Conundrum
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So - I've spent years managing my money, along with a like-minded and cooperative Mrs. Between that and some pensions, eventual social security, and savings, I can retire whenever I want. Point: I still have lots of fun coding and seeing the software being used year after year. I am, as I often put it, paid to play. Spent a whole lifetime doing that. Counterpoint: I'm healthy enough now to get lots of traveling in, but am severely limited by employer vacation limits (unpaid leave is not gladly given). I have lots of things I need to get done that have been put off too long. So, the question is "what am I waiting for?", or perhaps "do I wish to jump headlong into the abyss?"
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
Talk to your company. See if they will let you go part time, take sabbaticals. If you are useful, they will say yes. If not, they will tell you something else, unrepeatable in the Lounge. :)
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No - you misunderstand - it's not the internet - if it were the internet, one could presume that even a small college/university would cause installation of decent speed. At home, I'm content with 25Mb - and it's more than I ever use. It's the small town. The lifestyle, the people, the whole hellish snake pit. If you've grown up that way it's probably wonderful. To me, a nightmare.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
For the sake of clarity, what do you consider a small town. For me, I have classified a small town as between 100 and 150 thousand ever since I lived in Chicago and San Diego.
if (Object.DividedByZero == true) { Universe.Implode(); } Meus ratio ex fortis machina. Simplicitatis de formae ac munus. -Foothill, 2016
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Talk to your company. See if they will let you go part time, take sabbaticals. If you are useful, they will say yes. If not, they will tell you something else, unrepeatable in the Lounge. :)
That option would likely be in their interest. I generously comment my code but pretty much half the business is running on frameworks I built. They'll run a long time - but if they want to make changes - good luck to that. If I go that route and they say 'no', I'm a rather expensive per diem contractor. But, then, that's if they perceive me as useful. The place has changed over the years, especially recently, and "vision" isn't what I'd call a specialty.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
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For the sake of clarity, what do you consider a small town. For me, I have classified a small town as between 100 and 150 thousand ever since I lived in Chicago and San Diego.
if (Object.DividedByZero == true) { Universe.Implode(); } Meus ratio ex fortis machina. Simplicitatis de formae ac munus. -Foothill, 2016
No number in particular. I put down five years in Chicago - what I referred to, then, as "a small town of two million". It's all a matter of cultural norms.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
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That option would likely be in their interest. I generously comment my code but pretty much half the business is running on frameworks I built. They'll run a long time - but if they want to make changes - good luck to that. If I go that route and they say 'no', I'm a rather expensive per diem contractor. But, then, that's if they perceive me as useful. The place has changed over the years, especially recently, and "vision" isn't what I'd call a specialty.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
You never know how they will respond, but letting you go part time saves them money, so it is attractive, provided they get the work done when they need it. And as you know, as a permie, a lot of time is spent doing not much. Part time you would be more focused, like a contractor, on problem tasks. So ask them, sounds like win win to me.
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No number in particular. I put down five years in Chicago - what I referred to, then, as "a small town of two million". It's all a matter of cultural norms.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
Not going to argue with that. I don't much care for the predominant cultural norms of my current area of residence but I don't exactly have the ability to pick up and leave. There's a lot of good people here but the religious crusader minority has borrowed from the NRA playbook and is very politically active while the rest of us are too busy working to even follow what's going on in the state legislature. So, we get a lot of laws passed that are not supported by the silent majority so we have shifted to a revolving door legislature for the last couple of elections.
if (Object.DividedByZero == true) { Universe.Implode(); } Meus ratio ex fortis machina. Simplicitatis de formae ac munus. -Foothill, 2016
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Man - not being a member of a single market (with intrinsic freedom of movement) is a pain. OK - step 1 - become European.
moving around like that, how long do you get before you're expected to register locally for tax purposes? That could turn into a cluster :elephant: fast.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt
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moving around like that, how long do you get before you're expected to register locally for tax purposes? That could turn into a cluster :elephant: fast.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt
You get taxed in whatever jurisdiction your employer is actually paying your salary. (For freelancers you'd need to register as soon as you got your first gig)
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You get taxed in whatever jurisdiction your employer is actually paying your salary. (For freelancers you'd need to register as soon as you got your first gig)
In that case I hope your politicians don't listen to the good idea fairy and decide to steal the idiotic beggar they neighbor jocktax* the loons here came up with. I haven't heard of them trying to go after normal business travelers yet; but given the combination of greed and stupid involved in politics assume it's only a matter of time. X| * a few years ago one of the towns hosting a major sports area decided that the visiting sports team should pay local income taxes because they were working in their jurisdiction for the game. It gave them a very short term windfall, which lasted only as long as it took every other city hosting a team to do the same thing either due to their own greed (early adopters) or just to replace the taxes they were losing to everyone else (late teams). In the end the only winners were the accountants who got to charge everyone in the team down to the waterboy making minimum wage $1000ish to fill out a dozen or more sets of state and local taxes. :doh: :doh:
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt
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So - I've spent years managing my money, along with a like-minded and cooperative Mrs. Between that and some pensions, eventual social security, and savings, I can retire whenever I want. Point: I still have lots of fun coding and seeing the software being used year after year. I am, as I often put it, paid to play. Spent a whole lifetime doing that. Counterpoint: I'm healthy enough now to get lots of traveling in, but am severely limited by employer vacation limits (unpaid leave is not gladly given). I have lots of things I need to get done that have been put off too long. So, the question is "what am I waiting for?", or perhaps "do I wish to jump headlong into the abyss?"
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
I'm on the other side of that decision. I got retired in 2010 with the golden handshake and am retired now with a pension. I did some contract work (with the company and otherwise) and did some further college work. Fully retired and goofing off now (except for occasional FOSS stuff). Recommendations: - Make sure that you have your ducks lined up for medical coverage for yourself and whomever is a dependent of yours. In the US, if you get any kind of retiree medical coverage from the company, you can drop existing dependents (eg. college students) but not make any other changes. Before retiring, I thought that the Obamacare yada yada was just a bunch of political noise. I retired, then got married, then discovered I couldn't cover my new wife, then discovered how truly remarkably awful is this Obamacare thing. Trust me, medical coverage is a major point. - Make sure that you can truly live on your nest egg plus benefits. Don't forget the implications of a bad health event, divorce or an unanticipated legal issue. Before and after social security. - Make sure that your skills are saleable if you have to go back to work. - If you see a downturn in your company's business, they will likely cut back personnel, with the "old guys" first. You will get $$$ incentives and extra bennies to leave on their schedule. You won't get this if you leave on your schedule. It might pay greatly to wait a couple of years (and this will be in your favor for social security benefits). So, I did an approximation to all of the above and am now enjoying the best years of my life. Just what retirement is supposed to be. TADA!
I'm retired. There's a nap for that... - Harvey
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No number in particular. I put down five years in Chicago - what I referred to, then, as "a small town of two million". It's all a matter of cultural norms.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
Columbus is referred to as a "city in the corn field" and there are still corn fields within the outer belt including one about 1000 yards from my desk. Chicago is also called the "windy city" due to the democrat political machine.
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Duncan Edwards Jones wrote:
Find a company that will let you work remotely, travel the world and hotdesk. (Most cities in the world now have daily/weekly hotdesk spaces to rent)
Doing that legally needs work visas not tourist ones. If you try flying under the radar you're only 1 ooops from being deported or jailed. :doh:
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt
Not to mention, it is pretty difficult to find an employer that will allow remote work in another country. I tried for years and finally gave up and moved back to the US.
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So - I've spent years managing my money, along with a like-minded and cooperative Mrs. Between that and some pensions, eventual social security, and savings, I can retire whenever I want. Point: I still have lots of fun coding and seeing the software being used year after year. I am, as I often put it, paid to play. Spent a whole lifetime doing that. Counterpoint: I'm healthy enough now to get lots of traveling in, but am severely limited by employer vacation limits (unpaid leave is not gladly given). I have lots of things I need to get done that have been put off too long. So, the question is "what am I waiting for?", or perhaps "do I wish to jump headlong into the abyss?"
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
There are other employers out there. Make your (apparent) desire to be part-time known, and a part of any negotiation (including with your current employer). You: "Hey, I don't need the money, but I enjoy the work and it keeps me busy. How about if we work a deal where I come in four days/week. I'm willing to give up x% of my salary (more than 20), so you're getting a break for letting me do this." Them: "No, we're dumb, unimaginative management. Our heads would explode if we were to consider anything outside the normal bounds." You: "OK. How about I come in zero hours per week, instead?" I'm in the same kind of boat, I think the first part of next year we will have this kind of conversation. I also need to start researching whether there are just the kind of "help out" gigs. Maybe some volunteer work, or the kind of maintenance that needs to be done but organizations never have time to do them. Low stress, where I could do them to keep busy, take a low rate, and both of us get something out of the deal.
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Duncan Edwards Jones wrote:
Find a company that will let you work remotely, travel the world and hotdesk. (Most cities in the world now have daily/weekly hotdesk spaces to rent)
Doing that legally needs work visas not tourist ones. If you try flying under the radar you're only 1 ooops from being deported or jailed. :doh:
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt
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So - I've spent years managing my money, along with a like-minded and cooperative Mrs. Between that and some pensions, eventual social security, and savings, I can retire whenever I want. Point: I still have lots of fun coding and seeing the software being used year after year. I am, as I often put it, paid to play. Spent a whole lifetime doing that. Counterpoint: I'm healthy enough now to get lots of traveling in, but am severely limited by employer vacation limits (unpaid leave is not gladly given). I have lots of things I need to get done that have been put off too long. So, the question is "what am I waiting for?", or perhaps "do I wish to jump headlong into the abyss?"
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
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So - I've spent years managing my money, along with a like-minded and cooperative Mrs. Between that and some pensions, eventual social security, and savings, I can retire whenever I want. Point: I still have lots of fun coding and seeing the software being used year after year. I am, as I often put it, paid to play. Spent a whole lifetime doing that. Counterpoint: I'm healthy enough now to get lots of traveling in, but am severely limited by employer vacation limits (unpaid leave is not gladly given). I have lots of things I need to get done that have been put off too long. So, the question is "what am I waiting for?", or perhaps "do I wish to jump headlong into the abyss?"
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
To be clear, you are saying you can now easily live off of the return you get every year, without touching your nest egg? If that stopped, do you have enough time left? (the two biggest mistakes I have seen, I will assume you thought it through, with REAL inflation numbers, based on Energy and Food prices as true Inflation). Then... I would approach your current employer, and negotiate the work schedule/vacation that you want. I would gladly cut an employees salary in 1/2, and cut them down to 6 months, etc. To keep their knowledge base around. Heck, depending on the company size, etc, I would work with you to get you what you want, while keeping your expertise at our fingertips. Below 1 day/week, I am not sure it has that value. And it could be incremental over the next 5 years or so. But, I have seen MANY employers who cannot fathom a special deal. All employees are EQUAL and must be treated as such, no favors. I watched people QUIT because they could not attend a NEEDED WEEKLY AA course because it happened in the AM, where this person felt comfortable, and the company played hard ball... (use vacation first (scheduled), then sick time, then PTO, etc. etc.) so, it depends. It never hurts to ask when you are in the position that their firing you ONLY helps you decide. LOL
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So - I've spent years managing my money, along with a like-minded and cooperative Mrs. Between that and some pensions, eventual social security, and savings, I can retire whenever I want. Point: I still have lots of fun coding and seeing the software being used year after year. I am, as I often put it, paid to play. Spent a whole lifetime doing that. Counterpoint: I'm healthy enough now to get lots of traveling in, but am severely limited by employer vacation limits (unpaid leave is not gladly given). I have lots of things I need to get done that have been put off too long. So, the question is "what am I waiting for?", or perhaps "do I wish to jump headlong into the abyss?"
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
I announced my retirement to my employer, giving them up to 90 days to replace me. I had been with them for over 12 years. I work for a major property title company and my job was/is data remediation. The work is not time sensitive.They couldn't find anyone with my skill set with similar knowledge. I had already been working remotely from home for the previous two years, three days a week and two in the office, mostly meetings. They finally offered me my same position, at the same rate of pay, to work remotely five days a week. I've been "retired" 6 years now. The wife and I have travelled to major cities on every continent. We will are planning to revisit some cities. Our most recent trip was one month in exploring Peru, with Machu Pichu as the prime objective. So, go for it. Life is too short to be saddled to a computer 40-60 hours per week. Should you be as fortunate as me, all the better. I haven't had any issues violating "working" in any country. I carry two notebook computers, one for backup, file a status report weekly, my paycheck is automatically deposited into my checking account, and I pay all my bills online. And, wifi connection is available everywhere. Good Luck to you.
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That is the largest weight of all.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
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I'm on the other side of that decision. I got retired in 2010 with the golden handshake and am retired now with a pension. I did some contract work (with the company and otherwise) and did some further college work. Fully retired and goofing off now (except for occasional FOSS stuff). Recommendations: - Make sure that you have your ducks lined up for medical coverage for yourself and whomever is a dependent of yours. In the US, if you get any kind of retiree medical coverage from the company, you can drop existing dependents (eg. college students) but not make any other changes. Before retiring, I thought that the Obamacare yada yada was just a bunch of political noise. I retired, then got married, then discovered I couldn't cover my new wife, then discovered how truly remarkably awful is this Obamacare thing. Trust me, medical coverage is a major point. - Make sure that you can truly live on your nest egg plus benefits. Don't forget the implications of a bad health event, divorce or an unanticipated legal issue. Before and after social security. - Make sure that your skills are saleable if you have to go back to work. - If you see a downturn in your company's business, they will likely cut back personnel, with the "old guys" first. You will get $$$ incentives and extra bennies to leave on their schedule. You won't get this if you leave on your schedule. It might pay greatly to wait a couple of years (and this will be in your favor for social security benefits). So, I did an approximation to all of the above and am now enjoying the best years of my life. Just what retirement is supposed to be. TADA!
I'm retired. There's a nap for that... - Harvey
I have my own medical coverage - independent of my employer. A self+one plan (plan and those covered changeable annually at an open season). It's not cheap - and has co-pays (until medicare kicks in) - but I get what I need. As for the finance, I used the SSA site to determine my SSA payments when I reach full retirement. Due to the penchant for a certain political party to screw federal employees/pensioners in order to give the illusion of caring about the economy I have a nasty deduction taken from my SS. After 20 years in the SS system I begin to earn back the deduction over the next 10 years (assuming I make enough for it to count as substantial). Working about 1/3 into FY2018, for example, is worth about $500-$600/year, permanently, along with whatever I earn. Getting that number, I used the calculator at the 401K financial org for my current employer and let then figure out how long what I have will last (the estimate I need more than I actually spend). Based on their calculations we're good until age 110 or so. Per Obamacare: the real problem with it is that it should have been a single-provider plan, like medicare. For now, one has to contend with greed MD's and even greedier insurance companies that cause US citizens to pay double (per capita) compared to the next most expensive country - and in exchange for this, our quality is ca. 40th in the industrial world. A system that impoverishes people by the hundreds, daily. Single pay would also be good for employers that give their employees coverage and make the sleazy ones pay their fair share. Returning to paragraph one: the cost of the plan (mine plus the former-employer portion) is more than a minimum wage employee would earn. Husband/wife together would need to literally choose between food/shelter or medical coverage. Today's news indicates that lower income people are about to be thrown under the bus by a rich man's attempt to do something beyond embarrassing the US.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
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I announced my retirement to my employer, giving them up to 90 days to replace me. I had been with them for over 12 years. I work for a major property title company and my job was/is data remediation. The work is not time sensitive.They couldn't find anyone with my skill set with similar knowledge. I had already been working remotely from home for the previous two years, three days a week and two in the office, mostly meetings. They finally offered me my same position, at the same rate of pay, to work remotely five days a week. I've been "retired" 6 years now. The wife and I have travelled to major cities on every continent. We will are planning to revisit some cities. Our most recent trip was one month in exploring Peru, with Machu Pichu as the prime objective. So, go for it. Life is too short to be saddled to a computer 40-60 hours per week. Should you be as fortunate as me, all the better. I haven't had any issues violating "working" in any country. I carry two notebook computers, one for backup, file a status report weekly, my paycheck is automatically deposited into my checking account, and I pay all my bills online. And, wifi connection is available everywhere. Good Luck to you.
First Impression: there's a plan! My employer's weird about working remotely (and even that depends upon who you talk to). They accept it from a contractor and don't like it from their own employees. Let's just say, as time has gone by, the new pennies running the place don't have the shine the old ones did. One thing, though, is that although there's an IT group, I'm the only one that hasn't hitched his wagon to a single mega-project. This means I make all the other things. That typically requires face-to-face time. Your situation, however, solves a lot of problems. Keeping mentally stimulated, can go where you want when I want. It's an option I may push for - what can they do? Say no?
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010