Difficult Life Decisions

The big ass multinational that I work for has been “restructuring” for the past 10 years. About every 3-5 years they’ll change things around, commit to a “leaner and meaner” organization, change some VP titles, etc. I’ve been through about three of these, and it seems we never really get smaller, since acquisitions and other starts in new countries we stay about the same size, roughly 100,000 global employees. Throughout this a lot of friends have left, and a lot of the managers that I’ve respected have moved on, to be replaced by others who may be more efficient, but IMO are just more political or politically correct.

When I started with this company, 15 years ago last June, I kind of expected that I’d work for them my whole career and then retire, which a lot of people have done in the past. I recall years ago going to a retirement party for one of the technicians (eg, blue collar workers) at the plant where I worked at the time. He had 35 years in, never made more than $14 hour, and was retiring at 55 years old with about 1.4 million USD in stock. Seemed like a pretty sweet deal. Part of that was the luck of the stock market, but also a lot of it was the beauty of compounding returns. This was a typical scenario.

Now they are offering another “package” for people to leave, and I am sorely tempted and strongly considering it. I’ve been exploring over the past year an arrangement to market some software in the US and overseas, which would bring me income in sales and consulting. I’d be my own boss, with both the risks and rewards that come with that. My current company would pay me about $50,000* to leave, plus some benefits for about 1 year and up to $5,000 for any kind of training that I’d like. This would probably be enough to cover me for the first 2-6 months in my new venture.

On the plus side, the thought of starting something up has me energized and excited, in ways that I’ve not felt for years now. Work in my last couple of assignments had left me cold and resentful, worried about the employees that were exposed to some of the newer managers in the company. Whether I stay or go they are anyway going to outsource a lot of the work and people in Information Technology, so I could be an HP, IBM or EDS employee in the next 6-12 months anyway. If you’re going to leave you might as well get someone to pay you to do it. And it would help break the bond that keep bringing me back to Cincinnati, even though this city is working fine for us right now.

On the negative side, I’ve got two small children to take care of, and start ups are always a bit risky. My wife has insurance through her job that seems better than mine anyway, but she’s only been working there for a few months so we don’t know if there is any catch to that. I’d probably have to travel quite a bit for the startup, so I’d be home less and we’d probably have to hire someone to help with the kids when I was on the road.

I just turned 40 last summer, and kind of feel like if I don’t do this now then I may not get another chance. IT as a general field doesn’t have the luster it once did, and I believe that the general trend will be for more and more companies to move work overseas to cut costs. This will likely result in less upward pressure on salaries in the field.

I’ve got two weeks to notify the company if I’m interested in considering the package. If they say that I can go (it’s up to them whether to accept), then I have another 60-90 days to review the financials and consider whether or not to take the offer.

I’m open to any input or advice; experiences from others or thoughts on things I may not have considered. Then I’ll do whatever the hell I please anyway. :wink:

*Before taxes etc

OK - you basically have a total of 12-14 weeks from now to make a final decision, yes? From when you notify the company to when you get through reviewing the financials? I would say spend as much of that time as possible working out a plan for your own business and having it looked at by someone else with a clue, business-wise. It always helps to have someone else’s perspective, but you want someone who knows a lot about business start-ups (in other words, you don’t me reviewing your plans!)

ACT as though you’ve made the decision to leave and start out on your own, and make your decisions as though that was your final answer, Regis. You still have the option to stay with your company, so you’re in a position of less risk - at least until that 12 or 14 weeks is up. Obviously, you’re going to look more closely at your insurance options and make the determination whether your wife’s benefits will be adequate.

You’re already aware that going out on your own has risks, so it seems to me that you’re not acting rashly. I say put a plan in place and start implementing it, on the side like, and see if you can get any promising results before you cut all your ties to the company.

And good luck!!!

I read a recent statistic in Money Magazine stating the modern American will change careers, or jobs, 3 or more times before retirment. As opposed to 30 years ago where people stayed in a job for an entire career. That is staggering to me. As a 33 year old college instructor, I do not know how to take this interesting stat.

For you however, it seems you have several good options.
I was wondering something, why are they not offering a golden handshake for someone who has been with the company for 15 years? 50K and 5k for training seems a little slim for time vested in the company. Would you be getting a pension of anysort, or just a lump sum of 50K minus the third for uncle sam?

If you are getting some semblence of a pension I’d say start planning your new business. If not, and you are getting a lump sum, why not diversify your stock - if any - or run up a nice IRA, ROTH etc… with say 10K. That will be a nice nest egg in 20 years.

My wife and I are trying to get 25 K in a roth, before we are 35. That way with with particular Roth, we’ll have 1.4 mill when we are 65…

Thanks for the responses. I have an additional quarter million or so in a pension which is dual funded by me and the company. The $50K is just a lovely parting gift, sort of like some people get 2 weeks severance.

I’ve been researching for months now on business start ups and business plans, checking out stacks of books from the library, etc. Next week I am meeting with a couple of guys that would be key partners in this new venture. We’ll work on an overall business plan, and then I’ll create a separate business plan for my piece.

Ok I understand. My wife and I have a consulting business for industrial and corporate interior design. We have flirted with going into the biz full time, but for know teaching is quite fun.

I would suggest picturing yourself in your new potential biz in 10 years, if the picture is clear and positive then I’d put my all into it. If it is fuzzy and anxious, I’d look elsewhere.