Author Topic: Overheard at Work  (Read 13252512 times)

RyanAtTanagra

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #21200 on: December 16, 2018, 02:21:43 PM »
I realized that if I spent everything I brought home, not even considering how much gets plowed into 401k and HSA, I could definitely afford that mortgage and also join the local country club to play golf every weekend and the fancy lease on a BMW.

There was a thread a while back about taking how much you save every month, and if you put that towards a luxury car, what could you afford?  If I do 6% interest on a 120-month loan (because yes people do that) of my 2018 monthly savings, and find my total loan amount, then sort the cars here by price:

https://www.jamesedition.com/cars?utf8=✓&order=price_desc

I could be driving some pretty nice Ferraris or high end Porches, or some damn sexy classic cars.  Tempting, but not really :-)  But if you ever see a really nice car and find yourself going 'damn I wish could afford that car', it's good to put things in perspective and go 'actually, i could be driving way nicer of a car than that, if I really wanted to'.

ysette9

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #21201 on: December 16, 2018, 08:30:18 PM »
My husband and I were talking yesterday how now that we can afford so many things we didn’t used to be able to, our desire to buy things has gone way down. At least for me. He always was frugal and has few wants.

Slow&Steady

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #21202 on: December 17, 2018, 07:19:22 AM »
There is a gentleman that is in the office next to me and rumor has spread that he will be leaving in December, and not to a new job.  He looks to me to be in his 50s, maybe early 50s.  I of course think this is an awesome sign of FIRE but am not sure because he is a very private guy. 

Most of my other coworkers are completely baffled by this.  I have heard that some of them even made fun of him when he started working here because he brings his lunch everyday and uses washable dishes to eat his lunch. 

I am dying to ask him if he is retiring early and give him a huge congrats but he is so private that I am pretty sure that would be too much for him.   
What've you got to lose?  I'd *love* to hear if he's secretly built up a stache.

His manager confirmed that he was retiring today during lunch, the speculation is that he is 57 (I think he looks closer to 50).  I believe his manager is older than him, managers statement was "Yes ___ is retiring at the end of the year, some people save money better than others".

Here is your script:

Slow&Steady: "Hello Co-worker X, congratulations on your retirement.  BTW, what is your mustache code-name?"
Co-Worker X: Either
A.) Puzzled look, scurries away without response.
or
B.) "I'm so glad you asked, my MMM forum handle is SuperSecretStealthMustachedNinja." And you have a new friend for life!

Apparently I am allowed to know this now, co-worker is retiring at 55!  I told him "Good job, I have heard a lot of people say you are lucky.  I know it isn't luck it was work, congrats!"

Pretty sure he is not on MMM, he is planning to use 72t but did not know that he is allowed to pull his Roth contributions (not earnings) without penalty.

WOW, I had to go back several pages to find this to quote. 

It seems that his last day will be either 12/28 or 12/31 and man are people snippy about him retiring at 55.  The company announced and congratulated retirees at the Christmas party and his name wasn't on the list, when I asked why I was told "He is NOT retiring, he is quitting.  He is not old enough to retire!"  I decided that I should not tell them that it is my goal to retire when my baby graduates high school, right around the time I will turn 55. 

faithless

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #21203 on: December 17, 2018, 08:48:52 AM »
My husband and I were talking yesterday how now that we can afford so many things we didn’t used to be able to, our desire to buy things has gone way down. At least for me. He always was frugal and has few wants.

Yep we've noticed this too. The more I can afford, the less I seem to want! I think it's the opposite of a scarcity mindset.
The only thing I'm spending more on now is travel, as I love it and find it worth it to me. Even there I'm keeping costs down, e.g. in an expensive European country, getting an Airbnb with a kitchenette so we've the option to cook/prepare breakfast/lunch/dinner ourselves, so we're not spending like 25 Euro each on dinner in a restaurant when we're not actually fussed about going out because we're tired. It also balances out splurging on a fancy dinner if we do want it!

Davnasty

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #21204 on: December 17, 2018, 09:44:44 AM »
There is a gentleman that is in the office next to me and rumor has spread that he will be leaving in December, and not to a new job.  He looks to me to be in his 50s, maybe early 50s.  I of course think this is an awesome sign of FIRE but am not sure because he is a very private guy. 

Most of my other coworkers are completely baffled by this.  I have heard that some of them even made fun of him when he started working here because he brings his lunch everyday and uses washable dishes to eat his lunch. 

I am dying to ask him if he is retiring early and give him a huge congrats but he is so private that I am pretty sure that would be too much for him.   
What've you got to lose?  I'd *love* to hear if he's secretly built up a stache.

His manager confirmed that he was retiring today during lunch, the speculation is that he is 57 (I think he looks closer to 50).  I believe his manager is older than him, managers statement was "Yes ___ is retiring at the end of the year, some people save money better than others".

Here is your script:

Slow&Steady: "Hello Co-worker X, congratulations on your retirement.  BTW, what is your mustache code-name?"
Co-Worker X: Either
A.) Puzzled look, scurries away without response.
or
B.) "I'm so glad you asked, my MMM forum handle is SuperSecretStealthMustachedNinja." And you have a new friend for life!

Apparently I am allowed to know this now, co-worker is retiring at 55!  I told him "Good job, I have heard a lot of people say you are lucky.  I know it isn't luck it was work, congrats!"

Pretty sure he is not on MMM, he is planning to use 72t but did not know that he is allowed to pull his Roth contributions (not earnings) without penalty.

WOW, I had to go back several pages to find this to quote. 

It seems that his last day will be either 12/28 or 12/31 and man are people snippy about him retiring at 55.  The company announced and congratulated retirees at the Christmas party and his name wasn't on the list, when I asked why I was told "He is NOT retiring, he is quitting.  He is not old enough to retire!"  I decided that I should not tell them that it is my goal to retire when my baby graduates high school, right around the time I will turn 55.

This is an interesting concept. I agree that it seems kinda shitty and people are probably reacting out of jealousy, but should there be an age limit to giving someone a "retirement" party? If someone was retiring at 35, should they get a party? I feel like that would be pretty weird.

And what if someone is quitting at 67 but only started with the company at 64?

Personally, I think throwing someone a party should be based on how long they were with the company rather than their age. Then again, if I was retiring 10+ years earlier than my coworkers I'm not sure I would want a party in any case. Might be better to just quietly slip out the door and avoid all the questions.

Goldielocks

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #21205 on: December 18, 2018, 12:21:34 PM »
At mega corp, I heard HR use the same line about who is "retiring" and who is quitting.   "He said he was retiring but he is only 53, so therefore he is just quitting and making it sound better".

Being a huge corporation, they had to set limits / lines /policies about who gets things like retirement parties, extra days off for funeral services, and even who gets flowers and when.

It is about semantics and red tape.

I realized that the specific term "retirement" that has a specific definition to HR, and triggers different paperwork than people that quit -- ie., that you will be receiving your retirement pension benefits.   In fact, the term is divided according to "early retirement" before the Normal Retirement Age (with partial benefits), and "Retirement" with full pension.

Normal retirement age = if you retire when your age plus years of service equal 80 (or 90, depending on the retirement plan).
So, you could retire at age 48 with 32 years of service (those people did exist, it was a retail chain), or retire at age 58 with 22 years of service.

bluebelle

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #21206 on: December 18, 2018, 01:16:40 PM »
At mega corp, I heard HR use the same line about who is "retiring" and who is quitting.   "He said he was retiring but he is only 53, so therefore he is just quitting and making it sound better".

Being a huge corporation, they had to set limits / lines /policies about who gets things like retirement parties, extra days off for funeral services, and even who gets flowers and when.

It is about semantics and red tape.

I realized that the specific term "retirement" that has a specific definition to HR, and triggers different paperwork than people that quit -- ie., that you will be receiving your retirement pension benefits.   In fact, the term is divided according to "early retirement" before the Normal Retirement Age (with partial benefits), and "Retirement" with full pension.

Normal retirement age = if you retire when your age plus years of service equal 80 (or 90, depending on the retirement plan).
So, you could retire at age 48 with 32 years of service (those people did exist, it was a retail chain), or retire at age 58 with 22 years of service.
The HR distinction may be due to benefits you are entitled to when you retire vs when you quit.  For example, at the megacorp I work at, my annual bonus is pro-rated if I retire, forfeited if I quit, my unvested stock equity may be prorated if I retire, forfetied if I quit.  And it clearly states, that you aren't eligible to 'retire' until age 55.  At DH's company, he can purchase retiree group benefits if he 'retires' but not if he quits....and he can't 'retire' until age 55.

Companies may give 'gifts' to retirees, not to someone who quits.  And they've drawn the line at 55.  It has to be drawn somewhere, otherwise everyone leaving to another job would claim they were retiring for whatever perk they could get.

But as others have said, if you're leaving a company you've worked at for a while, there should definately be a group send off, even if it's lunch out with your team.  And if someone is "retiring" before age 55, we should all celebrate with them!

Linea_Norway

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #21207 on: December 18, 2018, 01:29:30 PM »
At mega corp, I heard HR use the same line about who is "retiring" and who is quitting.   "He said he was retiring but he is only 53, so therefore he is just quitting and making it sound better".

Being a huge corporation, they had to set limits / lines /policies about who gets things like retirement parties, extra days off for funeral services, and even who gets flowers and when.

It is about semantics and red tape.

I realized that the specific term "retirement" that has a specific definition to HR, and triggers different paperwork than people that quit -- ie., that you will be receiving your retirement pension benefits.   In fact, the term is divided according to "early retirement" before the Normal Retirement Age (with partial benefits), and "Retirement" with full pension.

Normal retirement age = if you retire when your age plus years of service equal 80 (or 90, depending on the retirement plan).
So, you could retire at age 48 with 32 years of service (those people did exist, it was a retail chain), or retire at age 58 with 22 years of service.
The HR distinction may be due to benefits you are entitled to when you retire vs when you quit.  For example, at the megacorp I work at, my annual bonus is pro-rated if I retire, forfeited if I quit, my unvested stock equity may be prorated if I retire, forfetied if I quit.  And it clearly states, that you aren't eligible to 'retire' until age 55.  At DH's company, he can purchase retiree group benefits if he 'retires' but not if he quits....and he can't 'retire' until age 55.

Companies may give 'gifts' to retirees, not to someone who quits.  And they've drawn the line at 55.  It has to be drawn somewhere, otherwise everyone leaving to another job would claim they were retiring for whatever perk they could get.

But as others have said, if you're leaving a company you've worked at for a while, there should definately be a group send off, even if it's lunch out with your team.  And if someone is "retiring" before age 55, we should all celebrate with them!

I think my company does goodbye cake eating when someone leaves. We haven't had a retiree yet, but will in some years. I hope to retire before him, though, but I will call it a sabbatical.
« Last Edit: December 19, 2018, 01:13:42 AM by Linda_Norway »

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #21208 on: December 18, 2018, 06:00:28 PM »
Goodbae

Linea_Norway

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #21209 on: December 19, 2018, 01:16:12 AM »
Re: spending everything you make-  my frugal adult daughter was looking at real estate prices in my town online.  $1.9MM for a fancy pants house on the boulevard, she asked how people afford such a thing-- median home price here is only $200K.  She looked up the owner on the tax rolls and then found him on FB and she said he is a VP at a local hotel.  (Good snooper, my girl.)  I replied that most people spend everything they make to keep up an image and society expectations. 

I realized that if I spent everything I brought home, not even considering how much gets plowed into 401k and HSA, I could definitely afford that mortgage and also join the local country club to play golf every weekend and the fancy lease on a BMW.  Wouldn't I be looking good!  Maybe I would suddenly be attractive to the VP at a local hotel and a worthy date/mate for him. 

But the idea of my income going through my hands like sand every month makes me physically nauseous.  Really, I am queasy thinking about those payments and would learn to hate it all.   

I guess I will continue to be the nerd girl who saves 80% of her money and will retire next year at 50.  I will look for the nerdy guy who has his own money instead of the flashy VP.  Alone is better than flashy fakey.           

The VP guy with the fancy house probably has a huge mortgage on it. He only needs to be able to pay of the mortgage payments.

My co-worker I described above, who spends his whole paycheck, had 2 bathrooms in his house renovated, for $75.000. Later I heard he had gotten a loan to do that.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #21210 on: December 19, 2018, 01:50:30 AM »
This thread is becoming huge and there is still more to be written in the next years. But if is often behaving very slowly, because it has so many pages.

Shall we start a new thread in 2019?

RetiredAt63

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #21211 on: December 19, 2018, 06:03:34 AM »
This thread is becoming huge and there is still more to be written in the next years. But if is often behaving very slowly, because it has so many pages.

Shall we start a new thread in 2019?

Yes.

shelivesthedream

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #21212 on: December 19, 2018, 07:35:56 AM »
This thread is becoming huge and there is still more to be written in the next years. But if is often behaving very slowly, because it has so many pages.

Shall we start a new thread in 2019?

I am sad at this thought, but I believe that many people who use the "new replies" function will be grateful.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #21213 on: December 19, 2018, 08:25:19 AM »
It was started in November, 2012.  Time for a fresh start.

sherr

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #21214 on: December 19, 2018, 12:51:31 PM »