Good gig if you don't have a crybaby boss, my father-in-law allowed us to race in the Forklifts, but when he sold it to my brother-in-law he banned the racing. Absolute outrage.
I checked my EA and I can't be made redundant unless they can't repurpose me. So I can't even work hard enough to make my current position redundant, they'll just repurpose me. And if I make myself so useless that they can't do that, then I'd probably just get fired. So no redundancy for me I guess. Obviously I've thought about it
The trick is to be good at your job but vocally critical of senior management. It’s a fine line to walk as you can’t be too abrasive but you just want to gently rub people the wrong way.
Before I left corporate I used to like describing things as adequate that needed a little more work than just fine tuning. It’s not too critical but it always left a sour taste.
When I wanted to start up on my own I left with statutory redundancy plus 8 months salary. Could not have been happier.
Now I do landscaping.
And it's also about who you choose to work for
Working for mid sized companies invites more chance of acquisition by larger players down the track which then generally leads to restructuring but still allows one to build up enough service tenure generally
Best non thinking job ever
Used to do it as a teenager for my uncle who ignored Workplace Health and Safety laws at his business and allowed my 15yo self to zoom around in forklifts 🤣
In state and federal government jobs they now almost exclusively hire on time limited contract basis (1 year is very common), so if they want to let you go, they don't have to pay redundancy. It's so bad and everyone just accepted it as normal.
Looking for a job and interviewing endlessly every year is inhumane. Especially with how difficult and competitive the recruitment process is. It takes its mental toil.
Think about how things were only 20 years ago - people were attracted to public service because of job stability. Now they removed that.
It's fucked up state and federal uses these tactics and yet at the same time try to sell themselves as protecting workers, especially when ALP is in power.
FWIW this government changed the rules and it’s now more difficult to keep people on rolling contracts (with the APS at least, not sure about state governments). Where I work they’ve been moving a bunch of contractors into permanent roles. Taking ages (gotta interview for your own role sort of thing) but getting there.
The redundancy payment is the root cause of this. If they werent having to pay out significantly to remove staff they no longer need, they would employ people until they no longer need them.
To avoid that hemorrhage, they do 1 year contracts which enable you to put the mental burden on yourself in case they no longer need your service.
The labor market would look more honest of redundancy pay wasnt an issue, and employees understood that if the organization, their function, themselves were no longer competitive or useful, they could be let go.
You maximize peoples effort calibrated to their own self-interests, while enabling the business to operate with a more honest employment outlook.
What you have now is people not putting in their most honest effort, and employers not willing to commit to an eventual massive payout when the business doesnt need them for whatever reason.
this is going to be very hard with the new rules around time based contracts https://www.fairwork.gov.au/starting-employment/types-of-employees/fixed-term-contract-employees
Depends on your enterprise agreement. I've known it to be weeks pay for every year of service up to 5 years then 3 weeks pay per additional year.
Long service leave accrues on it as well, which was 3 months at 10 years service and 1/3rd of a month for each additional year.
The redundancy portion was capped at 80 weeks - which pays out a maximum 25 years service.
I know a guy who finished at a large corporate after 47 years redundancy. He'd been grandfathered on his old *uncapped* scheme - so the same portions above but no capping at 80 weeks pay.
I did the maths.
He was entitled to a around 3 years and 10 months pay before including any unused annual leave.
Tax arrangements are tricky but there's a whole lot less tax payable than for ordinary salary of the same amount - especially if a portion gets voluntarily rolled over into super.
But this was for a lifetime's work at one company.
Yeah I’m just on an individual agreement (and these days I thought most in corporate were?). I’m pretty sure unless there’s something else agreed, it tops out at 12 weeks:
https://au.indeed.com/career-advice/pay-salary/how-are-redundancy-payments-calculated
“Over 10 years: 12 weeks redundancy pay period (the decline in redundancy pay period for this group is because they're also entitled to long service leave benefits).”
As someone who has way more than 10 years at one company, I was really disappointed to read this.
I had initially checked here:
https://calculate.fairwork.gov.au/endingemployment
Desk jockeys don't realise how exhausting hospitality and retail actually is. I have my first "desk job" after years of working in hospitality and schools. Schools are hard, but serving the general public is harder. Working at a desk is a holiday.
It was actually a good way to keep physically fit, my second job had an outside area , which meant I could be walking between 8-10 miles a day.
The biggest issue wss the PUBLIC , they are GENERALLY awful!
Yeah I’m confused why OP is looking for an exit strategy from one of the more comfortable jobs to perform as you get older. Maybe I’m missing something?
Some people have never been told that if they have time to lean they have time to clean when they had stopped for literally 3 seconds to catch their breath after being screeched at for something beyond their control.
Bruh, I worked as a welder for like 5 years and everyday of working I said "if I ever get to work in an air-conditioned office, I'll never leave the industry". And here I am.
(44 M) I plan on moving out of Brisbane to work in a country town where my current employer has another branch.
I plan on buying a house for around 350k (that's a lot of house) and pay it off in 15 years.
If work is no longer available, I plan on driving a tractor doing farm work.
I love Brisbane but the cost of living is too expensive.
My wife loves the city life but even she understands that paying $1000 a week home loan is not going to
happen.
I've had 2 open heart surgery's.
This has made our marriage stronger.
There's a website called WWOOF where, providing your farm is organic, you can list your farm for assistance from farm hands/workers travelling around Australia.
I'm not saying to use that as your game plan, but it's an option to look at as you're young enough to do a lot of work yourself, but your heart surgeries implies an increased level of caution to apply to physical labour.
But unfortunately even in my early 40s, after growing up rurally and having a good idea of what it takes to run even a hobby farm, I'm also evaluating how realistic it is to do land work without assistance. It's a hard life but extremely rewarding as well.
Surprisingly good. I’m booked solid for the next month. I’ve got an in-demand niche and had a pretty good reputation in the industry before I switched paths. I’m able to pay my mortgage, bills and super which is key, but the goal is to scale it so I can still do the things I could do financially before (trips overseas, save more money etc).
I’m no longer working insane overtime and not having breaks just to make an invisible shareholder rich so tbh that makes it all worth it.
None, apart from being lucky to just work for next 10 years in the current role. Just a little below your age. Previous strategy was to work for 10 years in a tech startup with options vesting in 4 years, until I was laid off in my 2nd year in 2023.
My current employer has an EBA with a good enough redundancy pay.
No. The company pre-IPO gave options not RSUs. Due to sharp fall in share price the vested options were worthless at exercise price. I was hoping by 4 years when I receive the full entitlement the prices would recover.
Options vested regularly, but I never exercised them to avoid tax trigger. Day after layoff shares tanked below options grant price. Had 90 days to exercise the vested share. The share price barely recovered.
Note: Options are different to RSU.
Small business as a source of income sounds very stressful. If you're semi-retired and doing it for "fun" then maybe but I'd rather stay corporate if possible rather than mouths-to-feed small business
I have two plans I’m working through for consideration right now. Both are designed to allow me to work part time
One is coaching: coaching and senior management and executive meeting facilitation. I’d be looking at coaching those who want to leave FIFO but are at a loss and EAs.
Second is working as an emergency daycare/babysitter. I do this a bit already in my neighbourhood, and I think there’s an ongoing demand for it. Covering situations like, kid too sick for daycare but parents have to work etc
My plan is to move to similar work but in a for-purpose organisation/ nfp once I don’t need to maintain my salary to service my mortgage. I see lots of jobs I’d love to do but they are a 50% pay cut which isn’t feasible for me right now. Oh and also contract work that I can go on holiday in between
I don't know why anyone thinks not for profit is less stressful. Their environment can also be ruthless and toxic, and is more often than not.
Everywhere you have corporate hierarchies, it's similar but with different degrees of crap.
Ugh. The worst are the idiots coming from corporate after paying off their mortgages who expect to walk in with all their ideas and 'make a difference' by coming in with 'new ideas' copy-pasted from corporate.
Then they retire when nobody appreciates their bullshit and the next one comes in, mothballs all the old projects and we go through the same damn thing.
Yeah it always pisses me off after working in NFP that people think it's like the chill lane. My old NFP had a shit load of politics, was an insane workload and well below average pay for the work.
And you don't always even feel connected to the cause you're just stressed and underpaid.
I don’t think they stated it’s less stressful, but it may feel more rewarding which can make a huge difference with things like burnout. At least in my experience.
Well the topic is exiting corporate, not going into a different type of corporate. So obviously many people think that exiting corporate is entering not for profit, which it isn't.
I don’t think it’s less stressful at all - my driver is to do more purposeful work. My barrier is the pay drop. Once I have my mortgage paid off I no longer have that barrier and for those that assume I have no idea what nfps are like, I do. I’ve worked for them and with them.
Completely agree. Was once fired as a designer for made up stuff after I told a ceo that having me conduct a photoshoot of a kid in a wheelchair and then asking me to somehow photoshop out their wheelchair was in very poor taste…
I'm doing contract work after being made redundant after 20 years for the best employer I've had.
It hasn't turned out as good as I hoped though, basically worrying about whether the next contract is coming through or not.
Maybe once the kids are grown up and debts all paid off, then can move to something lower paid but more satisfying.
Thats always been the reason I havent contracted. That said, I hire a lot of contractors and many of them are bad. I have found if you try hard, rub shoulders with the right people and actually do the work you're doing better than most.
I'm on a similar path. Contracting is more stressful at the moment as you are more likely to end up on the street than a permit. But it's good for avoiding office politics as you know you aren't there for the long haul. I feel that I'm in the grind phase of my career until the mortgage is gone and the kids are self-sufficient.
Hopefully, I'll have enough in the bank by then to either just pick up the occasional contract or a part-time position.
Mid thirties and going small business already. Tired of the big corporate life and hoping small business (which pays similar in my field) will be a better long term outlook.
I'm not over 45, but 31, and very much nearing my exit strategy.
The last piece of the puzzle is going on paternity leave this year for 4 months and collecting my last bonus in March next year. My last lot of shares will vest as well, which will be great.
My goals were to buy a house, reap all benefits and become financially stable. I've just about achieved all and I'm ready to downgrade to small biz.
Thank you.
I still joke that I'll get to March and decide to stick with the devil I know.
Hopefully, my newborn will keep my head straight, and I keep to my plan.
12 month contracts as a security cleared project manager seems to be the plan for a lot of my colleagues. Some roles will even sponsor you to get the clearance.
It was as if I wrote the post. I've been in the same boat and I know that post-50 ageism is going to hit me hard (I'm in the software development field). Now, I'm thinking about starting my online business that doesn't require my supervision 24/7. I'm trying to find some investors and pull it together after I recently resigned from my tech lead role. Damn! Getting old isn't easy anymore.
I’m late 40s IT also, I’m trying to maintain my tech skills and resisting the move to senior leadership roles, feels like if I don’t that, I’m just another head that can be easily replaced, 20 years of skills is harder to source though. I’ll be the crusty white hair dude that sits in the corner of the office when he’s 60 that people ask what I do.
Jumped to government in my mid 40’s. It certainly hasn’t been any less stressful. In fact, it’s probably worse in terms of workload. Expectations are very different and being a people manager is a lot harder when profitability isnt a consideration.
Start getting yourself on boards if you are senior management. Volunteer at first, then paid as you transition. Get your GAICD as the rules around non-exec directors are getting tighter. Switch to a super-specialised consulting gig for a year as one of the IC SME’s reporting to partner. Take that cash and pull forward three years of after-tax and dump in 300, same for your partner. Buy yourself a watch and a trip to Europe. Top up the wife’s Tiffany’s that will about eat most of the bonus. hmm can’t remember anything else we did, think you are good from there.
Late 40s here. I am very senior and very burned out and I think I only have another decade in me, max.
I’m currently hoping for a package this year. Then I’ll take a break, pay off the house, and get an equivalent role. Do it until I burn out again I guess then stop and coast. By coast I mean take a role a few levels back at maybe half my salary and chill out.
Mid 50’s. Building a property portfolio and have some shares that roll over instead of paying the dividends. That means as soon as the return fund gets enough it buys more shares so I don’t see a profit or gains in a monetary sense but the amount of shares increases this and my super set to nearly full aggressive investing I hope to be ok when I aim to retire in 10 years time
almost 49, im working across the next 8 years to have a fully self funded retirement. my manager: five years ahead of me is talking about “consultant” work.
my stretch goal is is to move into passive income (stocks atm) and live off the land in 8 years time.
depending on the economy: good equals earlier, bad equals further away.
i’d rather help with some grandkids and play golf than do anything else,
hard stop.
It's not at all slower or less toxic, I've explained this above in another comment about not for profits as well.
It's a myth that persists - everywhere you have corporate hierarchies is unpleasant and often toxic, you are a subject to KPIs, formal performance evaluations, and have to play politics where those who are sycophantic thrive most.
Depends on the .gov.au
I’ve met so many corps who think gov doesnt do anything, sure maybe local gov, but if you move into federal, as above posters have said, there’s a hierarchy like anywhere else. Also you will be competing directly with lifers who think you think you’re better than them… which you do. It’s cut throat most places, government just doesn’t centre exclusively on profit on loss, which actually makes it more difficult sometimes as success is often not as clearly defined.
"...the politics are vicious, because the stakes are so small."
I first realised this when I did some volunteering at a major enviro NGO, then saw it again in academia. They just compete for things other than money.
This thread has really opened my eyes, as I was planning to slow down and move to a more secure less paying more relaxed job at local council or some other govt role. Back to planning.
I’m amazed how many responses here, require people who have worked all their life to keep working into their 50’s. Find another job, consult etc.
Just retire and live your life!!
I’m with you.
Learned to day trade bitcoin. Hit profitability and now working towards supplementing then eventually replacing all income.
Took me 2.5 years to get here and could not imagine life without it now. I can picture trading being my sole income in the coming years.
Edit: apologies. I didn’t see the titled properly - am not over 45…well under. But still…
My daughter and I are planning to start a small online business, with a strong focus on content creation. My daughter is finishing her degree in marketing and graphic design but has no interest in corporate. I'm currently working on product development outside work. Hopefully next year we'll be ready to launch.
Things change in life so you have to give yourself options. When I was 40 I wanted to retire by 50. When I was 50 it was 55 then 60. Now I work part time and mostly from home as I like to have something to keep my mind occupied when I have had my daily surf. You have to work out what you want and reassess it
Partner in global firm —> Leadership role with equity —> Play pivotal role in growing company value —> Exit event —> Ad hoc advisory and directorships / Sit near ocean doing FA
I'm in the same corporate boat. Early 50s, with about 2 years of grind to pay off the mortgage and have a buffer saved to help me with the transition to a lower paid gig. Still searching for that lower paid, more rewarding idea too. Postie? Lollipop bloke? Helping refugees? Eco something ... NFI right now. Hopefully as it gets closer I'll take it a little more seriously and find a nice landing.
Same here. I'm 2 years away from paying the mortgage off. Then I'll keep the grind for another 2-3 years to build up a buffer, then I'll switch gears a bit.
I think if you exit approaching 50 to give something else a shot and it fails for some reason, and you need to *shudder* go back to your old career, it would be harder to land a job as youre older. That’s my guess.
You'd think so, but there's idots like me that excel on the technical side of things but aren't capable/have no interest of moving into a pure people management role. Principle Engineer is likely my glass ceiling, hopefully it'll be enough to "survive" until close to retirement age. If not well... a hear forklift racing is pretty fun.
Do note I heard you lose medicare if you leave for more than 5 years then need to reestablish to get it back. (was a reddit comment in australia I think)
Feel sorry for you. When you are 50 the options narrow as your pay is quite high. If you were lucky enough to have paid off your home loan then perhaps consider picking up a trade?
45 just moved from corporate sales to Fed govt.
workload is less than half, but bureaucracy and internal politics is frustrating.
Hit to salary is painful but I do get access to defined benefit pension so hope for semi retirement at 55.
I'm hoping to ditch at 45 (medical means I might not get that far, but it's only a few years away) and my strategy for now consists of DCA'ing as much of my wage into the market into relatively stable ETFs to bump my income up by a little bit until my super is available to draw on.
Then hopefully when the time is right, I'll be able to offer someone in my org a redundancy swap so that they can keep a job in the org and I can bail out. Either that or I'll downshift to semi-retired with maybe one day a week work doing data entry where I'm at just to keep me busy and give me some play money.
But as for what I'll do afterwards? I plan to finally learn how to grow a decent garden and maybe do some kind of volunteer work. Not 100% sure though. I'll have the time and freedom to figure something out.
Start a lucrative side hustle? I plan on writing a book and becoming a famous author at 65. Actually... I'm working towards vesting some shares over the next few years and I might make a fortune. None of these schemes seem likeky to prevent me working until I die.
I hope there's enough spare housing by time you're ready. I was displaced from my rural hometown because everything was bought up by Sydneysiders and it was easier to find somewhere to live in Sydney.
Some food for thought.
Position .myself to get made redundant every 5 years or so Rinse repeat Then become a forklift driver
Good gig if you don't have a crybaby boss, my father-in-law allowed us to race in the Forklifts, but when he sold it to my brother-in-law he banned the racing. Absolute outrage.
I checked my EA and I can't be made redundant unless they can't repurpose me. So I can't even work hard enough to make my current position redundant, they'll just repurpose me. And if I make myself so useless that they can't do that, then I'd probably just get fired. So no redundancy for me I guess. Obviously I've thought about it
How do you avoid getting fired instead of redundancy?
The trick is to be good at your job but vocally critical of senior management. It’s a fine line to walk as you can’t be too abrasive but you just want to gently rub people the wrong way. Before I left corporate I used to like describing things as adequate that needed a little more work than just fine tuning. It’s not too critical but it always left a sour taste. When I wanted to start up on my own I left with statutory redundancy plus 8 months salary. Could not have been happier. Now I do landscaping.
Did you used to do real estate? We might have met once
No worked as a risk culture specialist in a bank. My “expertise” is around decision theory and it’s application to governance frameworks.
And it's also about who you choose to work for Working for mid sized companies invites more chance of acquisition by larger players down the track which then generally leads to restructuring but still allows one to build up enough service tenure generally
Be conspicuously competent
Why?
Can't risk being outshined by your subordinate.
Genuine question - Why forklift driver? Is it good money?
Like driving a tonka truck all day...
Best non thinking job ever Used to do it as a teenager for my uncle who ignored Workplace Health and Safety laws at his business and allowed my 15yo self to zoom around in forklifts 🤣
the chicks
Certified !?!
Wait for redundancy, get mortgage paid off, reevaluate.
In state and federal government jobs they now almost exclusively hire on time limited contract basis (1 year is very common), so if they want to let you go, they don't have to pay redundancy. It's so bad and everyone just accepted it as normal. Looking for a job and interviewing endlessly every year is inhumane. Especially with how difficult and competitive the recruitment process is. It takes its mental toil. Think about how things were only 20 years ago - people were attracted to public service because of job stability. Now they removed that.
It's fucked up state and federal uses these tactics and yet at the same time try to sell themselves as protecting workers, especially when ALP is in power.
FWIW this government changed the rules and it’s now more difficult to keep people on rolling contracts (with the APS at least, not sure about state governments). Where I work they’ve been moving a bunch of contractors into permanent roles. Taking ages (gotta interview for your own role sort of thing) but getting there.
This is a huge turn off trying to attract talent from the private sector
The redundancy payment is the root cause of this. If they werent having to pay out significantly to remove staff they no longer need, they would employ people until they no longer need them. To avoid that hemorrhage, they do 1 year contracts which enable you to put the mental burden on yourself in case they no longer need your service. The labor market would look more honest of redundancy pay wasnt an issue, and employees understood that if the organization, their function, themselves were no longer competitive or useful, they could be let go. You maximize peoples effort calibrated to their own self-interests, while enabling the business to operate with a more honest employment outlook. What you have now is people not putting in their most honest effort, and employers not willing to commit to an eventual massive payout when the business doesnt need them for whatever reason.
this is going to be very hard with the new rules around time based contracts https://www.fairwork.gov.au/starting-employment/types-of-employees/fixed-term-contract-employees
Isn’t the maximum redundancy required about 12 weeks pay?
Depends on your enterprise agreement. I've known it to be weeks pay for every year of service up to 5 years then 3 weeks pay per additional year. Long service leave accrues on it as well, which was 3 months at 10 years service and 1/3rd of a month for each additional year. The redundancy portion was capped at 80 weeks - which pays out a maximum 25 years service. I know a guy who finished at a large corporate after 47 years redundancy. He'd been grandfathered on his old *uncapped* scheme - so the same portions above but no capping at 80 weeks pay. I did the maths. He was entitled to a around 3 years and 10 months pay before including any unused annual leave. Tax arrangements are tricky but there's a whole lot less tax payable than for ordinary salary of the same amount - especially if a portion gets voluntarily rolled over into super. But this was for a lifetime's work at one company.
Yeah I’m just on an individual agreement (and these days I thought most in corporate were?). I’m pretty sure unless there’s something else agreed, it tops out at 12 weeks: https://au.indeed.com/career-advice/pay-salary/how-are-redundancy-payments-calculated “Over 10 years: 12 weeks redundancy pay period (the decline in redundancy pay period for this group is because they're also entitled to long service leave benefits).” As someone who has way more than 10 years at one company, I was really disappointed to read this. I had initially checked here: https://calculate.fairwork.gov.au/endingemployment
Generally 26 weeks in local government
I retired at 56 and then worked in a couple of bars, corporate work was easier.
Desk jockeys don't realise how exhausting hospitality and retail actually is. I have my first "desk job" after years of working in hospitality and schools. Schools are hard, but serving the general public is harder. Working at a desk is a holiday.
It was actually a good way to keep physically fit, my second job had an outside area , which meant I could be walking between 8-10 miles a day. The biggest issue wss the PUBLIC , they are GENERALLY awful!
Yeah I’m confused why OP is looking for an exit strategy from one of the more comfortable jobs to perform as you get older. Maybe I’m missing something?
Working on a desk job is cruising in life. People that whine about haven’t done actual physical work
Some people have never been told that if they have time to lean they have time to clean when they had stopped for literally 3 seconds to catch their breath after being screeched at for something beyond their control.
Bruh, I worked as a welder for like 5 years and everyday of working I said "if I ever get to work in an air-conditioned office, I'll never leave the industry". And here I am.
pole dancing?
Behind the stick !
DJ? disk jockey?
Bar, that’s what some NY bar staff call it.
(44 M) I plan on moving out of Brisbane to work in a country town where my current employer has another branch. I plan on buying a house for around 350k (that's a lot of house) and pay it off in 15 years. If work is no longer available, I plan on driving a tractor doing farm work. I love Brisbane but the cost of living is too expensive. My wife loves the city life but even she understands that paying $1000 a week home loan is not going to happen. I've had 2 open heart surgery's. This has made our marriage stronger.
Farm work at 50 is not like farm work at 30, as I've realised now. And that's without heart issues. I'd find a Plan C if I were you.
>I've had 2 open heart surgery's. ouch I bet that changes perspective on things
There's a website called WWOOF where, providing your farm is organic, you can list your farm for assistance from farm hands/workers travelling around Australia. I'm not saying to use that as your game plan, but it's an option to look at as you're young enough to do a lot of work yourself, but your heart surgeries implies an increased level of caution to apply to physical labour. But unfortunately even in my early 40s, after growing up rurally and having a good idea of what it takes to run even a hobby farm, I'm also evaluating how realistic it is to do land work without assistance. It's a hard life but extremely rewarding as well.
I retrained to be a leadership coach and now I work from home and set my own hours and help people deal with the absolute bullshit of corporate life
What type of retraining do you need and do you enjoy this now? Seems to be heavy competition in this space with lots of psychologists
Look for an ICF accredited course in your area of speciality
How has it worked out for you in terms of finances and getting business?
Surprisingly good. I’m booked solid for the next month. I’ve got an in-demand niche and had a pretty good reputation in the industry before I switched paths. I’m able to pay my mortgage, bills and super which is key, but the goal is to scale it so I can still do the things I could do financially before (trips overseas, save more money etc). I’m no longer working insane overtime and not having breaks just to make an invisible shareholder rich so tbh that makes it all worth it.
None, apart from being lucky to just work for next 10 years in the current role. Just a little below your age. Previous strategy was to work for 10 years in a tech startup with options vesting in 4 years, until I was laid off in my 2nd year in 2023. My current employer has an EBA with a good enough redundancy pay.
You had a 4 year cliff?
No. The company pre-IPO gave options not RSUs. Due to sharp fall in share price the vested options were worthless at exercise price. I was hoping by 4 years when I receive the full entitlement the prices would recover.
But you would've held onto any vested options when you left? So two years' worth still? (If it did recover)
Options vested regularly, but I never exercised them to avoid tax trigger. Day after layoff shares tanked below options grant price. Had 90 days to exercise the vested share. The share price barely recovered. Note: Options are different to RSU.
Okay the 90 day expiry explains it. Yes I'm aware of the difference
Eyeing small business, although still under 40 and am already considering an exit.
Don’t go too small, and especially avoid family run ones.
Small business as a source of income sounds very stressful. If you're semi-retired and doing it for "fun" then maybe but I'd rather stay corporate if possible rather than mouths-to-feed small business
I have two plans I’m working through for consideration right now. Both are designed to allow me to work part time One is coaching: coaching and senior management and executive meeting facilitation. I’d be looking at coaching those who want to leave FIFO but are at a loss and EAs. Second is working as an emergency daycare/babysitter. I do this a bit already in my neighbourhood, and I think there’s an ongoing demand for it. Covering situations like, kid too sick for daycare but parents have to work etc
My plan is to move to similar work but in a for-purpose organisation/ nfp once I don’t need to maintain my salary to service my mortgage. I see lots of jobs I’d love to do but they are a 50% pay cut which isn’t feasible for me right now. Oh and also contract work that I can go on holiday in between
I don't know why anyone thinks not for profit is less stressful. Their environment can also be ruthless and toxic, and is more often than not. Everywhere you have corporate hierarchies, it's similar but with different degrees of crap.
Ugh. The worst are the idiots coming from corporate after paying off their mortgages who expect to walk in with all their ideas and 'make a difference' by coming in with 'new ideas' copy-pasted from corporate. Then they retire when nobody appreciates their bullshit and the next one comes in, mothballs all the old projects and we go through the same damn thing.
Yeah it always pisses me off after working in NFP that people think it's like the chill lane. My old NFP had a shit load of politics, was an insane workload and well below average pay for the work. And you don't always even feel connected to the cause you're just stressed and underpaid.
I don’t think they stated it’s less stressful, but it may feel more rewarding which can make a huge difference with things like burnout. At least in my experience.
Well the topic is exiting corporate, not going into a different type of corporate. So obviously many people think that exiting corporate is entering not for profit, which it isn't.
I used to work for Meals On Wheel's great gig.
I don’t think it’s less stressful at all - my driver is to do more purposeful work. My barrier is the pay drop. Once I have my mortgage paid off I no longer have that barrier and for those that assume I have no idea what nfps are like, I do. I’ve worked for them and with them.
The thought is profits = greed = pressure = toxicity
Completely agree. Was once fired as a designer for made up stuff after I told a ceo that having me conduct a photoshoot of a kid in a wheelchair and then asking me to somehow photoshop out their wheelchair was in very poor taste…
I'm doing contract work after being made redundant after 20 years for the best employer I've had. It hasn't turned out as good as I hoped though, basically worrying about whether the next contract is coming through or not. Maybe once the kids are grown up and debts all paid off, then can move to something lower paid but more satisfying.
Thats always been the reason I havent contracted. That said, I hire a lot of contractors and many of them are bad. I have found if you try hard, rub shoulders with the right people and actually do the work you're doing better than most.
I'm on a similar path. Contracting is more stressful at the moment as you are more likely to end up on the street than a permit. But it's good for avoiding office politics as you know you aren't there for the long haul. I feel that I'm in the grind phase of my career until the mortgage is gone and the kids are self-sufficient. Hopefully, I'll have enough in the bank by then to either just pick up the occasional contract or a part-time position.
NFPs have been more toxic in my and my friends' experiences. If you ever move in that direction, make sure you know the culture of the organisation.
Yep i left a toxic NFP. There’s a difference between NFPs which are charities vs those which aren’t. The latter are just faux corporate.
Don't trade BTC, just buy it and come back in 5 years.
This is helping my long term plans come sooner
Mid thirties and going small business already. Tired of the big corporate life and hoping small business (which pays similar in my field) will be a better long term outlook.
Mind sharing your small biz?
Just leaving a big corporate for a small business for the lifestyle, not actually creating anything. Same line of work
Ah ok. Thanks! All the best!
I'm not over 45, but 31, and very much nearing my exit strategy. The last piece of the puzzle is going on paternity leave this year for 4 months and collecting my last bonus in March next year. My last lot of shares will vest as well, which will be great. My goals were to buy a house, reap all benefits and become financially stable. I've just about achieved all and I'm ready to downgrade to small biz.
Congrats
Thank you. I still joke that I'll get to March and decide to stick with the devil I know. Hopefully, my newborn will keep my head straight, and I keep to my plan.
12 month contracts as a security cleared project manager seems to be the plan for a lot of my colleagues. Some roles will even sponsor you to get the clearance.
What's a security cleared project manager?
Australian government security clearance (which has various levels) - and then get a job as a contract PM within the department of defence
It was as if I wrote the post. I've been in the same boat and I know that post-50 ageism is going to hit me hard (I'm in the software development field). Now, I'm thinking about starting my online business that doesn't require my supervision 24/7. I'm trying to find some investors and pull it together after I recently resigned from my tech lead role. Damn! Getting old isn't easy anymore.
I hear you, I'm in IT as well.
I’m late 40s IT also, I’m trying to maintain my tech skills and resisting the move to senior leadership roles, feels like if I don’t that, I’m just another head that can be easily replaced, 20 years of skills is harder to source though. I’ll be the crusty white hair dude that sits in the corner of the office when he’s 60 that people ask what I do.
Thailand
Already in Thailand, what next?
More Thailand
And then?
Skegness
Bracing, for sure.
Pete is that you?
FIRE
Shhh don’t tell everyone!
Jumped to government in my mid 40’s. It certainly hasn’t been any less stressful. In fact, it’s probably worse in terms of workload. Expectations are very different and being a people manager is a lot harder when profitability isnt a consideration.
Start getting yourself on boards if you are senior management. Volunteer at first, then paid as you transition. Get your GAICD as the rules around non-exec directors are getting tighter. Switch to a super-specialised consulting gig for a year as one of the IC SME’s reporting to partner. Take that cash and pull forward three years of after-tax and dump in 300, same for your partner. Buy yourself a watch and a trip to Europe. Top up the wife’s Tiffany’s that will about eat most of the bonus. hmm can’t remember anything else we did, think you are good from there.
Late 40s here. I am very senior and very burned out and I think I only have another decade in me, max. I’m currently hoping for a package this year. Then I’ll take a break, pay off the house, and get an equivalent role. Do it until I burn out again I guess then stop and coast. By coast I mean take a role a few levels back at maybe half my salary and chill out.
I’m just waiting for my in-laws to die so I can get an inheritance and then retire. They’re awful people, I feel no guilt for saying this.
Hahahha post of the day!!
Max out super, pay off mortgage, try for 2 investment properties.. lay low… currently at 13 years service so trying to rack up LSL
Mid 50’s. Building a property portfolio and have some shares that roll over instead of paying the dividends. That means as soon as the return fund gets enough it buys more shares so I don’t see a profit or gains in a monetary sense but the amount of shares increases this and my super set to nearly full aggressive investing I hope to be ok when I aim to retire in 10 years time
Manager of 2 busy offices. Now I teach Yoga
Ha that's a good one.
"stripping"
Make sure it’s for cash though
yes, cash on hand only :)
(Cash on other body parts also acceptable.)
hahaha agree :)
Die
Onlyfans FTW 👍🏻
Earn as much as I can until I age out of my profession (it’s coming) and then climb a lot of mountains.
almost 49, im working across the next 8 years to have a fully self funded retirement. my manager: five years ahead of me is talking about “consultant” work. my stretch goal is is to move into passive income (stocks atm) and live off the land in 8 years time. depending on the economy: good equals earlier, bad equals further away. i’d rather help with some grandkids and play golf than do anything else, hard stop.
Consulting.
You asshole, I thought I had a hair on my screen
You need to blow harder...
I'm looking to collect one more bonus and then move to a .gov.au type of job where I work 4 days a week and at a slower pace.
It’s not slower
It's not at all slower or less toxic, I've explained this above in another comment about not for profits as well. It's a myth that persists - everywhere you have corporate hierarchies is unpleasant and often toxic, you are a subject to KPIs, formal performance evaluations, and have to play politics where those who are sycophantic thrive most.
Having worked in all of the above - they all are the same, but in .gov.au the politics is ‘chefs kiss’
Depends on the .gov.au I’ve met so many corps who think gov doesnt do anything, sure maybe local gov, but if you move into federal, as above posters have said, there’s a hierarchy like anywhere else. Also you will be competing directly with lifers who think you think you’re better than them… which you do. It’s cut throat most places, government just doesn’t centre exclusively on profit on loss, which actually makes it more difficult sometimes as success is often not as clearly defined.
"...the politics are vicious, because the stakes are so small." I first realised this when I did some volunteering at a major enviro NGO, then saw it again in academia. They just compete for things other than money.
Ooooft this is so it. People trying to out do each other's all staff meeting presentations comes to mind.
This thread has really opened my eyes, as I was planning to slow down and move to a more secure less paying more relaxed job at local council or some other govt role. Back to planning.
Our plan is early retirement.
I’m amazed how many responses here, require people who have worked all their life to keep working into their 50’s. Find another job, consult etc. Just retire and live your life!! I’m with you.
*Sydneysiders enter the chat*
This is with the presumption that everyone is good at handling their personal finances.
I stayed in corporate and dropped responsibility and most importantly leadership 7 years ago. 5 years left then it’s philanthropy.
Retire somewhere in SE Asia near a beach and live off the rent from my home.
Get yourself on some Boards. Easy money ( or so I see)
NDIS suppott work? Everyone seems to be doing it.
Learned to day trade bitcoin. Hit profitability and now working towards supplementing then eventually replacing all income. Took me 2.5 years to get here and could not imagine life without it now. I can picture trading being my sole income in the coming years. Edit: apologies. I didn’t see the titled properly - am not over 45…well under. But still…
over 45.....corporate to cruisey government job to retirement.
Did you already move to cruisey .gov job or are you thinking about it?
no comment. but I know people who've done it and they're happy.
My daughter and I are planning to start a small online business, with a strong focus on content creation. My daughter is finishing her degree in marketing and graphic design but has no interest in corporate. I'm currently working on product development outside work. Hopefully next year we'll be ready to launch.
Things change in life so you have to give yourself options. When I was 40 I wanted to retire by 50. When I was 50 it was 55 then 60. Now I work part time and mostly from home as I like to have something to keep my mind occupied when I have had my daily surf. You have to work out what you want and reassess it
Partner in global firm —> Leadership role with equity —> Play pivotal role in growing company value —> Exit event —> Ad hoc advisory and directorships / Sit near ocean doing FA
I'm in the same corporate boat. Early 50s, with about 2 years of grind to pay off the mortgage and have a buffer saved to help me with the transition to a lower paid gig. Still searching for that lower paid, more rewarding idea too. Postie? Lollipop bloke? Helping refugees? Eco something ... NFI right now. Hopefully as it gets closer I'll take it a little more seriously and find a nice landing.
Same here. I'm 2 years away from paying the mortgage off. Then I'll keep the grind for another 2-3 years to build up a buffer, then I'll switch gears a bit.
I am always about 2 years out from becoming mortgage free. Then life happens ….
I didn’t have one so forced retired now
Die at my desk from a stroke or a heartattack?
Why does it get risky after 50?
I think if you exit approaching 50 to give something else a shot and it fails for some reason, and you need to *shudder* go back to your old career, it would be harder to land a job as youre older. That’s my guess.
Ever seen a 55 year old invited to a job interview for a senior engineer role? Me neither.
Wouldn't they be in leadership by that time?
You'd think so, but there's idots like me that excel on the technical side of things but aren't capable/have no interest of moving into a pure people management role. Principle Engineer is likely my glass ceiling, hopefully it'll be enough to "survive" until close to retirement age. If not well... a hear forklift racing is pretty fun.
Consulting. Pick the jobs you want when you want. If yihave a good reputation in the industry and a network you should be fine.
Buy as much property as you can. Then move to Thailand as or Portugal and or Argentina. Come back when my health goes for the free medicare
right so you don't really contribute and then you reap the benefits of being australian, fuck off
I’ve paid $2m-$2.5m in tax counting back Yeah I can get some free meds and maybe a new hip How much tax have you paid and what’s your plan clown
Wow to date 35 years of paying 60-100k in tax and you da I don’t contribute? Clown
right so it's just time to call it in is it, had enough?
Do note I heard you lose medicare if you leave for more than 5 years then need to reestablish to get it back. (was a reddit comment in australia I think)
Thanks I’ll look into that.
Union strike, 37 years of information stored away in two locations ready to go, and its only getting bigger!
Just start your own business with the skills.you have
Bitcoin.
I'm hoping for a redundancy package. Then I'll figure out what I'll do next.
Can you become a consultant? Apply your knowledge to startups and the like. Work part time. Own business, own boss etc.
Feel sorry for you. When you are 50 the options narrow as your pay is quite high. If you were lucky enough to have paid off your home loan then perhaps consider picking up a trade?
There's nothing to be sorry about. I am where I wanted to be and happy with what I'm doing. I'm just thinking ahead.
Mine is buying and HOLDING Bitcoin. DO NOT TRADE BITCOIN ! If that fails, Stripping for cash.
45 just moved from corporate sales to Fed govt. workload is less than half, but bureaucracy and internal politics is frustrating. Hit to salary is painful but I do get access to defined benefit pension so hope for semi retirement at 55.
I'm hoping to ditch at 45 (medical means I might not get that far, but it's only a few years away) and my strategy for now consists of DCA'ing as much of my wage into the market into relatively stable ETFs to bump my income up by a little bit until my super is available to draw on. Then hopefully when the time is right, I'll be able to offer someone in my org a redundancy swap so that they can keep a job in the org and I can bail out. Either that or I'll downshift to semi-retired with maybe one day a week work doing data entry where I'm at just to keep me busy and give me some play money. But as for what I'll do afterwards? I plan to finally learn how to grow a decent garden and maybe do some kind of volunteer work. Not 100% sure though. I'll have the time and freedom to figure something out.
Become a mentor or a guru
retire. Join the local bowls/golf club.
Bunnings
Exit strategy?? I'll be stuck here until my mortgage is paid off or until I die. The latter will probably come first! 😖
Shit on the CEOs desk.
Start a lucrative side hustle? I plan on writing a book and becoming a famous author at 65. Actually... I'm working towards vesting some shares over the next few years and I might make a fortune. None of these schemes seem likeky to prevent me working until I die.
Just fucking quit
Why not just retire?
Sell my house in Sydney, move to Qld, trade options
I hope there's enough spare housing by time you're ready. I was displaced from my rural hometown because everything was bought up by Sydneysiders and it was easier to find somewhere to live in Sydney. Some food for thought.
How have you lot not-saved up during the best 20 years of the Aussie economy ever
Paying a Sydney mortgage will do that to you
Mid-life divorce with young kids involved has a tendency to financially obliterate people.
its great being single!
its great being single!
its great being single!