My last day!

It’s also payday and I see two deposits in my account. The first one is a regular paycheck. I suspect that the second is a payment for my remaining vacation time.

I should hear from HR later today on the paperwork for my severance pay. I know that I won’t receive it for at least a week after I sign the paperwork. I think it’s related to a state law that allows backing out of a contract within a week of executing it.

Two more working days! And I'm an hour into one of them.

I’ve installed (with help from DS5) my retirement gift from the company – a Sonos home speaker system. As a manager, I knew that the company provided funds for the manager of the retiring colleague to purchase a gift and I knew the budget for mine. I’ve purchased the gifts for four retirees myself when I was the manager. I usually asked the retiring colleague for their preferences. I guess that spoils the surprise element but at least they receive something they really want. I wasn’t sure how my manager would handle it so I took the initiative to tell him what I wanted. I am so glad that I did! I love having my music play throughout the house and the deck (when I put the ‘Move’ outside).

We spend lots of time on the deck during the summer so now I have music while I’m preparing the meal and also while we’re eating outside.

I’ve just been reimbursed for my last expense report. It was late so I was getting worried that it would be a lingering to-do. I’m glad to have it done.

The number of working days left – three!

I’ve sent my ‘so long’ e-mail to colleagues that I’ve worked closely with over the years and I’m glad I did that. I’ve received many well wishes and compliments. The company’s gotten large, so often in the past I’d find out someone was gone after reaching out to them for information.

I’ve completed the COBRA paperwork. The company will pay for the first three months and I’ll pick up the premiums (or change to another plan) after that. The monthly premiums will be just under $2500. Ouch! It’s for the family but still. I’m thankful that the company pays the first few months and I do have HSA funds that can be used for the premiums. We’ll definitely stick with COBRA for 2023, and probably 2024 but I’ll do comparison shopping for 2024 before making that decision. And now, I’ll have the time for that research!

Because I have to return the printer, I purchased a new one. I’ve just done the pack-up and set-up activities related to that. I was told that I could keep the cell phone (just not the company-paid plan) but not before I purchased a new phone and plan. So my former work phone will go to DS5. He’ll be upgrading from an iphone 7 to an iphone 11. He’s excited.

I can’t pack up the laptop and monitor until I’m really finished working. And much of my days this week are in knowledge transfer sessions with others.

I haven’t blogged in months and a couple of big financial things have happened. The exciting one is that I gave notice at work of my retirement, and it’s now 19 days away!

The company has a voluntary separation program (VSP) that sends a retiree off with a nice severance. To qualify I had to be 55+ and have the sum of my years of service to the company and my age be at least 72. I also had to provide a minimum of 3 months’ notice, which I did – plus one day. I’ve actually qualified since I was 55 but I wasn’t ready then. Now the house is paid off and I’m comfortable with living lean until my retirement account can be accessed without penalty.  I have a small Roth IRA as a back-up and I’ve also read a couple of articles about accessing a 401k after 55 but before 59.5 without penalty. That’s a back-up to the back-up though – I hope I don’t need that. But just in case, I’m leaving my retirement funds in the 401k until I’m 59.5. Then I’ll roll it into an IRA where I have more control.

My job is fine – I don’t dislike it and yet, I am super excited just to wake up and feel free.