I'm still not collecting SS on my pwn record, just Survivor benefits from DH. It will be a HUGE relief to start Medicare early next year and get rid of my $6,000 deductible policy with the crappy network that costs me $9,000/year in premiums.
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