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Hi HD Community, I need your help. Today is my last official day of work, having been abruptly terminated with a fellow group of Sr. Managers as part of a corporate restructuring. To be honest, I was not surprised or even particularly upset with the decision as I know the company is struggling and I have been unhappy in my role for some time. Some quick background…I am recently 59, happily married for 35 years with two adult children who are both out of the house and on their own. As with most members of this community, I was a diligent saver and invested wisely throughout my career. As a result, I am in the very fortunate position that I do not need to work if I choose not to…at least not for the money. Here is where I could use some help…as part of my severance, I am being paid ‘continuing compensation’ for the next several months. Like unemployment, it comes with the stipulation that if I find a new job, ANY job, I am obligated to tell them and the payments will cease. In other words, I am completely disincentivized from seeking employment until the payments run out! So, here is where I can use your help…I want to stay happily married and feel productive while I search for my next role. What ideas do you have for how I should spend my 6 months “paid vacation”? NOTE: I am not bragging or seeking congratulations. I am truly worried about how I fill my days and not slip into depression. I am hoping that one (or more) of you will have some viable suggestions for me. Thanking you in advance.
I found my self in a very similar position in 2017. I was terminated on March 31 after my position was eliminated due to the end of a long held government contract. This was expected a year earlier but many of us were able to hang on longer. At the time I managed more than a hundred engineers, and most of them were in similar positions. I spend most of my last few years working to make sure everyone had somewhere to land. I was 59.5 at the time. I could have found another position with the company but it would have required relocating to the DC area. I also had compensation that would cover me until I turned 60 and could start an unreduced pension. Additionally, at the same time I was leaving my wife started a new position that would cover our health benefits. Her salary and my pension would cover our expenses.
I used the time to review our retirement plan and investigate new opportunities. I completed the Retirement Income Certification Professional program and looked at a possible career shift into financial planning. Several colleagues asked me to become their advisor, I thought hard about such a big change, and set up a solo LLC to be ready. About 4 months after I left my company asked if I wanted to consult on some proposals. I agreed and spend most of the last quarter of 2017 working as a consultant. This led to several years of rewarding consulting. I backed off during Covid because much of it required travel.
My suggestion would be to use this opportunity to think hard about the next phase of your life. It sounds like you are in a fortunate position to have choices. One of the things I have learned during my 7 years of involvement with HumbleDollar is that retirement isn’t a one size fits all arrangement. You get to choose a great deal of how it will go. And choices you make today aren’t set in stone. So thinking in terms of possible paths, and options, can be helpful. Best of luck on this next phase.
Thanks Rick. I have considered the financial advisor pivot as well. I feel like if I could help people achieve the same level of financial security that me and my family enjoy, that would be very rewarding for sure. I found an organization called 3rd Decade which is a non profit group that provides financial mentoring to young people in their 20’s (ergo the name 3rd Decade). Many of their mentees appear to be first generation college students who lack role models and leave school with substantial debts. I signed up to become a mentor and look forward to learning more about the program.
It’s not surprising that so many HD readers at some point considered a second career as a financial planner. I too considered becoming a CFP. Two things stopped me: 1) I am not comfortable with sales, 2) I figured I would use simple index funds as the basis for my clients’ portfolios, and teach the client how simple investing had become, but thought no one would pay for that. Lo and behold two decades later financial planning is utilizing these types of portfolios and concentrating on the rest of financial management, not picking stocks.
First, I’m sorry your career ended this way, but what strikes me most is that you’re asking the right question. You’re not asking, “How do I replace my paycheck?” You’re asking, “How do I replace my purpose?” Those are very different challenges. I’d resist thinking of the next six months as a paid vacation. Instead, think of them as a rare opportunity to experiment. Volunteer, take a class, reconnect with old friends, exercise, travel locally, tackle projects you’ve postponed, or mentor someone starting their career. Retirement taught me that happiness isn’t found in staying busy, it’s found in doing things that make you look forward to tomorrow. Use these months to discover what that is for you. You may find your next chapter looks very different from your last, and all the richer because of it.
Thanks Andrew, I appreciate the optimism and really like the way that you put that “things that make me look forward to tomorrow”. I have a long list of things to try out in my quest to figure out what that activity (or activities) is/are.