Maybe it was not all that dangerous, but it felt like a huge risk at the time.
Things were a little uneasy at work, and rumours were flying around. Redundancies were thought to be likely.
It was Friday afternoon preceding a long weekend that there was a message on my phone when I returned from one of the many meetings my job entailed. It was not from someone I knew well, but it was someone I knew. He was not actually from Human Resources, but it was a related area if I remember correctly. It was too late to return the call, so that had to wait until Tuesday morning.
My husband worked in the same department, but in a very different area. That evening when we got home he confirmed that he had received a call from the same officer, and he had in fact been asked if he would consider taking a voluntary redundancy. So, the time had come!
We spent the weekend trying to work out the financial implications. It would mean retirement for both of us – Tim was already 60 and I was only a few months short. The chances of getting work in the IT industry in management level roles at our ages was not high – and we were far past getting jobs at a technical level.
What would the redundancy payout be? What should we do with the payout to provide an income that would last? Was this even possible? What would be the level of the Superannuation income? And so on – the weekend was spent in front of the computer trying to work out whether this was too great a risk. And it was a three-day weekend so more time to ponder and worry.
Tuesday morning came at last, and I made the call. Yes, I would consider the offer. Help – was I right to do this? I cannot remember the full process, but I think there was some early information about the amount of the payout, including outstanding leave and long service leave before the final decision had to be made. It looked OK. And they paid for us to receive advice from a financial planner – they got it cheaply of course because we had to do it as a package – two for the price of one. No sense in doing it separately as we were both taking the redundancy.
Still it felt full of risk. Could we live on the income streams that we would be receiving?
Well, of course it all worked out perfectly – as far as the financial side was concerned. No need to have worried at all. We have even managed some overseas holidays, travelling at business class level, and not backpacker costs.
There was another sticky point though. Should we move to Benalla? What would that mean financially and socially? And so, taking a deep breath made those plans as well. Maybe you have an idea how that is working out for us!!!!
Things were a little uneasy at work, and rumours were flying around. Redundancies were thought to be likely.
It was Friday afternoon preceding a long weekend that there was a message on my phone when I returned from one of the many meetings my job entailed. It was not from someone I knew well, but it was someone I knew. He was not actually from Human Resources, but it was a related area if I remember correctly. It was too late to return the call, so that had to wait until Tuesday morning.
My husband worked in the same department, but in a very different area. That evening when we got home he confirmed that he had received a call from the same officer, and he had in fact been asked if he would consider taking a voluntary redundancy. So, the time had come!
We spent the weekend trying to work out the financial implications. It would mean retirement for both of us – Tim was already 60 and I was only a few months short. The chances of getting work in the IT industry in management level roles at our ages was not high – and we were far past getting jobs at a technical level.
What would the redundancy payout be? What should we do with the payout to provide an income that would last? Was this even possible? What would be the level of the Superannuation income? And so on – the weekend was spent in front of the computer trying to work out whether this was too great a risk. And it was a three-day weekend so more time to ponder and worry.
Tuesday morning came at last, and I made the call. Yes, I would consider the offer. Help – was I right to do this? I cannot remember the full process, but I think there was some early information about the amount of the payout, including outstanding leave and long service leave before the final decision had to be made. It looked OK. And they paid for us to receive advice from a financial planner – they got it cheaply of course because we had to do it as a package – two for the price of one. No sense in doing it separately as we were both taking the redundancy.
Still it felt full of risk. Could we live on the income streams that we would be receiving?
Well, of course it all worked out perfectly – as far as the financial side was concerned. No need to have worried at all. We have even managed some overseas holidays, travelling at business class level, and not backpacker costs.
There was another sticky point though. Should we move to Benalla? What would that mean financially and socially? And so, taking a deep breath made those plans as well. Maybe you have an idea how that is working out for us!!!!
Joy Shirley,
November 2016
November 2016
RSS Feed
