Last time in this series I shared the events that led to an interesting work transition for me.
This time we’ll wrap up the series by highlighting the last three jobs I had before I retired (two of which you know a lot about already.)
As usual, these three feature a lot of twists and turns, so hold on to your seats.
Best Job of My Life
After the transition detailed in the link above, I moved to what in retrospect was the best job of my career.
I went from being a marketing executive in a $300 million company to being the entire marketing department for a $10 million company.
It would seem like this was a “move down” at just the time when my career should be hitting peak earning years, but there were so many great things about this company that made it awesome.
Here are some highlights:
- Great owners and people. I met the owners while volunteering as noted in the last post. They were as kind and genuine as bosses as they had been while working on the fundraising project.
- Small company. The atmosphere was more like a family than a company. Our offices were on the bottom floor of the owners’ house and looked out over a lake. There were six of us in the office, eight if the owners were in. Over the years I knew more about how their house operated (since we ran things when they were gone from October to March — they moved to their southern homes when it got cold in Michigan) than I did about my house.
- Increase in salary. You’d think a $300 million company would pay more than a $10 million one, right? Not so. They both had about the same amount of profit as they were in industries with vastly different margins. So when I made the move, my salary went up nicely.
- Great added compensation. In addition to my salary I had a car allowance, extra 401k contributions (the owners would put in annual supplemental contributions in our 401k of $10k or so), HSA contributions (we switched to a high deductible health plan and they put in the annual deductible ($4k) into our HSAs), and bonuses (which we hit every year). Life was great!
- Limited hours. I worked Monday through Friday from 7 am to 5 pm. I took two hours off in the middle of the day to swim. No evening work. No weekend work. This gave me lots of time at home when my kids were growing up. It also allowed me to be the coach of my son’s soccer and basketball teams and to be at every event each of our kids was in.
- Limited travel. I would go somewhere maybe once a quarter. Again, this translated to more time at home.
- Easy workload. I could have run their marketing department in two days a week. The stress was near zero. I did get bored a bit, but that led to…
- Time to blog. Since I had time on my hands, I started a few blogs, one of which became a relatively successful money blog. After Google, the blog was the top driver of traffic to our company website.
This was the perfect job with the perfect people at the perfect company. I was going to retire from this job for sure.
Yes, my career wasn’t growing and I wasn’t earning the big salary increases I had earned in past years, but I was still making a ton of money. I didn’t need to be greedy, did I? Besides, on a per hour basis this was probably the highest salary I ever made by far.
What I Learned
I learned a lot while having this job including:
- You can make more money in a small company. I always thought that small company = small paycheck. Not so. This was the first really small company I worked for and it taught me that compensation can be even higher than what large companies pay.
- It’s rare, but great places with nice people and decent hours do exist. This was BY FAR the best place I ever worked (did I mention that?) and a set-up that most people only dream about. I’m so thankful I had time here.
- It’s ok to pull back on your career if it’s done on purpose. I wasn’t getting those 8% annual raises here and probably could have earned more elsewhere. But 1) the other forms of compensation made up for part of it, 2) the time spent at work was as low as it could go and 3) the environment was so pleasant that it was totally worth it to me. Plus I had done so well managing my career early on that I could get 3% annual raises for nine years and still average over 8% increases throughout my career. 馃檪
- Even paradise can get annoying. It was a bit boring as I mentioned, but blogging made up for most of that. But there was another form of aggravation. A couple of the sales people (who were in the field and not at our home office) were quite annoying. And since I had to work often with them, they made the job frustrating at times. Hence I tried to keep them at arm’s distance and attempted to limit communication to email as much as possible.
But overall, this was a great job.
What Happened Next
It would have taken something really special for me to leave that job. And guess what? Something special came along. I was asked to be the president of a $100 million company.
I detailed this job and the move to Oklahoma as well as how it ended (hint: not good) in The Day My Most Valuable Asset Took a Hit.
We then moved to Colorado (which I love) into a job with a crazy boss, so I eventually retired. I detailed that transition in I Retired!
Wrap Up
So that’s it. You now know the story of all my jobs from high school until I retired.
Looking back, it was quite a roller-coaster ride — full of high highs and low lows. But overall it was a good career, interesting and challenging, and one I’m thankful for. And of course it provided nicely for our family.
By the way, just for the record, this series covered (excluding the pre-college, college and graduate school jobs):
- 28 years of work experience
- 11 different positions
- 10 different companies (only 7 if you don’t consider sub-division changes)
- 7 promotions (5 by changing companies and 3 within the same company)
- 6 cities (all in different states)
The Future
One question remains: Will I ever work again?
When I first retired I thought I probably would at some point. Now I’m not so sure. Working means having a schedule, reporting to a boss, getting up to do something you may or may not enjoy, etc. Just don’t know if I have the patience for that stuff.
Even a teaching spot or part-time consulting gig sounds less appealing as the days go on.
This blog fills much of the need I have to create and be challenged without being too taxing, so I really don’t need a job for the personal accomplishment factor. And I don’t need the money.
That said, now that I’m retired people keep throwing jobs at me. I’ve been offered a handful and told about numerous others. My colleagues just can’t seem to believe I want to be retired. 馃檪
Anyway, we’ll see what happens. Rest assured, I’ll keep you in the loop!
If you want to read this series from the beginning, start with My Jobs, Pre-College.
Dads Dollars Debts says
I also made a transition from a big institution to a smaller hospital. I make more money, have better benefits, and have a easier schedule for the most part…but being in a smaller group of people (from 30 cardiologist down to 6) has been a bit trying. If one or two are annoying, then the day is challenging.
Will I be here in 10 years? Who knows…for now it is working out for us and we will keep it up.
Snowdog says
My path is very similar to yours ESI. 8 companies, 5 significant promotions, and 8 different positions over a 30 year career. Only difference is that only one role was in a different state and I commuted to that one so I have never had to move for my career. I’m also fortunate that my current role is the best ever in terms of roles and responsibilities, compensation, and the people are the best. I’m glad this will be my last gig before retirement as it would be near impossible to replicate this culture as I’m now spoiled. Still challenging and stressful but I’m really enjoying myself. In my career I’ve found that smaller private firms are generally a much better environment than larger public outfits. Plus no Sar-Box.
Retire55 says
It is funny that people still can’t believe that you want to be retired. I plan to retire in seven years when I am 55 and people ask me what are you going to do. I tell them people are retiring way younger than I plan to and they seem to be busy. I have a rare thing called a pension plus “ESI”. Then I plan to work part time for a bit(not in my field), if I want. I wouldn’t need to, but I figure I still have a lot to offer and I want to do something like that.
Dave says
I also made a similar switch. When I finished my MS degree, I switched from a for profit health care company to a not for profit. The for profit exceeded $1B in revenue and my current employer earns about 10% of that. I was brought it to create the recruiting dept and work for the vp of hr. It was a great experience. I received a substantial raise to come in board and nice annual raises. I would be hard pressed to ever go back to for profit healthcare.
Paper Tiger says
I continue to be amazed, although by now I shouldn’t be, about what a minefield career paths have become. It is also interesting how similar many of these stories are for all of us. If you’ve been in your career for more than 20 years, I’d venture to say at least 80% have been through a corporate restructuring, downsizing, transformation, whatever they choose to call it these days. I think it has now almost become a badge of honor to survive at least one, if not multiple situations like this.
They probably need to start teaching in our universities the art of reinvention and survival in today’s job market. There is no loyalty on either side, employers or employees. Each must be prepared for the inherent churn that eventually will come and be ready to pivot to higher ground when the waters start to rise.
Based on all of this, my conclusions are that Financial Independence is not nearly as much about Retiring Early as it is about being financially prepared so you can control your own destiny rather than being at the mercy of unforeseen and untimely circumstances.
Snowdog says
Very well stated!
Paper Tiger says
Thanks Snowdog, we are all in this together!
Tony says
Paper Tiger, you’re right on the money (?). Skating through layoff after re-org, as both an employee and as a manager (one time I had to layoff a quarter of my department and my boss in the same day) was exhausting. You just never know when you’re going to be declared “redundant”.
I’d always been a good saver but too cautious of an investor. Blogs like this and others gave me a goal, to never put my family at someone else’s mercy again.
The result was that when the axe finally came I could smile, negotiate for an even better exit package and walk out the door without fear.
Surprisingly, I didn’t feel justified or triumphant. Just relieved and sympathetic towards colleagues – also terminated – who looked terrified of the future.
We’ve raised our kids with the attitude that money – in and of itself – is not the goal, but that it is an important tool.
“If you don’t have money, you do what you’re told. If you have money, you do what you want.”
Paper Tiger says
Tony, the last line of your comments is something I explain to people when they ask me why I am still working when I don’t need to. It is not so much so I can do what I want but so I can pass on financial security to my 19 yo daughter so she will have the ability in the future to do what excites and fulfills her, rather than just settle for a paycheck because she has no other options.
I have no idea what her world will be like 20 years from now so we are trying to do all we can to prepare her, financially and emotionally, for anything that might come upon her during those times. For whatever days I have left, I am financially set. I just want to make sure she is as well.
rcz58z says
Interesting article.. I had considered retirement 10 years ago when I left a job with severance package (did not get along with my new boss from the outside).. I took 8 months off, then was just looking at job postings and came across one that was interesting.. and I knew the hiring mgr.. So I interviewed and took the job and was there for 10 years (longest tenure of my career) until retiring this year. When I took it, I knew it was on the downside of my career and was just filling in until retirement. I had no one reporting to me which was kind of nice, but didn’t pay as well. The raises were mostly in 2-3% annually, with a couple of 5% years.. I knew it was only a matter of time once I turned down 2 new positions (no title change) that would have required me to come into the office each day. As it was, I was working from home twice per week and not having to commute 4 hours each day. So that was worth alot to me.. Plus the fact I was at the end of my career and really didn’t have my heart into the company. Much different earlier in my career where I readily accepted promotions and responsibilities in order to get paid more. At some point in your life, you have to figure out the work/life balance.. and not having to commute 4 hours per day meant a whole lot to me.
M22 says
I worked for 2 different companies, for 4 years and then 38 years with no break in employment. I loved all of my positions and roles, and the continuity of employment was a major contributor to amass $4M net worth.
ESI – did you have any breaks in your employment with no income over your career?
ESI says
In my second to last job I had three months off but since I had a six-month severance I actually ended up ahead.
Snowdog says
I was also fortunate that during my 33 year career I have never missed a paycheck which has certainly contributed to me reaching FI several years ago. However it was a battle along the way for sure. I got caught up in 2 re-orgs along the way that involved a bit of lead time and severance. In both cases I was able to land my next gig without any downtime and double dip as I banked the severance. I was very fortunate but those days were extremely stressful…family to raise, future college to fund, possibility of being out of work, etc.
Toocold says
Out of curiosity, has achieving financial independence impacted career decisions? I am at a crossroads in my career. I am being offered a CEO position, which will require extensive travel, expanded hours, and higher stress — all of which I’ve handled when I used to manage a business unit for mega-corp. Having achieved FI and a good work-life balance, I am not sure I want this position. My younger self would have jumped at the chance.
Tony says
For me, yes, Toocold. I had the same situation after I’d reached FI.
I was wrestling with the decision. My wife said:
“Do we need the money?”
“No.”
“Will it be more stress?”
“Yes.”
“So, who are you really trying to please? Are you keeping score against somebody? If we’ll never spend what we’ve already got, what’s the point? Is this just some ego thing?”
Good questions. For me, I turned down the job and went a different direction.
Toocold says
This sounds very similar to the dialog that I’m having with my wife, and for most of those questions, it’s exactly the same – no we don’t need the money, yes it will be more stressful; no I’m not competing with any of my peers; yes, it will take me away from helping my children doing homework every night.
The one question that I personally struggle with is, “isn’t this what you have been working toward?” ughh.
Thanks for all for providing advice.
ESI says
Believe me, I get it. Even now when I’m retired and enjoying it completely the juices get flowing when someone sends me a note about a great opportunity. I think those of us who are driven get excited by new challenges and want to jump in to tackle them.
In those cases I just remind myself what those opportunities cost in time, effort, lost family activities, etc. and realize it’s not worth it.
Yes, there’s the “isn’t this what you’ve been working for” issue. I even have that, as do many other early retirees. I walked away during my peak earning years — where I could have earned at least a few million dollars more. Isn’t that what I’d put in all those years for?
But there’s also the “once you’ve won, stop playing the game” side of things. If you are FI, you’ve won. Now you can stop playing. I’ll actually be writing a pot on this in the next couple months or so.
In the end, you get to choose — which is really the great thing. You have options!!!! Do whatever you like and enjoy your life! 馃槈
Paper Tiger says
Toocold, I faced a similar crossroad 10 years ago. Big job offer, life-changing money, and a tremendous opportunity. However, it would have meant a move, my wife having to leave her job because my new role would have been a competitor, and uprooting our 9 yo daughter.
My decision point centered on the imbalance it would cause related to me being able to spend more time with my daughter and helping her grow up. I just could not rationalize any other decision than to keep her secure and stable and continue to give me as much time in her life as possible during these critical growing years.
I have no regrets with my decision!
ESI says
It depends on what you WANT to do — that’s the point of FI.
Some might never want to work again.
Others might really enjoy the challenge of being a CEO and at least try it.
It’s totally up to you. That’s what’s great about FI IMO. 馃槈
Mike H says
I totally agree with ESI. FI gives you more freedom of choice, whether choosing to work or not. That should make most people happier with their life.
-Mike
T says
Thanks for wrapping up the series. Taking a cue from the millionaire articles, what would you do differently? Would you have stayed with the smaller company or make the leaps?
ESI says
In hindsight, we all can make great decisions.
If you’re asking me if I would have made the same decisions without the benefit of hindsight, I think I would have.
If you’re asking if I would have made the same decisions with the benefit of hindsight, probably not (at least not all of them).
I Retired Happy says
I spent my entire career with one very large company (rare these days) but had many different jobs across 5 locations and 3 countries over 32 years before I retired. Job satisfaction for me came from meeting meaningful goals with people who share the same goal, with a measure of control, not bigger titles, responsibilities or pay. To the question “Isn’t that (CEO) title what you’ve been working for?” — The wise will evaluate the true personal cost of their goal before blindly following the lure of ego and what society deems to be the “right” goal.
When I reached FI, I looked my job very differently. FI is about choice and it’s very liberating to have the choice.