#16
|
|||
|
|||
I spent 32 years in the private sector with one company, advancing nicely over time that allowed me to feel a certain amount of achievement, worked for me and my family and provided a good income and benefits.
Guess what? At 55 they felt my time there was up. They made my life miserable for a period until I put my big boy pants on and negotiated my way out. I found a new job with better pay in my industry and, after 4 years there, have moved onto another company in a different segment, again, more money, etc. (Though I have not recovered the enormous amount of paid time off that I once had.) My point? I’m happier now and, though the risk was kind of forced upon me, the change did me a world of good. If you are talented, hardworking and want to advance you’ll do fine with most company’s. Government jobs have their benefits but what I’d ask is this—if you feel safe there-I thing you mentioned job security and the inability to be let go-are you also being rewarded for good work? The motivation for reward and achievement is solely up to you. |
#17
|
|||
|
|||
No one can do anything but tell you their experiences, preferences, and so on.
Read your own post. Your heart is telling you something. We all fear change, some of us more than others. At your age it isn't unusual to ask "is this all there is?" This life offers no guarantees. Some things are more important than security, to some people. As I said, read your post again. There are some things in there that are very telling. Good luck with your decision.
__________________
Nothing bothers me unless I let it. Martin D18 Gibson J45 Gibson J15 Fender Copperburst Telecaster Squier CV 50 Stratocaster Squier CV 50 Telecaster |
#18
|
|||
|
|||
Agreed. If you're not happy, what good is the security that you are stuck there?
|
#19
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
This is a life changing event no matter which you choose. Which ever way you go own it. Just make sure you don't get yourself someplace you don't want to be.
__________________
Waterloo WL-S, K & K mini Waterloo WL-S Deluxe, K & K mini Iris OG, 12 fret, slot head, K & K mini Follow The Yellow Brick Road |
#20
|
|||
|
|||
There's a reason we call it "work" and not "fun." When I want fun I go cycling, or hiking, or camping, or skiing, or play music. I don't expect to get paid for pursuing fun or entertainment. The plus side for me is I believe in what I do for a career (make electricity for schools, factories, hospitals, homes to use). I also get paid well, have all the bennies plus a defined benefit state retirement. I've been in the private sector and did not find it fulfilling or rewarding. I could make a lot more doing what I do in a different (less desirable for me) part of the country. Not worth it to me.
|
#21
|
|||
|
|||
Never forget......it’s just a job. Don’t try and make it more than that, because it isn’t.
Find your fulfillment somewhere else. A job is to provide you with money. Private sector can and will treat you like a number, not a person.
__________________
Martin 00018 |
#22
|
|||
|
|||
Life is short.... and a 10-15 year sentence doesn't sound very appealing to me. A gilded cage is still a cage. But I am an entrepreneurial type who has been self employed for 29 years now. I would find working a politically constrained government job uncomfortable, no matter how "stable" it is or what the benefits were.
Lots of good points raised here. It's a matter of accepting what you can tolerate and changing what you can about the current situation - or taking a chance. |
#23
|
|||
|
|||
Thank you. It’s a huge decision for sure.
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Very good question. Here’s a background for what I do. I’m a diesel mechanic, and I work on a variety of heavy trucks from regular dump trucks and tractors, to refuse trucks, sewer trucks, and aerial trucks. Refuse trucks break the most often, and are top priority. People will write to the mayor if their rubbish is not picked up. Hard to be passionate about that stuff lol. The possible opportunity is working mostly on light-medium duty pickup trucks, some generators and some construction equipment. I’m married and have a 19 year old son from a previous marriage. Have many obligations including a mortgage and everything that comes with it. The extra money will help, and I don’t have to work 20+ hours overtime a week to keep up. |
#24
|
|||
|
|||
While I understand the 7-year-itch and the occasional desire to do something different, a guitar forum is not the place to seek advice or even suggestions on life-altering decisions. You have all the information you require to make your decision - along with your wife. You are not in this alone and her advice, support and council is the most important input you will ever get. I feel for anyone that has to work 60 hours a week to make it so a new job where you make considerably more might be a God-send or a curse if it ends up not having the job-security you need for the next 15-20 years. I wish you success in whatever decision you and your wife come to and decide to go with.
|
#25
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
__________________
stai scherzando? |
#26
|
||||||
|
||||||
Take a chance, or stay comfortable?
Quote:
Wow thank you so much for all those words. Many good questions. Ok, starting from how vested I am, I’m still not 100% clear, but I know I’m good for medical, and I believe 1/4 of my pay when I turn 62. My next tier is at 25 years in service, which seems quite far away right now. You hit a nail in the head when it comes to time vs money. Time never stops, so that makes time THE most valuable thing we have, yet we take it for granted so much. Right now, I’m spending more time at work than I’d like to. With this new job I’ll be making more money without the extra hours. It’s not about the money, it’s about the time! Quote:
Quote:
Oh good point, the ball and chain. Here’s another detail about that position. It’s at the company my wife currently works for. She brought it up to me and has been encouraging me, because she knows how unhappy I am there. So yeah this was actually her idea! As for my choice of forum to ask such question, I disagree. This forum is a guitar forum, but it’s also chock full of people from all ages, walks of life, and even other countries. I’m getting very valuable advice with this thread so I can’t be thankful enough. True! Quote:
Quote:
I am also entrepreneurial at heart, and always been trying to break off the W2 world. Gotta take your chances for that! Quote:
I actually was, I thought I landed THE job. But the wrong people were promoted to high management, and it’s has been downhill since then. I’d say about 5 years ago is when I started to dread waking up in the morning. I’d be dreading Monday morning by Saturday evening. That’s quite sad. There was an opportunity to change departments, and I even had a week long stint in that department, and really liked it. But that was a temporary assignment, that’s not gonna happen consistently enough so can’t really count on that. Will I be happy in my new job? No way to know that, I can only hope I’ll find what I’m looking for. |
#27
|
||||
|
||||
If there is a pension at the end of your gov't career, I would recommend that you do whatever you need to do to stay long enough to collect it. My guess is that you are at least halfway there?
I retired at age 55 from a county job and moved to the private sector- and hated it. But I didn't have to stay because I had my pension. So I worked PT jobs, which I enjoyed, until my wife (a teacher) retired. We now have a nice life with 2 pensions, and both work as substitute teachers if and when we want to. We can do this because we stuck it out until we could retire w/pension. A pension is a very valuable thing, and becoming a rare thing; you don't see them as much anymore. Too bad. We are both lucky, and don't take our situation for granted. I should mention that I went through some bad times at my gov't job when I really hated it there. But I just laid low and things eventually got better. I was quite happy there when I retired, but it was time to go.
__________________
2002 Martin OM-18V 2012 Collings CJ Mh SS SB 2013 Taylor 516 Custom |
#28
|
||||
|
||||
As an old man now the pension thing is huge. And I mean monstrous. If a person believes in working hard and that they deserve to benefit from it then you are in the right place. As you describe your job you point out it's easy etc. But the hard part is staying and maintaining the position. That's exactly why the benefits are there. To keep you there with your experience and knowledge. Many people in their sixties are becoming poor as they have no retirement. The self employed almost always end up working until they die as they have no retirement money arranged for. I worked for 32 years and retired with a 401k. What that means is my retirement is all in a lump sum of money they handed me. If I spend it, infest it incorrectly and lose it, the economy goes south or you name it, it's all on me. Then I got a part time government job with a pension with old contract language that said if you are over 55 you're vested. I looked at the amount I would receive if I stayed X amount of years and compared that with other job offers in my field that would've paid me a huge amount of money. Then I looked at how much money it would take to invest to equal the amount I would get from the small pension I would get. The other job offers pay would have to be unrealistic to match it. Let's say your current job will pay you $2,400 when you retire. Now figure out how much money you would have to have, in cash, to invest to pay you $2,400 a month for 25 years. If you take the time and effort to do this you will have a completely different perspective I guarantee it.
__________________
Waterloo WL-S, K & K mini Waterloo WL-S Deluxe, K & K mini Iris OG, 12 fret, slot head, K & K mini Follow The Yellow Brick Road |
#29
|
||||
|
||||
I rarely thought about retirement when I was working, but now fully realize the importance of some form of retirement planning while still in the workforce. As Mr. Jelly said above, "the pension thing is huge." This can't be overstated...
__________________
Emerald X20 Emerald X20-12 Fender Robert Cray Stratocaster Martin D18 Ambertone Martin 000-15sm |
#30
|
|||
|
|||
Nothing done for the money is a good idea.
|