I'm 57 and have been offered a package a little earlier than expected. Company usually offers a retirement package every five years and we are at four since the last. I have been there almost 30 years and have been offered 58 weeks of pay. Wife (56) works at the same company and is definitely going to take the package (she gets 20 weeks of pay). Her job is very stressful, where mine is pretty manageable and I work from home most of the time. The package also comes with 12 months of subsidized Cobra. One of our kids has graduated and looking for his first job (living with us) and second kid is a sophomore in college.
Assets:
$400K taxable
$1.2M 401K - me
$1.2M 401K - wife
$900K lump sum pension - me
$1M Home ($220k mortgage)
$700K vacation/future retirement house ($450k mortgage)
401Ks are light because we were too conservative and always expected a crash at some point. Pension lump sum is down about $300k from a few years ago due to high interest rates.
I'm sure most people would say take it, but I have been hit with a wave of fear and a little depression when thinking about walking away. We would need to sell our primary house we've had for more than 20 years, which frees up $700k and significantly lowers expenses. We would not be able to travel much immediately because my 87 year old parents, who are in bad health, refuse to move from their house for better care. I need to be around to help them. When they pass, I will probably inherit around $1M.
I don't think we would pay off the house we would be moving to as the mortgage rate is 3%. A guess at yearly expenses would be about $75k in retirement plus a couple more years of college expenses.
I definitely don't want to wait 5 years for the next package, but it's still hard to walk away from a good salary and a pension that would grow with more time and lower interest rates.
I have 2 months to decide for a late March 2024 departure date. Would you do it?
Assets:
$400K taxable
$1.2M 401K - me
$1.2M 401K - wife
$900K lump sum pension - me
$1M Home ($220k mortgage)
$700K vacation/future retirement house ($450k mortgage)
401Ks are light because we were too conservative and always expected a crash at some point. Pension lump sum is down about $300k from a few years ago due to high interest rates.
I'm sure most people would say take it, but I have been hit with a wave of fear and a little depression when thinking about walking away. We would need to sell our primary house we've had for more than 20 years, which frees up $700k and significantly lowers expenses. We would not be able to travel much immediately because my 87 year old parents, who are in bad health, refuse to move from their house for better care. I need to be around to help them. When they pass, I will probably inherit around $1M.
I don't think we would pay off the house we would be moving to as the mortgage rate is 3%. A guess at yearly expenses would be about $75k in retirement plus a couple more years of college expenses.
I definitely don't want to wait 5 years for the next package, but it's still hard to walk away from a good salary and a pension that would grow with more time and lower interest rates.
I have 2 months to decide for a late March 2024 departure date. Would you do it?