I know that the Great Resignation has been all over the news, but it hit home where I work recently. We have had four people resign in the last three weeks. That is more than 10% of our group. We rarely have more than one resignation a year and it usually takes six months to a year to find a qualified replacement. I knew that it was probably going to happen after the mandate to bring everyone back into the office came down (management had previously proposed a hybrid model). We had a couple of people from other groups choose to retire early instead of coming back to the office. I am seriously considering retiring a early too. I do not see the purpose of wasting two and half to three hours a day commuting to and from work. It is a waste of fossil fuel and time. I was more productive when I telecommuted. Has anyone else experienced the Great Resignation where they work?
We haven’t seen many resignations where I work, or no more than normal. And that’s probably because my company pays us super well (it’s a multi-billion dollar company with thousands of employees all over the world). It’s a good company, but… not without its faults…
However, we ARE losing people over time, through attrition & by design, because the company keeps throwing money at people aged 55+ to get them out the door quicker, plus at my site alone (of hundreds) they have announced they will be laying off ~100 people over the next couple years (currently have just over 500 people on site). They claim it’s to become more efficient and cost effective, but we keep telling them it will have the opposite effect due to major permanent loss of talent. Damned greedy CEO who makes like $20 million per year wants to line his own pockets with more and more of our wages. So here, any increase in “resignations”, if it happens, will be more due to threats of layoffs and/or “enhanced retirement packages” than anything else.
I was forced into retirement a few yrs ago. Not by nefarious corporate shenanigans but thru spouse health issues. I enjoy my life a lot more without the 9 to 5. Anyone thinking about retirement: I vouch for it. It’s a great way to live.
I retired early, with a package, at 56. That was 13 years ago.
Life is short. Make the most of it.
I originally planned to retire in 2023, so it will not be all that early. I am extremely burned out. A forty-year career in engineering will do that to a person. I wish that possessed the engineering knowledge I have today when I was first starting out. Pulling all-nighters debugging a circuit or software, so that we could meet a due date was not difficult back in those days.
Trust me, if the Great Resignation visited my place of work, it will visit any workplace where the work can be performed remotely, but management has a butt-in-seat mindset.
I’m out in 5. Sooner if I could access 401K. Current plan is to work until the end of December 2026.
We’ve not see the resignations, but are having an extremely difficult time finding new employees despite a starting wage of over 25 bucks/hr. What’s odd is the current employees aren’t interested in overtime. That doesn’t compute for me. Let’s say an employee is making 30/hr. Overtime is 45/hr and doubletime is 60/hr. I’d take that action all day everyday if I could get it.
THIS. I d9dnt retire as early as Jeff, but I walked away from both my job and business when I was 62. Not everyone is so lucky, but if you can retire, do it. Life is too short to not be happy.
I’m considering invoking the 72(t) Rule. It lets you take out 401(k) or IRA money at any age that you want, without any penalty tax, as long as you promise to keep withdrawing substantially equal periodic payments (SEPPs) for at least 5 years or until you hit age 59.5, whichever is later. I am currently 47 and looking to retire at about age 55.
There is also a special Rule of 55, with a few extra restrictions, which is why I might prefer 72(t) rule. They call 72(t) a “last resort”, but for me, in my personal situation, I think it will be the first resort.
I figure I’ve got 8 years left to go, either way, to have enough to retire most comfortably. IF we get a bull market in the next 8 years (a BIG IF), I could afford to retire even earlier by age 53-54. I would just love that.
Some super basic info, Google these rules deeper to learn more:
I overheard a conversation at my gym about 4 years ago. The typical conversations that occur on a Friday after 5pm… thank God its Friday etc. One guy pipes up and says something like; if only 2 days a week are what you are living for you need to change how you are living the other 5. That stuck with me and within months I had an investment friend check over our finances and assured me I could retire early. It’s the best decision other than marrying my wife and having children I have ever made.
I haven’t experienced a sudden mass-resignation in my field, but we have gradually gotten to that point over the past many years through attrition. Healthcare has taken a big hit (hospitals in particular) since the ACA went into place. De facto workforce reductions are commonplace by simply not replacing positions as they are vacated.
In addition, pharmacists in particular are feeling a big pinch. Before the real estate bubble burst in the late 00’s, chain pharmacies were opening new stores at an exponential rate - faster than colleges could graduate new pharmacists. This led to a glut of new colleges offering pharmacy programs (a 70% increase over the last 20 years or so). The big chains stopped opening new stores about 10-15 years ago and moved to expansion by taking over local and regional pharmacy chains. This led to a net closure of stores as redundant locations get closed after acquisitions.
At the same time, the new colleges starting graduating new pharmacists at an accelerating rate. These new pharmacists often don’t possess the skills that new grads once had. Pharmacy programs were highly competitive 20-30 years ago, but the newer schools accept anyone with a 4 year BS, and put them through an accelerated Pharm D program run by inexperienced professors. For comparison, my alma mater has a 94% pass rate on the pharmacy boards, while the two newer schools in New England have pass rates of 72% and 57%. So we have a glut of lower-quality grads competing for fewer jobs. Salaries for new grads are about 2/3 what it was compared to 12 years ago, and even the better candidates sometimes need a year or two to find a job after they graduate.
I enjoy what I do, and it is fulfilling work, but I got into this field at the perfect time. I am lucky to be working in a hospital now rather than retail, even though we are constantly being forced to do more and more with less and less help. I would never let my kid go into pharmacy now. It is just too much school for not enough pay, if you can even find work.
Totally agree with this. We are not forcing people back to the office (for software/internet work), and we still have people leaving. Tech is hiring remotely and the market is extremely competitive right now, and everyone in management learned what we already knew: counting butts in the seat is a piss poor way to manage.
Thanks for sharing that. The best piece of advice I was ever given when I was a student was to max out my 401(k) as soon as I graduated, and forget it’s there. This way you never even factor it in when building a budget, and you get the longest window for growth. 59.5 is getting close enough to see, but I’m in a similar place where I could probably afford to retire even earlier if the market outstrips inflation by a large enough amount over the next 10 years. I plan on working as long as I can as long as my job is still fulfilling, but hitting that mark where I can say “screw this, I’m retiring” at any time will make it a lot easier to keep going.
Agreed, if your fortunate enough to do it.
I am grateful to be one of them.
Retired at 50, that was also about 13 years ago.
My company keeps pushing back the return to work day. They’ve been really great about flexibility in choosing hours, but not always remote work. I think it’s around to stay though, our division had a survey and over 95% said they wanted to be working remote at least 2 days a week. I haven’t heard a lot of resignations in my area, but the production and distribution area is interviewing like crazy. They’re even offering engineers overtime to help out.
That being said, I’ve seen a lot of “doing more with less” like erockph has mentioned. Replacing an opening at a much lower level while expecting the same work, not filling spots. It sounds like every team is about 1/2 the size it was 15 years ago, and it seems like every engineer is pitching in to help marketing, supply chain, pricing, etc. I can’t imagine it lasting.
Be careful with maxing out unless some of it is going in as Roth. With compounding interest you may have potential to be in new/unfamiliar tax brackets when you reach the age of RMD. I always thought I would be in a situation of less taxation when I retired, but with my wife’s pension and SS benefits it’s not going to be possible. Also you can convert to Roth, BUT you must have the cash for taxes in hand. Any Roth conversion is on the sidelines for 5 years.
We are in the same market. Things are going to get worse before they get better.
I live in a high tax state and I will actually bring home more while making less because my state does not SS and only partially taxes pension income. That is when I realized that I could retire early and eat the penalty on my pension. I worked in the private sector before taking my current gig, so I have always put money away in 401K, even if it was just a small amount. I am surprised by how many of my colleagues do not put anything away in 401K, even though my organization has a 401K plan in addition to our modest pension plan. That is foolish.
Not to jack the thread, but it’s compounding interest which can a problem, a good problem, but nonetheless a problem. So if you’re making 15% the money will double in 4.8 years. If you’re making 6% the money will double in 12 years.
So someone who decides to retire at 59 1/2 has 12.5 years until they hit the age of RMD at 72. So the portfolio will more than double for most people before they hit the age of RMD. Of course funds are likely to be withdrawn so the portfolio will decrease.
To be in the 12% tax bracket, a married couple will need to stay below $80k. Let’s say they both are drawing SS at 20k each. That leaves 40k they can withdraw or convert and stay in a low federal tax bracket. If one or both get a pension, let’s say 20k, then only 20k can be withdrawn per year to stay in the 12% tax bracket. (I’m of course ignoring any deductions for this oversimplified example.)
Let’s run another example. A husband and wife have been heavily contributing to 401k and are in their 50s eyeballing retirement. Most of their money is in traditional 401k, not Roth. Let’s make them the same age, 50 with a million combined in retirement. That’s 22 years until RMD. If they are averaging 10% per year, then in 22 years 1 million will become 8 million. (It will double 3X in 22 years at 10%) The RMD at 72 is roughly 401kfunds/27. That means if they haven’t done anything at age 72 they will be required to withdraw $300k which is the 24% tax bracket and not the 12% they anticipated.
Here’s a real world example of compounding interest. I know someone who left $2,500 with an employer’s 401k in 1998 because the amount was small and their new employer didn’t have a 401k at the time. They never put another dime in it, but they did/do monitor the investments and made changes over time. Today, 23 years later, that account has $85k in it.
If your company matches it’s hard to justify not putting something in your 401k.
Sad to hear all the “buts on seats”, just a sign of poor management.