Katiebug
Well-known member
As depressing as I find this, I will likely be working until I'm approaching 70. I used to have dreams of early retirement (60ish) so that Mr. Bug and I could travel, enjoy grandchildren, etc. It's just not realistic.
I enjoy my job, but have always been careful to cultivate work-life balance. It's extremely rare for me to bring work home. I don't worry about work problems outside of work; as soon as I step out of the office that's it for the day. I have the fortune of a 40-45 hour average work week and reasonably good benefits. The pay isn't as much as I could get elsewhere, but these days I'm glad to just be employed. I work because I need to, and because I'm a better engineer than I would be a teacher, an accountant, a postal worker, etc. I have zero desire to smash glass ceilings and devote my 20s and 30s to the company in hopes of making more money than I really need. I like my job a lot, but it's not my life.
Since the folks at my company who were hired even a few years before me are eligible for a defined-benefit pension, which is still in good shape, they tend to retire once they hit 65. We have very, very few who are older than that. I have a defined-contribution plan which will be nice in conjunction with my 401(k) and other investments, but I suspect as my generation ages the retirement age will be pushed out further.
A few of our oldtimers (in their 50s and 60s) are very set in their ways, very resistant to change, and haven't kept up as well as they should on new technologies. They're close to retirement, usually maxed out their promotion potential and paygrade, and believe (perhaps mistakenly) that the company will never get rid of them for fear of age-discrimination suits - so they do as little as possible and set a poor example. Others have kept up-to-date and are a great source of knowledge and advice for the younger engineers.
Most of our entry-level hires are former interns, so we know they're a good fit to the company and they know what they're getting into. Few things piss me off more than a cocky newbie who thinks he knows everything. When I was a new grad, I soaked in whatever knowledge I could and didn't mind doing the scut work - that paid off for me later on.
I enjoy my job, but have always been careful to cultivate work-life balance. It's extremely rare for me to bring work home. I don't worry about work problems outside of work; as soon as I step out of the office that's it for the day. I have the fortune of a 40-45 hour average work week and reasonably good benefits. The pay isn't as much as I could get elsewhere, but these days I'm glad to just be employed. I work because I need to, and because I'm a better engineer than I would be a teacher, an accountant, a postal worker, etc. I have zero desire to smash glass ceilings and devote my 20s and 30s to the company in hopes of making more money than I really need. I like my job a lot, but it's not my life.
Since the folks at my company who were hired even a few years before me are eligible for a defined-benefit pension, which is still in good shape, they tend to retire once they hit 65. We have very, very few who are older than that. I have a defined-contribution plan which will be nice in conjunction with my 401(k) and other investments, but I suspect as my generation ages the retirement age will be pushed out further.
A few of our oldtimers (in their 50s and 60s) are very set in their ways, very resistant to change, and haven't kept up as well as they should on new technologies. They're close to retirement, usually maxed out their promotion potential and paygrade, and believe (perhaps mistakenly) that the company will never get rid of them for fear of age-discrimination suits - so they do as little as possible and set a poor example. Others have kept up-to-date and are a great source of knowledge and advice for the younger engineers.
Most of our entry-level hires are former interns, so we know they're a good fit to the company and they know what they're getting into. Few things piss me off more than a cocky newbie who thinks he knows everything. When I was a new grad, I soaked in whatever knowledge I could and didn't mind doing the scut work - that paid off for me later on.
