Clicking off that OMY... officially. :-)

[The Pigeon]

I am now officially in my last year of work!
From this point onward, each day I go to work is the last one of that particular day I'll ever work, so this coming Monday is the final May 4th that I'll ever work.
:-D Woo Hoo!

I may retire earlier-- but want to stick it out long enough for the end-of-year bonus that's been mentioned. Target date is somewhere between Feb. 1 and no later than April 30. (If I stay thru April 30 I can cram one more maximum $24,000 401k/tax deduction in). Can make it that long? (I'm ready to be free NOW).

I'll be "X"ing those days off the calender with glee!

I can't really shout this to my friends or coworkers, so I'm just letting it fly here.

:-D
-The Pigeon!

[Calvawt]

Awesome news!  That makes my want to speed up my saving and get done sooner, too.

[dividendman]

May the Fourth be with you.

[WYOGO]

May the Fourth be with you.

Haha I see what you did there...

[okits]

So exciting, congratulations!  You can blog about how you've stopped being annoyed or caring about stupid work stuff as the year runs down.  Envious, can't wait to get there, myself!

[forummm]

(If I stay thru April 30 I can cram one more maximum $24,000 401k/tax deduction in). Can make it that long? (I'm ready to be free NOW).

If you earn $24k for the year and then put it all in a 401k, but then have to pull out $24k to live on during the year, does that really help your taxes? If you have additional money that you make in the year, perhaps. Just look at what your 2016 1040 will have on it with your target quit date and see if that makes sense for you or not.

[The Pigeon]

If you earn $24k for the year and then put it all in a 401k, but then have to pull out $24k to live on during the year, does that really help your taxes? If you have additional money that you make in the year, perhaps. Just look at what your 2016 1040 will have on it with your target quit date and see if that makes sense for you or not.

Perhaps I'm being a moron about how the taxes work? (likely! I've never had dividend/investment income WITHOUT also having wages).
Would not the $24k crammed in a 401k help offset the taxes on the post-wages investment income? Or am I being a dum-dum--I know the investment income goes on a completely different part of the tax form, and is taxed entirely differently from wages... I do not plan to have any other wages in 2016. Just that which I earn until quit date Feb-Apr.

I'm wagering I have it wrong here. (wouldn't be the first time!)

If it doesn't help me at all with taxes, then I'll hang on only until just after bonus-distribution day!

[forummm]

If you earn $24k for the year and then put it all in a 401k, but then have to pull out $24k to live on during the year, does that really help your taxes? If you have additional money that you make in the year, perhaps. Just look at what your 2016 1040 will have on it with your target quit date and see if that makes sense for you or not.

Perhaps I'm being a moron about how the taxes work? (likely! I've never had dividend/investment income WITHOUT also having wages).
Would not the $24k crammed in a 401k help offset the taxes on the post-wages investment income? Or am I being a dum-dum--I know the investment income goes on a completely different part of the tax form, and is taxed entirely differently from wages... I do not plan to have any other wages in 2016. Just that which I earn until quit date Feb-Apr.

I'm wagering I have it wrong here. (wouldn't be the first time!)

If it doesn't help me at all with taxes, then I'll hang on only until just after bonus-distribution day!

I was just asking the question for you to think through and suggested working through what your taxes would look like to see if it makes sense for you. What will you live off of the rest of 2016 if you quit early in the year and max out your 401k? What investment income are you referring to? Those answers would help determine what taxable income you would have.

[FrugalZony]

May the Fourth be with you.

Ha! You beat me to it!!

@The Pigeon, GOOD for you!!

We kinda, sorta have the same date
I am planning to work though April 30th and talk to my Boss on May 1st
So technically I'll be out a bit later
But I had similar thoughts!

Did you see there's FIRE cohort threads for all kind of years, but none for 2016?

[The Pigeon]

Well, I may just be hitting the FIRE button a lot sooner than originally planned. My time off request for September has just been denied for an already-planned trip.

This place is so hardline, I don't expect any result from attempted negotiation, but I'll try.

If they can't accommodate it, me and my F.U. / FI / RE money will follow the siren's song to freedom.

My birthday is upcoming. A resignation might be the best present I can give myself.

Steamed,
The Pigeon.

[okits]

Well, I may just be hitting the FIRE button a lot sooner than originally planned. My time off request for September has just been denied for an already-planned trip.

This place is so hardline, I don't expect any result from attempted negotiation, but I'll try.

If they can't accommodate it, me and my F.U. / FI / RE money will follow the siren's song to freedom.

My birthday is upcoming. A resignation might be the best present I can give myself.

Steamed,
The Pigeon.

Oh...  Exciting.  My guess is if you try to quit your vacation will be approved!

[Pooja Sharma]

Its so great to work happily for last year of work. Can imagine your happiness.
Bliss!

[nottoolatetostart]

Amazingly exciting.

If you already have cash saved for 2016, then yes, putting the money into a traditional 401k would really lower your income and offset your for AGI. Try running an example in Taxcaster or other similar software to see benefits.

Congrats again. Enjoy your last May 8th working!

[FIRE me]

My birthday is upcoming. A resignation might be the best present I can give myself.

Steamed,
The Pigeon.

So how is this working out? Will you fly the coop? Or stay on the nest for another year?

[The Pigeon]

I worked the vacation snafu out with the boss. Which is good (in some ways, my master plan stays in place) and bad in others (I was visualizing the glee of giving the heave-ho and imagining the divine taste of freedom).
So, still a corporate drone, putting up with stupid rules and filling the 401k tank, and clicking off the days.
I feel like I owe it to them to give them a full year of service (WHY? I continually ask myself), since they were kind enough to hire me out of all their applicants--unless they impose some massive bull*hit on me.
I am sick and tired of my profession, and this new job has narrowed the variety of job tasks I used to do at my old job down to include only the most tedious parts. (They are a huge company, and all the creative I used to do at my old, tiny company-- well, this MegaCorp has "people for that").

So I'm slogging along, wondering why i'm doing this to myself when I don't HAVE to, battling the "obligation/you owe it to them/it's good for your taxes & another year of Health Insurance" devil on one shoulder and the "just quit already/ time's a-wastin’/that guitar can't play itself" angel on the other, clicking off the days to RE, and so, so happy I have the leverage to tell them to pound sand if any BS occurs.

-pigeon, still in the coop.

[FIRE me]

I think you and I have a lot in common. I could quit now and probably have enough to live on. But the next 18 months will give me two major cushions. My savings (and later SS) will provide income that almost doubles my current spending. I would also have an extra 50K as a second cushion.

Still, I wonder if I can do another 18 months. It is not just the BS (of which there is plenty), my job is a very physical factory production job and I am getting a lot of muscle and joint pain. Pain that 90% disappears when I take vacation and am not moving like a mad man to make ever increasing production targets.

[FrugalZony]

Hey Pigeon! How are things going?

[The Pigeon]

Hey Pigeon! How are things going?

GREAT! :-D
I lasted exactly one month after that post.

With the FI in the pocket and the siren song of ER beckoning, I couldn't stands no more! My last day was June 5.

I'm on week 2 of detoxing, and relishing the warm embrace of FIRE. :-)

Thanks for asking!
-The Pigeon

[Ricky]

Are you staying in SF?

[iluvzbeach]

Congratulations!!

[FrugalZony]

Hey Pigeon! How are things going?

GREAT! :-D
I lasted exactly one month after that post.

With the FI in the pocket and the siren song of ER beckoning, I couldn't stands no more! My last day was June 5.

I'm on week 2 of detoxing, and relishing the warm embrace of FIRE. :-)

Thanks for asking!
-The Pigeon

Yay!! Congratulations!!
So you actually made class of 2015 not 16 ;)
Good on you!!
Enjoy!