Do you have a "Plan B"?

[raangoli]

I am surprised that many of you will get pensions, I thought those were long gone!

The big question mark around taking a step back would be healthcare first and then do we have the drive to go into business for ourselves. My parents were self employed from the time I was born and I saw how hard it is first hand. Sure, it was also great in many ways (they were always around growing up), but they worked all the time.

[covergirl82]

We don't have an official Plan B. However, if I got to age 55 (both kids should be out of college by then, if they go to college, and our house will be paid off) and couldn't do it anymore, I'd either ask to be changed to non-exempt and work on projects (such as participating in salary surveys), or I'd look into working as a project-based contractor for other companies. People who do my job (compensation analyst) are not very common in my area (although that could change over the next 20 years), so I am pretty confident I could find some work.

I know DH might get fed up at some point and want to retire earlier than 60 or early 60s. He's in finance, so he could work as an analyst or do projects.

[goldengirlz]

I have a unicorn job that didn’t even exist when I graduated from college. One of the things experience has thought me (at least in my field) is that I don’t need my life to be so carefully planned. I may not know what I want to do “next” but I’ll likely recognize it when I see it. It may not even exist at this point in time.

H has a much more traditional career but he’s not dissatisfied in it. I’m not sure how long we’ll stay in the (VHCOL) Bay Area, but if we make it another 15-20 years, his goal is to wind down to retirement working in some beautiful coastal California town, away from the rat race of the big city. I’m on board with that!

[mich1]

I guess I am on my Plan B now. I was planning on leaving my job when I reached the point where I could receive medical insurance through retirement until Medicare kicked in. I only had another 5 years to go. I adored my job and would have gladly done it to that point, and further. Unfortunately, Murphy smiled at me and left me disabled and going back to my former job dangerous for my health. So married my LDR and now he's trying to decide if he wants to retire now, or do the COBRA slide into Medicare in 2 years.

[noodleoo]

I feel like I've already started Plan B. I quit my very stressful, full time job after having DD1 and knowing I couldn't handle the hours and the commute. I took a big step down to work part time, but I found a job I enjoy that pays well and is challenging without being stressful. It was a big salary hit but has been worth it for quality of life. When the kids are older, I might consider going from 20 hrs/week to 30.

H is the breadwinner for now, but he also has a side business as a wedding videographer that he'd love to go into full time. It's his passion, but not really compatible with small kids. Someday I'm sure he'd love to do that full time and it could be an option when the kids are older. In the meantime, it is nice to have it as a fall back should the worst happen.

[k3am]

Our joint Plan B (maybe C or D?) is moving. Cost of living is so ridiculous here that we could sell our home here and buy in cash and probably live pretty comfortably on one salary elsewhere.

My personal Plan B was to go work for my old boss... it’s been shot to hell since he retired early unexpectedly this month. He could still probably get me in touch with other companies to work for, but the appeal isn’t there.

[scout8]

Technically, we are in our plan B. I changed careers from attorney to real estate broker 20 years ago. My H switched from working in business consulting to real estate 17 years ago.

Now we are ready for plan C. We are aiming for 7 years from now when I will be 54 and my H 53.

Plan C-1 is to retire completely and move somewhere in Latin America, probably Mexico, but maybe Colombia or Panama. This scenario is more likely because it is much more affordable and we will be able to get much cheaper healthcare/insurance.

Plan C-2 is to move somewhere in the mountains in the US, probably somewhere in Virginia or NC. Maybe Colorado, but it's probably too expensive. We would need to have some sort of part time job for this to work financially. The biggest issue is that health insurance is so expensive. Currently, we pay over $1000/month for the two of us. Unless something changes to make this more affordable, this eats up so much budget that the numbers don't work that well. I suppose with a lower income, we might qualify for a credit of some sort.

[foodiemom]

No, in fact I’m pretty leaned ‘out’ right now while our kids are little and have tons of flexibility but we are super tight financially because of it. My oldest will go to college and 2 more behind him in about 7 years so I plan to ramp up and lean back in in about 4-5 years. I’ve actually been looking into careers and have honed in on jobs that don’t pay particularly well but come with pensions figuring I can work from 45-65 in a job well suited to my skill set. I actually took a part time job in that field specifically to get my foot in the door for the future should I decide to stay on this path.

[steamboat185]

I’m hoping to be done by 42-45 so 2-5 years down the road. DH will hopefully be done a few years later and definitely by 50. Our plan B if DH got layed off would be to have me quit too, pull DD1 out of school and travel for a year. We could both probably find jobs in our fields again pretty easily they just wouldn’t have the same PTO and salary. We aren’t tied to our location if we don’t have DHs job so we might move someplace with a LCOL.

[Roc A Bee]

The lottery?

Jk. I have at least 21 years left in the workforce. But more likely closer to 31. My current job has a pension, kick ass benefits, and lifetime health benefits. I have no plans to leave.

[konapoppy]

I am planning my Plan B right now. I would love to leave corporate America.

Really, I dream about moving to a L/MCOL area and H and I owning our own business. Or running a summer camp.

[L]

I stopped working in my profession by & large 15yrs ago. We are in our early 40s. We’ve already decided that when my parents pass away (who now live with us) & MIL passes away—DH will “retire” too...be that 1yr from now or 10. We have pretty good income off real estate & could downsize hugely. My H is in an incredibly high stress job, with a million hours & is paid very well—but we are sick of it. Can’t really lifestyle change now but we will soon as possible. We will just continue to do Real estate investing/flipping, possibly start our own firm/development company or get some low stress part time jobs. Depends how old we are & the finances.

[notsopicky]

Sort of? I'm actually living my Plan B right now. I spent 23 years in the middle school classroom, and I knew that I was exhausted. I couldn't do another 20+ (I think I could realistically work until 65, barring any health concerns). I had done it all--every leadership position in the building save admin, member of every committee at one point or another, worked in the summer, mentored new teachers, etc. etc. etc. all while maintaining a full teaching load. Good grief, I was TIRED.

So two and a half years ago, I got a random email advertising MLIS degrees from a university in-state (although not local), and I said, hmmmm, librarianship--I would actually be GREAT at that role in a school. It is still technically a teaching position, but it's not up in front of kids all day every day. I love books, and reading, and research, and technology, and working with both students and staff--it's almost as if the position was tailor-made for me. So I jumped in with both feet...finished the degree in 22 months, killed my internship, and was hired in my same district, at a school that I've wanted to work at for many years in the neighborhood where I used to live (this position was actually the third time in 18 years that I had interviewed for a position there--different jobs each time, the first two times the positions/timing were not quite right for me).

I go to work every day so happy. I am a valued contributor to the instructional program, and there aren't enough hours in the day to help all of the folks that seek me out. I have an amazing assistant, we are growing the program by leaps and bounds every month, and I can't believe sometimes that a) I'm actually living my best professional life right now and b) that it took me so long to get here. I got a significant raise in salary with the additional masters, and I can see myself staying in this position at this school for a long time.

[dellabear]

Plan B is supposed to be a new job for me in HQ, doing back office, senior advisor type work after working in operations for most of my career. This would involve a cross country move, much closer to our hometown, and a new job for H who is ready for a new challenge as well. This job has been in the works for a long time and it really looks like it might actually happen this spring/ summer.

I’ll be making a bit more, H’s industry is booming out there so hopefully he will too. I’m hoping for flexibility and less stress. There’s a lower cost of living and we want to buy a cheaper home, reduce our mortgage payments, travel more and hopefully take more time off overall.

[macmars45]

I think I'm on plan c or d... I was a preschool childcare teacher, then preschool teacher through my local school district. Now I'm a SAHM subbing in my local public school district. I'm hoping to get my foot in the door so when DS goes to kinder in 2.5 years I can jump back in FT as a para-educator. I won't take work home, work only my allocated hours/paid for extra hours and while FT it's usually more like 30-35 hours/week. Or less if you want PT. And I'll get the same vacation breaks as DS so childcare won't be an issue.
Then maybe H can pivot his career and get out of accounting. Another plan we've seriously considered is moving elsewhere in WA state away from our HCOL area.

[agnes]

We just wing it most of the time.

[gibbinator]

We both do, generally. I can "easily" transition back into freelancing 20-30 hours a week if I get to a point where I don't want to stay with my current company (or they go under, as I work in a volatile field) and dh can retire early but substitute part-time (teacher). We've also casually discussed him transitioning to director/bureaucrat position to get out of the classroom for awhile since he's getting burnt out by all the negative press and overwork teachers get. He had an opportunity for a 1yr term director position a couple years ago but ultimately didn't pursue it because we had little kids and he'd have had to move out to the city temporarily. But once the kids are older I can see him going in that direction for a while.