I think retirement is a pipe dream... (1 Viewer)

[Bayouboy]

the company my mother in law worked for had a pension. they decided to get rid of it, so employees had to take the lump sum that they had acured. she had worked for them for 30+ years. she didn't know what the right thing to do with the money. that's when they decided to get a financial advisor. he gave them his advice (don't ask, because I don't remember). he asked if they didn't mind, he would look at my father in laws money also. he agreed. a couple weeks later he called my father in law and asked him why he was still working?
they both continued to work for another 5 years.
I don't know how much money they have right now because they do spend liberally. they usually pay for our family vacations each year, etc. me and the wife have the only grandkids, her 2 sisters never got married or had children.
when they do pass away, I am hoping they saved enough for the grandkids at least (and enough for me and the wife to pay off our house lol)..

If I remember from another post you made, your father in law worked for Shell. If that's the case, they are more than well off. I would not be going out on a limb to say they take care of their employees better than any other company (not just in the O&G industry, but across all jobs in our region). Their pension was outstanding. Most pensions now-a-days are watered down from the past, but some companies still have them along with the 401K plans. Shell matchs 10% in their 401K plans. That shirt adds up over time!

 

[bigdaddysaints]

If I remember from another post you made, your father in law worked for Shell. If that's the case, they are more than well off. I would not be going out on a limb to say they take care of their employees better than any other company (not just in the O&G industry, but across all jobs in our region). Their pension was outstanding. Most pensions now-a-days are watered down from the past, but some companies still have them along with the 401K plans. Shell matchs 10% in their 401K plans. That shirt adds up over time!

I know a couple people that work for Shell now, and they said they have done away with pensions for new employees, starting about 5 or so years ago.
Pensions are good as long as you can trust the company. Just look at what Hostess did to their employees. "borrowed" their pensions to help the company, then filed Bankruptcy.. I am sure there are many more instances of companies screwing employees over in cases like that..

 

[jboss]

If I remember from another post you made, your father in law worked for Shell. If that's the case, they are more than well off. I would not be going out on a limb to say they take care of their employees better than any other company (not just in the O&G industry, but across all jobs in our region). Their pension was outstanding. Most pensions now-a-days are watered down from the past, but some companies still have them along with the 401K plans. Shell matchs 10% in their 401K plans. That shirt adds up over time!

They match 10 after ten years vested. It's 2.5% for the first six years and 5% for the next four.

I know a couple people that work for Shell now, and they said they have done away with pensions for new employees, starting about 5 or so years ago.
Pensions are good as long as you can trust the company. Just look at what Hostess did to their employees. "borrowed" their pensions to help the company, then filed Bankruptcy.. I am sure there are many more instances of companies screwing employees over in cases like that..

Yea the new pension is one of those points based systems. Age plus time vested.

 

[saintmdterps]

Good for him being smart enough to work both sides of the grass.

I once was working a mentally grueling transaction with a younger lawyer and, IIRC, at one point he looked out at the conference room window at some landscape workers and said something like: "Man, they don't know how good they have it, working outside with the dirt in their hands and no mental stress." I just mentioned to him that more likely they were probably thinking the same thing about us in an air conditioned room with no physical element required.

Years later, that same young guy was working another deal and went out in front of his hotel to wait for his car pickup. There was a golf tournament at the time (the Westchester Classic) and one of the golfers (Vijay Singh IIRC) was waiting for his ride. As he told me the story, Singh was quite a number of strokes back at this time and, after standing there quietly for awhile, my friend's car came and as he was leaving with his big case of documents, he looked at Singh and said: "Isn't this something? We're both going to work." Singh came back to win the tournament, and my friend always took credit for putting him in the right frame of mind to win.

#4 and #6 in a list of careers with the highest job satisfaction and happiness are plumber and carpenter. Immediate results, things look/work better, no meetings or reports, leave for the day and you're done.

I **** you not, I'm considering a career change...again

 

[bigdaddysaints]

They match 10 after ten years vested. It's 2.5% for the first six years and 5% for the next four.

Yea the new pension is one of those points based systems. Age plus time vested.

I know they had that when he was there. He had the points when he was 55 or 56. he could have retired then, but rode it out like 5 more years. i remember him talking about it.

Funny story:
He told them 6 months in advance that he was retiring. He trained his replacenent before he left. About 6 months later, that guy got into a wreck and had to have multiple surgeries, Hip and knee. He was gonna miss a lot of time. They called my Father in Law back and wanted to know if he was intersted in returning while the guy was out. It was supposed to be like 3 months. It was gonna be through a temp service. They asked him what hs price would be. He told the $85/hr (he dealt with contracts all the time so he knew what the going rate was). He said they immediately agreed. he said if he knew they would accept so quickly, he would have asked for $100/hr. Well, that 3 months turned into almost a year. He said something about they have some kind of rule where retired employees were only allowed to work 6 months out of the year. he worked almost 6 months one year, then 6 months the next. it was like free money to him.

 

[bigdaddysaints]

#4 and #6 in a list of careers with the highest job satisfaction and happiness are plumber and carpenter. Immediate results, things look/work better, no meetings or reports, leave for the day and you're done.

I **** you not, I'm considering a career change...again

i heard plumbing is easy. I was told the only skill you needed to know was crap (to put it politely) rolls down hill...

 

[jboss]

I know they had that when he was there. He had the points when he was 55 or 56. he could have retired then, but rode it out like 5 more years. i remember him talking about it.

Funny story:
He told them 6 months in advance that he was retiring. He trained his replacenent before he left. About 6 months later, that guy got into a wreck and had to have multiple surgeries, Hip and knee. He was gonna miss a lot of time. They called my Father in Law back and wanted to know if he was intersted in returning while the guy was out. It was supposed to be like 3 months. It was gonna be through a temp service. They asked him what hs price would be. He told the $85/hr (he dealt with contracts all the time so he knew what the going rate was). He said they immediately agreed. he said if he knew they would accept so quickly, he would have asked for $100/hr. Well, that 3 months turned into almost a year. He said something about they have some kind of rule where retired employees were only allowed to work 6 months out of the year. he worked almost 6 months one year, then 6 months the next. it was like free money to him.

Plant retirees can make serious money coming back as a contractor. The going rate now is well in the hundreds per hour. Plus they can basically name their own schedule. Some might only work Tuesday to Thursday and still make more than they were making before retirement.

 

[Bayouboy]

Yes, its not uncommon to have retirees come back making crazy money in industry. Goes to show you just how much these facilities make.

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

Yes, its not uncommon to have retirees come back making crazy money in industry. Goes to show you just how much these facilities make.

I mean , didnt Shell alone report a profit last year of $40 Billion ? I think it was Shell, it could be another oil company im thinking of though.. so yeah, when that kind of money is rolling in, even if every contractor they had was making $250/hr, it wouldnt even be a grain of sand on a giant beach .

 

[HoustonSaint68]

#4 and #6 in a list of careers with the highest job satisfaction and happiness are plumber and carpenter. Immediate results, things look/work better, no meetings or reports, leave for the day and you're done.

I **** you not, I'm considering a career change...again

Well, you’re doing pretty heroic work now but you also have to look out for your own physical and mental wellbeing. I’ve seen secondhand how grueling care work is — I don’t know how you’ve managed to stick with it this long!

 

[HoustonSaint68]

I mean , didnt Shell alone report a profit last year of $40 Billion ? I think it was Shell, it could be another oil company im thinking of though.. so yeah, when that kind of money is rolling in, even if every contractor they had was making $250/hr, it wouldnt even be a grain of sand on a giant beach .

Haha, definitely not suggesting that anyone shed a tear for the oil industry, but no one ever wants to talk about their balance sheets when the price of oil drops through the floor and the expenses and capital commitments don’t stop amidst cutthroat competition!

 

[Bayouboy]

Haha, definitely not suggesting that anyone shed a tear for the oil industry, but no one ever wants to talk about their balance sheets when the price of oil drops through the floor and the expenses and capital commitments don’t stop amidst cutthroat competition!

Not to mention COVID. My company had to take out billion dollar loans to make sure they had enough capital to weather the storm. Had the pandemic lasted longer or was more intense (more deaths and lockdowns), you would have seen some players possibly go bankrupt. It's crazy when you think about it. But some of it is on the company's way of handling money. Every corporation is looking out for the balance sheet and stock price. Instead of a slush fund with cash to weather a rainy day, they give it all to the shareholders. Stock goes up and everybody is happy, but you leave yourself venerable to an economic dip.

Oil companies made record bank last year. Inflation and supply/demand issues created a perfect storm and the crack spreads were ridiculous. Happy my company made money, but it sure put regular folks in a bind when gas is almost $5/gallon.

 

[HoustonSaint68]

But some of it is on the company's way of handling money. Every corporation is looking out for the balance sheet and stock price. Instead of a slush fund with cash to weather a rainy day, they give it all to the shareholders. Stock goes up and everybody is happy, but you leave yourself venerable to an economic dip.

Well, you're not wrong, but keeping too much available cash on hand is not really the smartest approach either when you're measured so exactingly against your competitors and your borrowing costs (and other financial impacts) are tied so closely to your stock price.

It's such an incredible balancing act -- trying to balance long-term growth and stability against the market's infantile screams for immediate feeding, all in a context of market pricing beyond your measurable impact, is a ceaseless, unwinnable battle.

But, at least it's not the airline business!!

 

[saintmdterps]

Well, you’re doing pretty heroic work now but you also have to look out for your own physical and mental wellbeing. I’ve seen secondhand how grueling care work is — I don’t know how you’ve managed to stick with it this long!

I was talking with our PT the other day, and saying that my position as Director of Rehab is the epitome of the term thankless job. Someone's always ****** off. Too many reports and meetings, and not enough time to dedicate to my patients. These low-mid level management jobs suck. Those who hold them are on their way up or on their way down. No one stays.

I talked with my regional manager yesterday during her site visit. She lamented the lack of satisfaction, the excessive hours, and the toll it's taken on her marriage. She's hoping her pending lateral move will reduce the stress level both personally and professionally. I told her as long as we do this, we only set the expectation we'll continue to do it. There is no reward.

I've learned to set boundaries and stick to them. My work computer does not go home with me. I'll stay a little late if need be, but No work on weekends. I've expressed this to my regional as essential to my health and well-being. If my efforts aren't enough they can find a new DOR. I'll survive.

The other day the most rewarding thing I did was tell one of my patients it was ok for him to go outside to visit with his family. He thanked me profusely and asked why no one else would take the time to find out for him? It took me all of 2 minutes.

I do PRN work at another facility on the weekends where I actually get to be a clinician again. No phone calls, no emails, no texts, no meetings, no reports. Just treat my patients. If I could afford it, I'd resign and be a treating therapist again. Until I become a painter anyway

"We the unwilling, led by the unknowing, are being asked to do the impossible for the ungrateful"

 

[saintmdterps]

i heard plumbing is easy. I was told the only skill you needed to know was crap (to put it politely) rolls down hill...

The only drawback to being a welder, plumber, painter, carpenter etc is the physical toll those jobs can take on your body. Ever contort yourself under a vanity or counter to replace a sink faucet?