Stay at home Dad?

Definitely look at what that pension does if you stay, leave, etc as well as when you can first be eligible.

I just hit 20 years with my company which is 1 hurdle to collect, the second is age 55 which is 8 more years.

My company chose to not put any money into the pension after 2020 (nor do I have the ability to) and having had that is one reason I've remained loyal all this time.

 

The details of the pension are required to be listed somewhere. Check your employee handbook, benefits page, etc. It will be listed, they just don't always put it right in front of you.

Also, is that pension formula you mentioned an annual payout or some other period?

 

thank you! See im 6 years older than my wife, when she started college I already had finished and had 2-3 years at my management job. I busted my ass for many years to try and make the move up, but work politics always have been my weakness,, im too direct, honest, and I dont trade my values for acceptance. So after some frustrating years with the wrong leader, my career took a pause. By this she went all out on her BS RN and finished it in only 3 years instead of 4. Thats when we got married and she moved with me to Florida (we had a long distance relationship for 3.5 years while she was in college and before our wedding). Once she moved over to FL we thought the process for her license would be a quick endorsement and paperwork and thats it.. It wasnt. It was an odyssey. We then decided incase we move states in the future for her to get her license in California since they have the hardest board and it gets accepted nationally in any state or territory. This took a 2-3 years between finding out the process and having two kids,,, and well after that no one was really hiring a "recent grad" nurse with a 2-3 resume gap in the industry. Until after Covid... then we had tons of offers. She eventually accepted what I have mentioned before.

She has supported me no questions asked in all my goals and aspirations. But right now she has a fire burning in her eyes that I cannot dare to put out. Its her time. I can have a go at me in another time. But right now, my focus and energy is on her and the kids. Work is just that, it used to be more, it was fun, challenging, exciting, now its just work. I have lost my passion for it. So thats why maybe some time away... or a change is direction, might be best.

We have talked about it a few times during our 8-9 year relationship, I would love to go to auto mechanic school... not necessarily career wise (but would totally consider it) but for my personal knowledge. I love working on cars n trucks. And there so much I can learn on youtube, so I would like some handson experience.

Maybe down the line, after she is done. Our lives can be so different in 5 years... and in the big picture that a short amount of time...

 

I have to find out and read the fine print. I know that for payout I get to choose, either lump sum, yearly or monthly.

 

*** UPDATE***

Well at the end of December I had a great networking opportunity withing my company thanks to a connection with an old mentor of mine. One thing led to another and in January I started a new job as a Recruiter working from home. This job not only pays significantly more, but it also allows me to work remotely from anywhere in the US, but FL will still be our home. But we are open to relocating based on job offers for my wife once she finishes her school. On that note, she was working on her masters in Family Nurse Practitioner. She has now decided to pursue her doctorate so, a lil longer on the study time, but bigger reward at the end.

Current situation job time: Mon-Frid 9am-5pmj. All holidays off and paid for. I still continue with my same benefits, pension, retirement, and 401k contribution. My salary went up 34%, my commute went down 92% since I only now drive the kids half a mile to my parents 4 days a week (I keep them on Fridays). I have the kids and food ready every afternoon by the time my wife gets home. This way we can enjoy dinner as a family before she goes to study for a few hours before bedtime.

things are looking up!

 

Balance in life is so huge especially the newly discovered balance in recent times.

Re the nursing, my general advice is to keep on going as much as she can at once. My wife fell into that trap, has a Masters in psych that is just a piece of paper and at her age going for a PhD isn't happening.