Early Retirement - (nearly) one year on

blisteringblue

MallyGirl wrote: »

Very true - another IT worker here. It does allow me to work from home with a bit of travel to the office (needs an overnight stay so limit to once a month) or to clients at the beginning and end of projects. I moved from programming to a role where the delivery tool is Word - I wouldn't want to go back and try to compete with kids who grew up coding in their bedrooms.
I recently had my first job interview in 20 years and the feedback on why it was a 'no' was that I didn't have 'a passion' for the technology involved. Very true - it is just a job and I reserve my passions for things closer to home.
I suspect I will stick with current employer until retirement or till they don't want me anymore and have to pay me to go away. With 15 years service a redundancy payment would probably be enough to make the retirement decision for me.

I seem to see a pattern here with IT workers, me included.

Your post really rings true Mallygirl, I actually tried my best to make my position untenable at work for various reasons, and bar physical violence I quickly found this wasn't to happen. I too work from home 2 days a week and travel the rest, but that is UK wide and frequent overnights.

Well I applied for local IT Managers job that I could have done with my eyes closed, was massively overqualified for and did mean a 25% pay cut, but I just wanted an easy life for the last 4 years. Well I didn't even get an interview !! That was a massive eye opener for me. Now I know there could be many reasons for this, but I was walking distance and thought they would snap my hand off.

So played a little hard ball at work, aired every grievance I could possibly think of and to their due they have made changes and I'm back enjoying it again.

If I can get another couple of years in and then test the water for an exit package again I may even escape a year or so earlier and not have to think about another job, but either way can see this out for 4 more years. I mean that's 1 more world cup :rotfl:

JoeEngland

AnotherJoe wrote: »

Nah. Agile is a reset back to the 1970's so you just start again

I wish you hadn't mentioned Agile! At my last employer they brought in a Scrum Master (can't understand why this role gets such an exalted title) who seemed to know little about IT and thought that religiously applying Scrum methodology was the best way to deliver something not really suited to Scrum. Dealing with him was a real sap on my morale.

oxfordowl1

Thank you for sharing. As a 30 year old it has been an enjoyable and illuminating read. This discussion triggered me and my partner sitting down and discussing pensions! We both realised that what we wanted was not to retire particularly early, but to drop to 4 days really quite soon so we can make the most of our shared but time consuming hobby. Thankfully our finances should allow us to do this.

I also feel grateful for the lessons my parents taught me. From my Dad it was that if you want something, work and save for it. From my Mum it was to make sure you can enjoy the small things in life.

I'm also in IT (but in the civil service) and whilst I'm currently happy to learn whatever the next fad of a code is, but I know there will be a point when I won't want to or can't.

Thanks once again for such an interesting read.

westv

JoeEngland wrote: »

I wish you hadn't mentioned Agile! At my last employer they brought in a Scrum Master (can't understand why this role gets such an exalted title) who seemed to know little about IT and thought that religiously applying Scrum methodology was the best way to deliver something not really suited to Scrum. Dealing with him was a real sap on my morale.

I've seen "scrum master" mentioned before but always assumed it had something to do with rugby!

aldershot

westv wrote: »

I've seen "scrum master" mentioned before but always assumed it had something to do with rugby!

Nice gap on this thread between 2.30 and 6.50

MallyGirl

AnotherJoe wrote: »

Nah. Agile is a reset back to the 1970's so you just start again

In the 90s we called it DSDM but it is the same old thing. My employer keeps talking about Agile and SAFe but it just doesn't apply well to the bespoke solutions I design. Plus working from home means endless conf calls as I am not prepared to go to where everyone else is that often. I ended up working for them by acquisition so no one else has the T&Cs that I do - after 15 years they still don't really know how to deal with me. We are having yet another restructure next month so I am going to have to break in another new line manager. Boring!

MallyGirl

OldMusicGuy wrote: »

There seem to be quite a lot of IT folks on here that I suspect are spending time during boring conference calls on MSE rather than paying attention to the boring conference call.....;) I know I used to.....:D

I actually book some of the time - I get 3 days a year volunteering and I can use it as an MSE board guide. I used to be a school governor but this is much easier - apart from the occasional 'spamnami'!

DairyQueen

Another IT bod here. I saw the writing on the wall in my early 40s and went self-employed. I saw too many experienced and competent people 'rationalised' out of the door when they hit their 50s. I knew my days were numbered so engineered my redundancy (luckily I managed that specific project).

Never regretted self-employment nor forced retirement in my early 50s. Now, people think I am a technology luddite because I don't have a mobile device attached to me 24/7. Not at all; I simply like engaging with the world only when I choose to do so.

bugslet

I really do feel like the odd one out, I can barely switch a computer on.

swindiff wrote: »

All of you guys that mention high levels of stress in your previous employment which caused health issues. Were you particularly well paid and was it worth it at the time? Did high earnings enable you to retire 10 years earlier than would have otherwise been possible? I dont earn a fortune, but not on the poverty line either at just over £40k with a decent DB pension, but my job causes me no stress whatsoever.

Until two years ago I earned under 40k, and the job was stressful, but it was the kind of stress I thrived on. Two years ago there was a shift from a family feel within my main customer to a nasty corporate feel. Quite subtle at first but the last year has been unpleasant, so I gave notice last June and 63 operational days to go.

So once it became clear it wasn't worth it, I decided to leave.

DairyQueen

bugslet wrote: »

So once it became clear it wasn't worth it, I decided to leave.

A decision that I doubt you will ever regret.