Hourly vs Salary?

[Egon]

CurlyDave made some good points.

 

[kenmac]

I guess my son will find out how all this hospital stuff works. He has about a year away from getting his masters in hospital administration .

 

[CurlyDave]

I've always considered you in the role of a mentor who has walked a similar path...

I feel honored. I have seen the similarity in our paths.

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This year medicare is: $134 per month, plus $54 to $295 per month depending on income. Plus another $13 to $76 for part D. If your income is low enough you do not have to pay any of the additional amounts. I suspect the low income part will not apply to you.

It comes directly out of your SS.

Now, I am not complaining, because we have been greatly blessed, but this year my SS increased by about $5 because inflation was very low. But my medicare payment increased by about $120. I would hate to see how much medicare would have gone up if inflation had been high.

The medicare payment increases every year.

 

[MossRoad]

......
I have cultivated excellent relationships with our vendors.......

That's one of the very first things corporate ended.... relationships with vendors. Our vendors were like family. Now they are persona non grata.

 

[MossRoad]

...

At 58, getting a new job might be hard. You do have a impressive resume.

....

He won't have a hard time finding a new job. In fact, he'll be offered jobs faster than he thought possible. But it probably won't be at the pay scale he's at now. But its still a good feeling to know you're marketable at that age. :thumbsup:

I had made exactly one resume in my life right out of tech school 30 years ago. I used a resume service. I had a whopping 10 resumes printed up on very expensive paper (probably $1.00 a sheet! :laughing, and I sent exactly two (2) of those out. And one of them hired me and I've been there 30 years.

Until a couple of years ago, I'd never made another resume. Until corporate started their own I.T. department and put all our sister companies I.T. departments under their control. The first thing the new corp VP of I.T. did was ask for our resumes. He was shocked that we didn't have any. Non of us did. We weren't looking for other jobs. Anyhow, I made up a resume, and it was kinda hard. I had to think back, go through my personnel file in HR to get my past duties, promotions, dates, etc....

Well, of course, a couple years later, two different I.T. directors past this guy, a couple job title changes for me, and I was glad I had that current resume now!!!

I sent it out to several job postings at other companies and got hits on all of them. Its a great feeling to know you are still marketable and someone wants you. I took a different position within our company and got out of I.T., but I made some connections on those job interviews and know I won't starve to death if I ever have to seek other employment. Great feeling. :thumbsup:

 

[ultrarunner]

That's one of the very first things corporate ended.... relationships with vendors. Our vendors were like family. Now they are persona non grata.

I've already have that feeling... I have the personal phone numbers for the guys that own key companies we work with... never have abused but I know if I have a real problem they will come through for me.

It's taken years... to cultivate in an industry where turnover is common... the corp has already said if we can save a penny we will switch... and it is not like my people are not very competitive especially when I work with them on a time and material basis.

 

[ultrarunner]

He won't have a hard time finding a new job. In fact, he'll be offered jobs faster than he thought possible. But it probably won't be at the pay scale he's at now. But its still a good feeling to know you're marketable at that age. :thumbsup:

I had made exactly one resume in my life right out of tech school 30 years ago. I used a resume service. I had a whopping 10 resumes printed up on very expensive paper (probably $1.00 a sheet! :laughing, and I sent exactly two (2) of those out. And one of them hired me and I've been there 30 years.

Until a couple of years ago, I'd never made another resume. Until corporate started their own I.T. department and put all our sister companies I.T. departments under their control. The first thing the new corp VP of I.T. did was ask for our resumes. He was shocked that we didn't have any. Non of us did. We weren't looking for other jobs. Anyhow, I made up a resume, and it was kinda hard. I had to think back, go through my personnel file in HR to get my past duties, promotions, dates, etc....

Well, of course, a couple years later, two different I.T. directors past this guy, a couple job title changes for me, and I was glad I had that current resume now!!!

I sent it out to several job postings at other companies and got hits on all of them. Its a great feeling to know you are still marketable and someone wants you. I took a different position within our company and got out of I.T., but I made some connections on those job interviews and know I won't starve to death if I ever have to seek other employment. Great feeling. :thumbsup:

I have a resume somewhere... I think it is on my Apple //e.

But in all truth, every job I've held is a job where I've been asked to come onboard... batting zero when I was going on interviews with the State and Federal government openings years ago.

Spent some time visiting one of my old friends... he had a long career with Pacific Telephone and was there when ATT took over and reorganized... he said within 6 months ATT had all but destroyed the company by letting go all the senior managers and offered buyouts to lineman with seniority... eventually they had to hire many back because the institutional knowledge base was gone...

His advice is to enjoy the ride... follow the new rules and let the new corp culture take it's course....

Have I mentioned that I have some really wise retired friends that look at things from the experience of having seen it all before?

Lee said he is Br'er Rabbit and is at his best in the Brier Patch.

 

[mapper]

No regrets so far. I retired at age 63 last April after 38 years at 2 hospitals (7 yrs. at 1st & 31 yrs. at 2nd). Parents died early (52 & 68). Grandparents didn't make it past 70 either so I figured out what I needed to get by financially and found that by supplementing my S.S. with some interest money from my 401K and IRA's I'd have enough to get by. Here are just a few (not all) of my pros and cons off the top of my head. Not necessarily in order.

Pro's
1) No longer have to set and alarm, report or answer to anyone but myself.
2) No job stress.
3) Fewer miles on vehicles and less gas purchased.
4) Cheaper car insurance due to fewer miles driven.
5) More time to travel, play with classic cars, go to more car shows.
6) More time to catch up on honey-do list. That will take years to do and never be complete.
7) I enjoy working on classic cars (been doing that since I was 13) so I have more time to make some side money tinkering with other peoples cars when I want to.
8) Now able to pick up some winter plowing jobs that I couldn't do before due to work schedule.
9) Nice to do what I want when I want.
10) More family time.

Cons
1) Miss the people from work. I've stopped back a few times for coffee and to say hello.
2) Miss the extra money a regular paycheck brought in.
3) Miss the cheaper health insurance rate I paid while employed.

If I recall, you have some income from rental properties so if you have enough income to cover monthly expenses and you're still young enough to make some side job money I'd go for it.

1 -6 check
7 substitute woodworking and gardening check
8 no snow around here
9 check
10 check

Do miss a couple of folks I worked with, don't miss the other stuff.
Most of us can always use a few more bucks, but we are comfortable with what we have.
Health insurance is a lot more but will drop when Medicare kicks in two years from now.

No regrets at all for retiring early, just make sure that you will have enough income or savings to live on. I am lucky to have a pension in this era of 401k retirement plans.

 

[ultrarunner]

Having a pension/medical sure simplifies things when it comes to planning.

Annually I have asked when the 401k match would be restored and now it is although it would be about $2500 if I maxed out maxed out... hardly a deal maker.

Some of the medical companies I do business with have a dollar for dollar match which is amazing and I was hoping it would be much better than it is.

Do you negotiate going in or later once you are a known quantity to the new owners?

 

[CurlyDave]

...Do you negotiate going in or later once you are a known quantity to the new owners?

You will not be in a strong position to negotiate after the transition.

The real problem is that you are not really in a strong position to negotiate now either. When one company buys another one, there is wholesale turmoil, and it is very hard to get the attention of anyone senior enough to really make a decision. My sense of it is that a hospital is going to consider facilities as a necessary evil and not in their mainstream business, even though it is vital to their business. Negotiate too much and you will be labeled a troublemaker, and a highly paid one at that, by the new management.

All that being said, the best negotiating tool you can have is a current resume. They are going to be fitting you into an existing job description. Your value to the new management comes in two areas. First you have both the experience and the expertise they need to fill that job description. Second, you have been doing much, much more than that job description entails and that has been very beneficial in controlling costs for the old management.

Get someone with experience and expertise to help you write a resume. You will have to pay someone with real expertise, to get the best help, but don't cheap out on this. It is a specialized skill, and most people will sell themselves short. You will be dealing with someone who has read thousands of resumes, and even though you might read a book on this, you need someone who has written hundreds of resumes for clients. Contact a firm that specializes in outplacement and pay them for a resume. Don't hesitate on this.

Plus, a really good, professional resume will put them on notice that you have other options without you ever having to say a word about it. Threatening to leave does not go over well -- making yourself as attractive as possible increases your value to them and others.

* * * * * * *

About 10 years before I stopped working for a company, there was a shakeup at the company and my boss was fired. No one had the stones to fire me, although I felt that I was on shaky ground, and no one really wanted me either.

I made the conscious decision that instead of putting in extra hours at work, I would develop a money making sideline and put more time/effort/money into the rental real estate business. This had two effects:

(1) My income increased, and in a way that was not dependent on the company. This gave me more personal security, and the confidence to stand up for what was right at the company instead of what management wanted on a short term basis. I was careful to express things in a positive way, and not just disagree with poor decisions.

(2) In turn, this increased my value to the company, and my position became more secure. Pay increased also, but I quickly saw that working for myself, I got 100% of the benefit of my efforts, while working for someone else I got very much less.

So, even though I was putting less time in at work, my job became more secure, and my total earnings became much better. Between salary and side income I was doing better than managers two levels above me. Another benefit is that when I stopped working for the company the side income came with me.

Fast forward to the present and today I sign paychecks on the front instead of the back. I have relationships with vendors for the same reasons you did at your work. I get better deals and better support. It costs me less, it is faster, and if something breaks a week out of warranty, they come & fix it just to keep my business. I make policy instead of having to follow it.

* * * * * * * *

In addition to TBN, I spend some time on personal finance websites. mostly aimed at retirement planning.

One of the big paradoxes I see there is that they tilt heavily toward investing in equities (stocks & mutual funds) and bonds. With some amount of attention/recommendation to real estate and then primarily as publicly traded REITs. (Real Estate Investment Trusts), and lots of bias against rental real estate, because owning it is like having a job.

OTOH, very frequent advice is that one way to stretch your retirement assets is to either work longer, or take a part-time job.

Not very many supposedly smart people make the connection that they are right, owning rentals is like having a part-time job, and that this part-time job is exactly what they tell you to do in the next breath after they tell you it is a big disadvantage of rentals.

I suspect the real reason is that financial advisors make commissions when people buy mutual funds, and when people buy bonds, but they don't make anything when people buy rentals.