a very good retirement pension

[Jan M.]

Trust me, given the amount of staggering financial support we have provided (despite the fact they have been financially reckless with what we gave them) over the last four years, we will have no regrets.

You said in a previous post that she had two children under the age of two. So you've been subsidizing them even before they had children! Upon getting her degrees did she at some point work in her field? Did she pay for her own education or did you?

I've heard people tell about the tens of thousands of dollars and even more they've poured into their adult children's lives. In most cases it was to help them keep their houses when they lost a job or both lost jobs. The saddest part was that most of the time those adult children eventually lost the house anyways and all that money was wasted. The one thing we have not done for our son that many people chose to do is help them get a house. If they cannot afford to buy a house without our help then they have no business being in a house. I've explained to our son that there is far more to owning a house than making the mortgage and tax payments. Upkeep isn't cheap and repair or replacement of broken or worn out things rarely happens when it is convenient. The furnace/ac you were sure was good for a few more years, now needs replaced immediately. That tax return you were counting on to pay for your vacation or pay down a credit card? Guess what ain't happening and your tax return may not even be enough to cover the expense.

When you say a staggering amount I'm guessing it is much, much more than the $100 a month cell phone bill and occasional $150 school loan that we pay to enable our son to work part time and be home with their 17 month old. My husband and I remember having conversations when we were young and struggling that when you take money from your family you open the door for them to say how you should live your life/spend their money. We didn't have a lot of sympathy for the people we knew who were complaining about their parents criticizing their spending habits and lifestyle. It didn't hurt us to live on a strict budget with very, very few extras. We still feel that living like we did those years was a good experience for anyone. It has made us truly appreciate what we have now. It also provides a certain measure of security to know that we know how and could live like that again if it became necessary and that we would be just fine.

My husband tends to be more critical than I am when it comes to how our son and DIL spend their money. But they really are pretty good. I find it quite amusing because my husband has never been the one who paid the bills or did the budgeting. He was the one I used to have to ride herd on! Back in our early years I got tired of being stressed every month when it came time to pay the bills and had enough of his "it's only a buck or five dollars" attitude. I insisted he write down every cent he spent for the next two weeks and told him he didn't even have to show it to me as long as he did it. He was shocked at how much that buck/five here and there added up to. He started taking a cup of coffee with him when he walked out the door instead of stopping to buy one, packed a lunch instead of eating out and a couple other little things too. Last year I overheard him telling our son how I had insisted he do that and recommended our son do it. Our son reminded him that for one of the Boy Scout badges I made our son a spreadsheet to track how he spent his allowance and paper route money. When we sat down at the end to look over his expenditures I explained that I wasn't criticizing his choices but wanted him to understand that every time you spend money on non essentials you are making a choice and asked him to evaluate the choices he had made. I asked him if he enjoyed the $1 bottle of pop each week at youth group and a couple of other things as much as being able to have a video game he wanted which that money would have bought. He knew if he wanted that video game he had to buy it himself. I told him if he truly enjoyed being able to do things like spend the money to buy pop when he could have grabbed a can out of the frig at home to take with him more than being able to buy the video game he wanted then that was his choice and his business. I told him about someone I knew who truly detested ironing her husband's dress shirts for work and gladly paid $5 a week to send them to the cleaners. To her it was well worth it and she would rather cut back on or do without something else to be able to give herself that treat.

I remember a former neighbor from years ago saying she had no sympathy in regards to someone else's situation. She said we all have 24 hours in our day and choices about how we use our time and spend our money. She told me no one should never feel an obligation to support someone else's choices. That everyone needs to learn that you don't have to have that or have to do that and life will go on just fine. If you want something then you need to figure out how to work or save for it instead of looking to other people.

 

[geekette]

Just because TODAY you found health insurance at an "okay, I can live with that ... barely ... " DO NOT ASSUME that rate/policy will be there NEXT YEAR or the year after. And another round of changing doctors begins.

yeah, I know, it's crazy. Revolving crapshoot. It's fair to say that I have been spoiled by employer-offered insurance, and I've always had to pay a premium and pay the docs, no Cadillac plan for me, ever, but, I never needed it. I have selected high deductible plans when they have been offered to hopefully squirrel enough away into HSA to save for later. So far so good, putting in and not taking out. We'll see how 2018 goes; I might need to tap one of them.

Probably I can retire at 59.5 and meet projectable expenses fine, if not for the health care wild card.

For those who are receiving now or will be receiving a pension, does it have a healthcare component? Dad was a GE man so Mom has his pension and repeated cuts to retiree health benefits. Since she was spouse vs worker, I'm not sure that employees also had health part cut.

 

[Luanne]

For those who are receiving now or will be receiving a pension, does it have a healthcare component? Dad was a GE man so Mom has his pension and repeated cuts to retiree health benefits. Since she was spouse vs worker, I'm not sure that employees also had health part cut.

I was going to say no, my pension doesn't, but in fact it did.

When I retired at age 62 I was able to use the retiree healthcare exchange provided by my company. I honestly don't remember if the premiums stayed the same or not. But it did include dental and eyecare.

When I became Medicare eligible I was "cut off". Meaning I could still use the retiree healthcare exchange, but I'm now paying more for the supplemental Medicare (I didn't go through the exchange for this as I was able to find it elsewhere cheaper). I do get vision care and prescription though the exchange. We dropped dental insurance as the price didn't make sense for us. By purchasing at least the vision care and prescription coverage through the exchange dh and I receive a HSA (Health Spending Account) in the amount of $4200 year. This is not something we have to put into, it's given to us on a monthly basis. It can be used towards the Medicare supplement, the premiums for other coverage, and any medical expenses during the year. This amount may change for 2019, it's also possible it could be eliminated at some point. But right now, it's sure nice.

 

[vacationhopeful]

geekette ...
YOU have no idea what can happen to health care costs. YOUR employer can bargain with the insurance company & plans. You as a solo buyer of health care (or an abandon former employee ... policy or benefit CANCELLED are targets for the insurance companies).

I had a solo health insurance policies for YEARS ... ACA resulted in WORST benefits, triple of more premuins, revolving door medical providers (any office seems to exist for 1 year or less ...) and it is like HIDE & SEEK as to WHERE is your former doctor is now handing his/her coat. Or where your medical records are hiding.

PERSONAL ADVICE: Keep working to keep health insurance you can afford in a group policy. $1500 monthly premuim for a single person is NOT uncommon with a deductible of $5000 or more yearly.... with benefits decreasing, deductible increasing and monthly premuim increases in the hundreds with each yearly renewal. YOU don't qualify for a subside.

 

[VacationForever]

You might not have to work full time for benefits. I cannot say as to your area, but I have scoped it out for myself and I can work PT at Starbucks and get benefits.

I would have worked P/T at Starbucks if it saved me from an $1600 monthly ACA policy ... and been happy.

Look around at the people working in Starbucks. You all do realize that Starbucks only hire the young people as health insurance rates for the young is much lower. They do not hire old folks like us...

 

[Sugarcubesea]

This is why I’m going to keep working till I hit 66, if my company keeps me. I work for a Japanese company that values the mature worker. I’m selling my parents house this year and my house next year so I can downsize now, move to a fully paid condo and save that house payment for retirement. I’m just trying to save as much as possible so I can hopefully retire earlier.

 

[PigsDad]

Dad was a GE man so Mom has his pension and repeated cuts to retiree health benefits. Since she was spouse vs worker, I'm not sure that employees also had health part cut.

And now GE has reported that their pension is underfunded by $31 billion! No wonder the modern pension is dead -- companies woefully underestimated the true costs for the very generous pensions they were promising. If I had a pension coming to me, I would be very nervous as many of them (public and private) just can't continue like they have in the past.

Kurt

 

[VacationForever]

I had a solo health insurance policies for YEARS ... ACA resulted in WORST benefits, triple of more premuins, revolving door medical providers (any office seems to exist for 1 year or less ...) and it is like HIDE & SEEK as to WHERE is your former doctor is now handing his/her coat. Or where your medical records are hiding.

PERSONAL ADVICE: Keep working to keep health insurance you can afford in a group policy. $1500 monthly premuim for a single person is NOT uncommon with a deductible of $5000 or more yearly.... with benefits decside.reasing yearly and monthly premuim increases in the hundreds with each yearly renewal. YOU don't qualify for a subside.

Yep. I am at Feb 7th, and my out of pocket costs is already at more than $700, not including prescriptions and co-pays. That is on a $930 per month premium. A long way to go before I hit max OOP of $7,350. I should not whine, at least on this individual private non-ACA insurance, I have access to many of the better doctors.

 

[vacationhopeful]

Look around at the people working in Starbucks. You all do realize that Starbucks only hire the young people as health insurance rates for the young is much lower. They do not hire old folks like us...

Great ... age discrimination will eventually clean out their rich bank accounts. But the real question is ... are their employees mostly parttime and therefore, not receiving paid benefits? Offering health insurance is NOT the same as corporate paid health insurance.... IMHO.

 

[VacationForever]

Great ... age discrimination will eventually clean out their rich bank accounts. But the real question is ... are their employees mostly parttime and therefore, not receiving paid benefits? Offering health insurance is NOT the same as corporate paid health insurance.... IMHO.

I am just going by what Geekette posted above that Starbucks offer health insurance even for the part-timers.

 

[geekette]

Look around at the people working in Starbucks. You all do realize that Starbucks only hire the young people as health insurance rates for the young is much lower. They do not hire old folks like us...

I see people, ahem, "more mature" than I am working there!

 

[geekette]

Great ... age discrimination will eventually clean out their rich bank accounts. But the real question is ... are their employees mostly parttime and therefore, not receiving paid benefits? Offering health insurance is NOT the same as corporate paid health insurance.... IMHO.

I have never had corporate paid health insurance but have paid my own share of premiums on insurance offered by my employers. I doubt there are many companies that fully pay employee insurance, though I congratulate the lucky employees. It's never been my reality and I don't expect it ever to be my reality. If I want insurance, I pay for it. If I use it, I pay for it. I hit deductible and out of pocket max in 2017 and steeling myself for the January bills to come rolling in for an even more expensive year.

Starbucks, at least in my area, does offer benefits to part-timers, including health insurance, 401k and stock options. Pretty juicy for a pt gig a quick bike ride away. Old farts like me don't need Friday off to spend with boyfriend or extra time off near finals. I'll work holidays and stinky shifts no one else wants. If my car breaks down, I can afford to get it fixed and use my other one during fix time. There is a reason that places like MCD, grocery stores and gas stations want the more mature folks - reliability and usually straight truth on needed time off vs bs.

Folks can assume that Starbucks practices age discrimination but I have not seen that to be the case. Not sure what you mean by rich bank accounts or who they allegedly belong to.

 

[geekette]

Yep. I am at Feb 7th, and my out of pocket costs is already at more than $700, not including prescriptions and co-pays. That is on a $930 per month premium. A long way to go before I hit max OOP of $7,350. I should not whine, at least on this individual private non-ACA insurance, I have access to many of the better doctors.

My oop is 12k on employer insurance. But, well, OUCH on what you pay per month premium vs my embarrassingly cheap premium. Only a bit can be written off to my high deduct plan (no co-pays, I pony up full freight to oop max). I am in a reasonably competitive market as far as providers go and have kept my PCP for the nearly 30 years I've been in this city, through all the different insurance plans I have had. Sometimes I pay more to see him, sometimes I pay less, but I won't give him up until he retires and gives me up!

 

[WinniWoman]

I have never had corporate paid health insurance but have paid my own share of premiums on insurance offered by my employers. I doubt there are many companies that fully pay employee insurance, though I congratulate the lucky employees. It's never been my reality and I don't expect it ever to be my reality. If I want insurance, I pay for it. If I use it, I pay for it. I hit deductible and out of pocket max in 2017 and steeling myself for the January bills to come rolling in for an even more expensive year.

Starbucks, at least in my area, does offer benefits to part-timers, including health insurance, 401k and stock options. Pretty juicy for a pt gig a quick bike ride away. Old farts like me don't need Friday off to spend with boyfriend or extra time off near finals. I'll work holidays and stinky shifts no one else wants. If my car breaks down, I can afford to get it fixed and use my other one during fix time. There is a reason that places like MCD, grocery stores and gas stations want the more mature folks - reliability and usually straight truth on needed time off vs bs.

Folks can assume that Starbucks practices age discrimination but I have not seen that to be the case. Not sure what you mean by rich bank accounts or who they allegedly belong to.

My issue is old farts like me value vacation time. If I go to a new job- full or part time- and tell them I take 5 weeks vacation each year (paid or unpaid- I don't care), plus want some sick days and personal days - forget it. In fact, I might soon be quitting my job on this point. This winter- I have already had to call out once because I could not make it in in a snow storm. First time I have ever done that when the office was not closed. They took a PTO day even though I told them I would take it without pay. They do not give you days without pay unless- THEY close the office. Then you have a choice of a PTO day or an unpaid day. They closed the office early another day so I took the 2 hours without pay- no biggie. But they rarely, if ever, close the office.

This morning- I do not know if I can make it down our nightmare driveway which is a sheet of ice. Believe me, I do not want to waste a day at home because of an icy driveway. One more bad road/weather day and I am short PTO time (and they are again predicting snow on Friday) but have my vacations booked and refuse to give them up as it is the only thing I look forward to. I have no social life and also the vacations are the times we see our son. But the company will not let you take unpaid days if you are short PTO time. That is my big issue. I can put up with a lot of BS but not that. As it is when I took this job we were supposed to be able accrue 32 PTO days per year over a period of so many years. Then they decided to decrease it to 28- just around the time I had hit around 26 and then they capped it at 28 and that was the end of it.By now, I would have had the 32. My husband right now gets 39 I believe. This works good for him allowing him an extra week for his hunting trip plus some extra days for whatever comes up.

And heaven forbid if I did get sick or did need a day to take care of something. I never call out sick or anything like that. I am always there. I also have a non critical type job (no patient care) in marketing. I am prepared to resign if I am denied my time off. I already warned my husband. They say no, I give them my notice. Heck- I might just walk out.

Now with the new company taking over I don't even know what they will do down the line but right now the old company's policies stand. Comes a time in life when you just can't tolerate this bull crap anymore. I am not waiting until I retire- close to 70 years old- to enjoy my life.

Crazy thing is- I drive for a living. When the roads are bad I stay in the office with literally nothing to do. I practically kill myself to get in only to just sit there. Why the hell I just cant stay home without pay is beyond me.

Mind you- I do not get a company car nor do they pay auto insurance on my car. I have been through 3 cars on this job. They do not pay my commuting miles- fair enough. I do not take health insurance with them. No pensions here. I do get an employer match on the 401k, though now I do not know what will be with the new company. No raises for most years. Incentive bonus plan was stopped after my first 3 years there. (Lunch hour was even decreased from one hour to a half hour for all employees.) Heck- why not have us just work for free? I am a cheap employee for them. The only benefit I have is vacation time (which I am even willing to take unpaid) and a paycheck, which I work for. SMH....

My mother was right. I should have been a teacher....

 

[geekette]

My issue is old farts like me value vacation time....
...
And heaven forbid if I did get sick or did need a day to take care of something. I never call out sick or anything like that. I am always there. I also have a non critical type job (no patient care) in marketing. I am prepared to resign if I am denied my time off. I already warned my husband. They say no, I give them my notice. Heck- I might just walk out.
...
Now with the new company taking over I don't even know what they will do down the line but right now the old company's policies stand. Comes a time in life when you just can't tolerate this bull crap anymore. I am not waiting until I retire- close to 70 years old- to enjoy my life.
....

You are A Trooper. You put up with more crap than I would, but, where I live and what I do, I have a lot of choices.

I have in fact left (been fired from) jobs that said I "couldn't" take time off. I can do whatever I choose, I just have to be willing to accept the consequences.

I am with you on brace for impact re: company buyout. I have left 2 companies when that happened. The first, I waited for the reality to visit and it was bad and I was outa there. The second, I was already thinking of leaving when they were about to double in size. I didn't want to be shoved further down the rabbit hole so I left.

PT work in retirement? only if I have to, I sure don't want to. Won't be a problem for me to plan my life and let the job fill in where it fits. I will take my trips as I see fit and if that gets me fired, I can't imagine why I would care. There remain more jobs than people here. Employees have been treated as disposable for a long time and I reserve the right to treat the job as disposable. Heck, I might not have a job right now, may have been terminated while out on med leave. Would you want to work for a place that would do that?

Not everyone has the same options, and I don't believe that there is a perfect job. I hope many of you tell me that I am wrong, that you have/had a perfect job.

But you, Mary Ann, you are a gem they don't deserve.

 

[bogey21]

Yep. I am at Feb 7th, and my out of pocket costs is already at more than $700, not including prescriptions and co-pays. That is on a $930 per month premium. A long way to go before I hit max OOP of $7,350. I should not whine, at least on this individual private non-ACA insurance, I have access to many of the better doctors.

If you want to cut cost; if you have no pre-existing condition; if Medicare isn't far in your future; check http://www.uhone.com It is the old Golden Rule now owned by United Healthcare and using the United Healthcare network. You can get a lower OOP. The negatives are that you have to buy a new policy every 90 days; that it doesn't cover pre-existing conditions; and the LT maximum is relatively low. The pluses are that UHOne is a reputable company and the cost is relatively low.

George

 

[am1]

Seems like the negative attitude (no matter whose fault) cannot be good for your health or productivity at work.

 

[VacationForever]

If you want to cut cost; if you have no pre-existing condition; if Medicare isn't far in your future; check http://www.uhone.com It is the old Golden Rule now owned by United Healthcare and using the United Healthcare network. You can get a lower OOP. The negatives are that you have to buy a new policy every 90 days; that it doesn't cover pre-existing conditions; and the LT maximum is relatively low. The pluses are that UHOne is a reputable company and the cost is relatively low.

George

I have a ton of pre-existing conditions, none of which will kill me. I was in the Kaiser system and now that I am out of it, I realize how crappy Kaiser was. I had a fantastic PCP and OBGYN at Kaiser and that was it. None of the specialists (Allergist, Dermatologist) who saw me did their job. I was declined by the Kaiser specialists when my PCP referred me to them... if I was not having cancer or going to die, they did not want to see me.

My first year out of the Kaiser system, I was on Blue Cross Blue Shield, ACA's most expensive plan. A couple of good specialists were not in their plan. My PCP found me a couple of crappy specialists who would see me. I had a fantastic Allergist last year that took BCBS, that took care of one of my major issues - my life is no longer miserable. I was so miserable that many days I hoped not to wake up in the morning. Then this year I bought the most expensive plan in the individual private market so that I have access to better specialists for another issue. I took a couple of CT Scans because one of my nagging issues was not taken care of last year. I won't die from my issues but I need to fix it. I am hoping by next year, my OOP will start dropping after I am fully healthy again.

 

[WinniWoman]

You are A Trooper. You put up with more crap than I would, but, where I live and what I do, I have a lot of choices.

I have in fact left (been fired from) jobs that said I "couldn't" take time off. I can do whatever I choose, I just have to be willing to accept the consequences.

I am with you on brace for impact re: company buyout. I have left 2 companies when that happened. The first, I waited for the reality to visit and it was bad and I was outa there. The second, I was already thinking of leaving when they were about to double in size. I didn't want to be shoved further down the rabbit hole so I left.

PT work in retirement? only if I have to, I sure don't want to. Won't be a problem for me to plan my life and let the job fill in where it fits. I will take my trips as I see fit and if that gets me fired, I can't imagine why I would care. There remain more jobs than people here. Employees have been treated as disposable for a long time and I reserve the right to treat the job as disposable. Heck, I might not have a job right now, may have been terminated while out on med leave. Would you want to work for a place that would do that?

Not everyone has the same options, and I don't believe that there is a perfect job. I hope many of you tell me that I am wrong, that you have/had a perfect job.

But you, Mary Ann, you are a gem they don't deserve.

LOL! Some patients at another job I had said I was a "Diamond" and the doctor had better appreciate me!

I have been through plenty of takeovers, layoffs and so forth and always survived. I always was a very good interviewer and was always able to get another job very quickly. I am tired of it all now.

Anyway-The power of Facebook- I was on at 7 am this morning and also did some research on line and managed to get someone to our home to sand and salt in time to leave for work. (We normally never have the driveway sanded and salted- this was really bad).Between the plow guy yesterday and the sand and salt today cost us $175. I guess that is what the cost of keeping a PTO Day is for me this time!

My husband thankfully is able to work from home when the weather is bad. He took a picture of our driveway and sent it to his boss because the roads where he works (and even where I work) are fine and he didn't want him to think he was making it up. I took pics also for the 1/17 storm and my boss's response was- "yeah- the same here"! SMH....

My husband's company allows them to purchase extra PTO Days during open enrollment. He doesn't buy more because he doesn't feel he needs them and the cost is higher than what his daily salary is. Would be great if our company let us because despite the cost- which is high- I would definitely buy as many as I could! Ha! Ha!

I think if one can afford it working per diem is the best because you tell the employer when you can work and he decides whether or not to have you come in. Or maybe being contracted to do a job exclusive of hours and so forth-like a consultant- maybe have some benefits written into the contract.

All other jobs- you are an indentured servant.

 

[WinniWoman]

Seems like the negative attitude (no matter whose fault) cannot be good for your health or productivity at work.

I know how you think- but try to wrap this around your head- sometimes it is the employer experience over a lifetime that changes a persons' attitude. That said- I can run rings around even the most positive employee. People here will tell you I am always full of energy and bubbly actually. So I am a bit cynical- I call it realistic.

In fact, just last week, a nurse who worked here who "loved her job" and was loud and gregarious and always upbeat, and overbearing- one who, when she first started working here a few years ago-I tried to give her the run down of what goes on - told me that I was "negative" - well- she was fired! Wonder how much she loves her job now?! They had to call the police 3 times on her because she kept calling the center and threatening.

She and my immediate boss, who never wrote her up and allowed her to turn him against many of the employees here- Both Fired!

I was frankly, shocked. Then it turns out they were also having an affair, which explains why my boss allowed her negligence to go on. In fact, she has had affairs with the facility's doc-owner and a also a tech here, I discovered. (she is married with a child and all the men are married)

Evidently she loved her job so much she either neglected things or overstepped her bounds with her over- inflated ego. And Ms. "Negative" (that would be me) is still here after 12 years. The new guy in charge is depending on me for a lot right now. Call me what you want- I do my job.

 

[Jan M.]

If you want to cut cost; if you have no pre-existing condition; if Medicare isn't far in your future; check http://www.uhone.com It is the old Golden Rule now owned by United Healthcare and using the United Healthcare network. You can get a lower OOP. The negatives are that you have to buy a new policy every 90 days; that it doesn't cover pre-existing conditions; and the LT maximum is relatively low. The pluses are that UHOne is a reputable company and the cost is relatively low.

George

I don't know if all plans are like the one an acquaintance of ours has but he found out the hard way that his new policy every 90 days meant his several thousand dollar deductible started over every 90 days. He broke his foot and required several surgeries in the following months. Prior to that he hadn't had anything but regular check ups so had no idea that this is how his policy worked until the bills started coming in. His wife is a couple of years older than he is so she is on Medicare. From what I gathered rather than just take his wife off their old policy, changing it from husband and wife coverage to single coverage, they switched him to this type of policy so he was unaware that his coverage had changed.

With some other plans out of pocket expenses incurred in the last couple months of the year will apply towards the deductible for the new year and oop expenses in the first couple months of the New Years can be covered under the deductible from the previous year. With a new policy every 90 days that likely wouldn't apply

 

[Egret1986]

Seems like the negative attitude (no matter whose fault) cannot be good for your health or productivity at work.

Agreed. I find myself in that predicament. The last three years of ongoing turnover in management at my facility has given me a poor attitude. The current direct manager arrived in May and my attitude has gotten even worse. In my 29 years with my employer, I never felt the need to be a part of the union. I joined for the first time about three months ago because the climate is so negative and continues to deteriorate. I want to work three more years. But I know I have to come to grips with my feelings and attitude for my own personal well-being. I'm trying to convince myself that this three years will accomplish the goals I've made for myself and that continuing to work will also pay for the vacations and good times outside of the job. I make decent money for unskilled work, have good benefits, the job isn't hard, receive 26 days of time off, plus sick leave and holidays. Again, I need to "get over it." As stated, "the negative attitude (no matter whose fault) cannot be good for your health or productivity at work."

 

[Egret1986]

.....sometimes it is the employer experience over a lifetime that changes a persons' attitude.

That's true. My employer experience isn't going to change. It's the "new way". It's been taking this direction for me since 2007. Yikes, that's 10+ years in this pattern. I don't believe that it's suddenly going to improve (definitely not in the next three years). So, I've got to do something to change me. Right now, I know I've got to do something different (and soon) to improve my situation. Three more years like the last three will take its toll. I can't change my employer. I can only change me. How's that for being positive?! Words to live by. If I don't change, then what will be left of me at the end of three years when I do make it to my long awaited retirement. I am in the extreme early phase of at least acknowledging I need to do something different and take a stand for myself. Maybe I will take my employer up on some free EAP (Employee Assistant Program), get some counseling and try to get on a new path.

"The future's so bright, I've got to wear shades.."

 

[dsmrp]

Every generation or so perspectives change.
When I got out of school 35 years ago, the majority of jobs for newbies in my field (health care) were at state public/government hospitals. Some people got their work experience and left within 5 years or so. People in my dept thought private industry paid more and they had 401Ks!, much better than the deferred 'pension-like' plans state gov't had . I was part time when a ruling came down that part timers couldn't be in the retirement plan and I had to take my money out. I lost 6 years credit. Then 3 years afterwards they changed the rules and allowed part timers back in, but I didn't have the money to put the 6 years back in with required interest.

Fast forward, and I've worked brief stints in private businesses, small and medium sized. I was fortunate to go back to state government. Now people like these jobs. There are a few soft apples, but by and large, most people work pretty hard. I did have one ex co-worker tho' who got hired in at 60, could barely work her job duties, and after about a year and a half was encouraged to retired at 62 to get her out (an easier way than getting documentation together to lay her off for poor performance). As a retiree she was able to buy into the government medical plans at retiree rates. Other people I knew who had 20+ years in, were indignant. She didn't have much in the retirement system tho', so no pension for her.

Like others on this thread I have about 4-5 more years to work, and am at maximum vacation benefit (5.5 weeks/year).
So my employer knows they've got us, but there are many 'lifers' here LOL. I'm vested in my retirement plan, but working in part to support my vacation habits
My employer's budgets are bad, so I'll keep working until they have to make financial changes.

 

[WinniWoman]

Agreed. I find myself in that predicament. The last three years of ongoing turnover in management at my facility has given me a poor attitude. The current direct manager arrived in May and my attitude has gotten even worse. In my 29 years with my employer, I never felt the need to be a part of the union. I joined for the first time about three months ago because the climate is so negative and continues to deteriorate. I want to work three more years. But I know I have to come to grips with my feelings and attitude for my own personal well-being. I'm trying to convince myself that this three years will accomplish the goals I've made for myself and that continuing to work will also pay for the vacations and good times outside of the job. I make decent money for unskilled work, have good benefits, the job isn't hard, receive 26 days of time off, plus sick leave and holidays. Again, I need to "get over it." As stated, "the negative attitude (no matter whose fault) cannot be good for your health or productivity at work."

Yes- very true. When I am at work at my desk- which isn't a lot because I am mostly in my car- I have pictures of Vermont (where our timeshare is) surrounding me and that keeps me stable and on track. I always tell myself I am not here to be happy I am here to make money to enjoy the other part of my life, however small. In my car I listen to my music and talk radio shows and am happy to be out in the sun and fresh air. At lunch I enjoy talking with some of my coworkers. Thankful for the little things there that are good. I am well liked by our employees and clients alike so my so called attitude can't be all bad. I have a lot of perseverance and I push on.

This said, you would not believe what goes on in our place and how it has been run.

I am a bit concerned that I am just barely on the edge and something could push me off. I tell myself the worst that could happen is I quit or I get fired. Never been fired in my life ever so quitting would be the better option if push comes to shove. I try to have a sense of humor about the whole thing. Some weekend wine helps me cope with it all. My coworker says we need to get us some magic mushrooms...