TLDR: Well paid but hate my job. Think I have enough cash to last a while if I quit. Undecided and a bit afraid of the what-ifs and unknowns. You only live once. What do?
First line engineering manager at very large old prestigious company that you've all heard of. We are in major cost cutting mode, we aren't innovative anymore, we are handcuffed by bureaucracy and politics, we are bloated, and I hate it. Despite this, they've been very good to me over the years. They paid for my MBA and they paid for a bachelors in Computer Science that I'll finish in June (I did it for kicks/as a hobby in my spare time and I'm finishing with a 4.0). I also have another Engineering degree which is directly related to what my company does (not software). I left this company once before and was hired back when I asked to come back. I understand "grass is greener syndrome" as I've been there and done that. We are downsizing quite a bit this year in engineering (and everywhere else) and I'm being offered the "opportunity" to take a voluntary layoff. To be clear, every first and second line manager (and lots of engineers) are being offered this opportunity so it's not a reflection of my performance. I'm trying to decide whether or not to take it and this decision is about more than money.
Current base is in the low $140k range. Bonus is nominally 10% (based on company performance) with slight upper/lower based on personal performance. No equity compensation. 401k match is 6% on my 8% contribution, plus they put in another 4% whether I contribute or not. Near zero insurance premiums for a high deductible policy. I have 17 days of vacation, 10 days of sick leave. We are closed Memorial, Independence, Labor, Thanksgiving (plus Friday), and we close for about 9 days over the X-mas/New Years Holiday (all paid days off).
I have probably $2500 in an HSA, $10k in a ROTH IRA, and about $177k in my 401(k). One car paid off. Another car with a payment. I owe about $355k on a house I could sell for about $570k based on recent comps. I have $35k in cash. Zero credit card debt. My monthly expenses are in the $4500 range. I've verified that I'll be coded as "layoff" for unemployment reasons and I can collect the max of $2500 per month unemployment in my state for up to 6 months.
I have a wife (she doesn't work but she could if she needed to) and 2 kids. I'm 40 years old.
The severance isn't great. 1 week of salary for every year of service. Add in the payoff of unused vacation and I'll gross about $35k (I realize it will be subject to 25% lump sump withholding). My last day on the job would be the end of June. By then I'll be finished with my Computer Science degree. My company will pay for my COBRA through the end of September.
I live in an expensive city with a red hot real estate market and red hot tech industry. My county is one of the fastest growing in the nation.
By my math I could probably last about a year before I really started hurting for money. More if my wife took a job. I feel like in my city with 2 technical degrees (engineering and computer science) plus my MBA I should be able to find work pretty quickly. Could probably get a software engineer job pretty quick especially if I had full time at home to prepare for interviews. I'd be willing to take a project manager type job. But I don't really want to be in management anymore.
Not that I want to go back to work quickly. I have a big trip planned for the end of June (the timing is perfect - it's right after I finish school and right after I'd leave my job). Then I'd love to have July and August off with my kids and go back to work when they go back to school (after Labor Day). Of course I realize I'll go back whenever I find something. I'm not concerned with making the same amount of money. I'm more concerned with being happy. I'm getting older and if I don't jump now I'm a bit worried about age discrimination 10 years from now.
I realize I've been rambling a bit but I'm looking for the "what am I not considering" type items. Thanks for reading.
Submitted March 31, 2017 at 09:09PM by VLO_Throwaway http://ift.tt/2nsvaAE
