Hi there, I can hardly complain. I get 28 vacation days per year and lots of holidays, nice co-workers, and low stress. I am left alone to do my job and can spend a fair portion of my time researching whatever I want in the name of farm pricing. Not many meetings, not too many TPS reports.
Here’s the rub: my book has gone from profitable to very profitable over the last seven years. Almost all the states are indicating sizable decreases (unlike the competitors). It even baffles me how we have done this well considering we are up against other big-name companies with real actuarial departments. We do tend to focus on making a profit though and not being stupid and throwing away capital on bad business.
If I had my way, I would give a fair amount of that profit back in the hope of growing the business. However management feels the opposite, they would rather make $$ and are less concerned for growth. So while I feel like there are steps I could take to improve things, I am discouraged right now from doing anything that isn’t a rate increase. There are opportunities to take them for sure, but I guess I have to accept that what I would do isn’t what’s going to get done.
Since I started this post, my dad died and the modest amount he passed on to me got me 1/3 of the remaining distance to my arbitrary retirement goal and chopped a couple years off the travel time. So as I’ve said in another thread, I might quit full-time work in three years at 54-55, go part time for a couple of years, and then retire on my $7,000/mo income. I’ve definitely warmed up to the idea of coasting - I keep plenty busy but to not worry about having any grand delusions of my abilities or that I should make anything more of my career.
A close friend of mine’s dad literally had a countdown timer to retirement for like 5 years and he ended up still working and there’s no way he needs the money. 15 years is a long time, you’ll miss us too much and all the $$$ to spend.
I’m certainly not doing nothing. When I have down time I actively think of ways to use that time to the company’s advantage. But I could certainly do considerably less if I wanted to. I would guess that 80% of the time I have 40 hours of work and 20% of the time I have 10 hours of work.
An opportunity may have arisen. I just completed a third interview with a place that would be remote-only. Better yet, I know two of the people that work there - one is only an acquaintance, but the other is a good friend that lives three miles down the road. My interview at noon yesterday was with the company president and he gave the impression that an offer would be coming soon. So I sit here and try to work and not go crazy…
There are a couple of projects coming down the pike in the next 6-12 months. Multiple countrywide rollouts. I have no idea how it’s all going to get done - usually if there aren’t enough resources the job just drags out accordingly, and I’ve always been disappointed to not have a direct report to help do the more routine analyst stuff and eventually groom a successor. But I’ve reached the point that I would rather drop out before all this gets started.
I don’t need a massive salary increase - I’ll probably do the job for the same money honestly - it’s job satisfaction that matters more to me now. I’m going to have dinner with the good friend tonight to get a bit more information in the hopes that I get that offer soon… Thankfully I think I should be good on adequate vacation time. If I don’t get the offer, life goes on.
I got the offer - but it’s at least 12% lower than what I make now. I asked for 23% more which seems like a lot but I outlined my rationale. As much as I’d like to do something different I am in a perfectly good situation and can retire or go half-time in May 2026 (I become rule-of-55 eligible Jan 2026 but the first four months of the year offers a lot of vesting and bonus and such).
Aside from the -12% if I were to leave my current employer, my deferred compensation would start paying out and if I don’t already end up in the 22% tax bracket under the new scheme, that extra money certainly would do the job. The whole point of putting the money there in the first place is to avoid the 22% tax bracket.
Nothing like getting another offer to let you appreciate what you have. Four or five years ago a rural insurance company offered to make me VP of their small and growing mutual company, but I didn’t fancy moving my family to nowheresville (some of you would say I’m already there).
Is the all-in comp at least equal? Like, does new company pay 100% of medical vs. 20% of medical, what’s the 401(k)/retirement package, vacation days / sick days, # days in the office per week, etc? I’ve learned that salary, while a nice headline number, is generally only about 70% of compensation. There can be other factors which make it reasonable to take fewer $$ in the paycheck but still feel like you’re coming out ahead.
