Here is my story. I made it 13 years at exxon before before quitting. No retirement for me except some of the pension lump sum. The lying a hole hr snake said I would not get anything but I got a little. I made several million dollars during my time at exxon and at my other company. I left with about 2.1 million in my 401k and a lump sum payout of only 230k. I left without any notice. I just stopped coming in to work. I truly hated exxon in the end and could not stand the supervisors and managers. The group was so toxic and gossipy. Eventually exxon sent me a letter of job abandonment and paid my vacation time. It was the best decision and feeling of my life. The money I made was more than enough for me to live on. I kept on working in order to get the medical benefit and higher pension payout but in the end it was not worth the pain and mental anguish. I was seriously thinking of working till 60 at exxon. I now travel the world visiting all of europe, Asia and south america. I got great medical insurance that is more expensive but better than exxon's was. I left in mid 2025 and my financial advisor has already increased my portfolio by almost 250,000 dollars. I live a very frugal life and have no payments as everything I own is paid off. I can live on as little as 2100.00 dollars a month. I so wanted to tell my supervisor to f k off and cuss them out but did not get the chance to. So in the end money was the key to my freedom and happiness. If you are miserable quit and leave before you suffer undue mental damage. This is my story and I hope it helps others who are going through the same he-l I was. I do not want to work anymore as exxon has ruined the experience for me. If I find employment that I can help and succeed in I may try. Good luck to all who play the game but remember the game is rigged at exxon. I had a horrible experience at exxon and hated every moment.
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Look for the purple in Upstream. The Mohawk was at baytown. The tatooed gang member was in pipeline and there were some in baytown. The tr--p stamps are everywhere. For the tr--p stamps look when they bend over. They like to tease you with the tr--p stamps. There was also a shaven head female beauty at baytown. She looked like a lawn mower had cut her hair. She was piped last I saw her though. There was one in Upstream we used to called stinky pinky.
@sp I have seen two separate ladies with purple hair. One is Asian. One is white.
@q7 I have never seen anyone with purple hair. What group is the purple haired one in?
Exxon is full trash employees. Notice all the tattoos and tr--p stamps. Employees with purple hair, bald heads, mohawks, and piercings. There is a supervisor that looks like the illegal alien in the homeland security comercial. He looks like he came fresh out of prison with a shaven head and neck tattoos. There are some real geniuses working at excon.
Trash like this is clear evidence EM does not hire the best and brightest. Too many comments are immature and simple minded, no respect for colleagues, foul and disgusting comments constantly with sixtual tone. Do better people… You don’t have to agree or like comments shared, just kick rocks and move on.
Even the phrase “indulge in the renting of women” sounds off to me.
I didn't have enough money to join the e pstien klan. So no fun for me. Maybe durwood was in the fold.
@OP I’m curious, are you a friend of the person whose been in the news recently, the person whose files have been released
So much anger and hate on this site :(
So many miserable working at ExxonMobil I guess
@jt so you rent men? Each to their own
I did not say I would indulge in the renting of women. I just know some persons who go to south east aisa and are provided with companions, personal masseuses, maids, drivers and girlfriends. I also know some who visit europe and get similar services. So let me state I do not personally engage in this.
OP, I’m with you on this, but I didn’t quit Exxon so you’ll see me turning to the left as I board that long flight to BKK, while you did quit so you’ll be turning to the right as you board. Tuck your elbows, lean ever so slightly back, and enjoy the flight.
@gt No need to rent them. They throw themselves at you. Even the ones who have husbands.
I was on board with OP until he started talking about renting girl companions in South East Asia.
@fw I wish I understood investing as well as yourself. Given your knowledge you should write a book. But maybe, you would be better off writing a travel guide to low cost brothels in Asia
Retired from Upstream. Most of it as an expat. His math makes good sense. Lived in SE Asia 12 years on and off as an expat. My only advice to this young man is forget the bar girls and rent girls. Pick a nice older one from a village or kampung who'd love to change her life and appreciate it. You'll be a very happy man.
Those who can’t fathom or “make the math work” it’s because you don’t understand investing and/or you dont see a path based on your own situation/take home pay. This is all very doable on the prior US EM pay scale which is a thing of the past. Today you were being asked to do more …much more with smaller… much smaller salaries. This is your reality and it’s not getting any better unless you are a hi po. Sorry.
His math is fine. I started as experienced hire with a portfolio and existing assets. After 15 years the Exxon contribution to that was an additional $3MM in assets, 401K and pension. I had learned active investing including the 401K, e.g., in 2021 when the XOM price fell to $32 I pushed in 500K and let it ride til over $100. It was a very obvious thing to do at the time for those paying attention. Other examples like that. Congratulations to OP and best of luck to everyone.
@ec/OP, please tell me you know the rules: the rent one for a week deal comes with a clear expectation that you build her a house in her rural hometown. Sooner rather than later. Have we learned nothing from YouTube videos? The half life of your $2 million at this point is about 18 months at best. But you probably think you will be the exception. Sure, maybe you will be the first passport-bro farang in history to outsmart the bar girls. Maybe you will find true love. Isn’t it exciting!
Sad little man…and a quitter.
@ec you’re a sad little man
It does not matter if anyone believes me or not. The fact is I am free of exxon and can live my life as I want. It us truly wonderful to wake up when you want,do what you want and not do what you want. During the last freezes I stayed inside under the blankets and watched as the minions went to work. This was priceless. The freedom to do or not do as you choose. Speaking of South East Asia I know some places where you can rent a female companion for weeks at a time.
@cq Projecting, are we?
@cp I think we are meant to be jealous, but honestly who cares about some quitter chasing ladyboys in Bangkok
I really don’t see the point of this one. OP saved a moderately low amount for his age despite getting a very good break in the covid stock market, and now wants to make the point that when your career fizzles you can always escape Exxon and have a moderately frugal retirement traveling solo Asia. Sure, any of us could. I’d have a hard time explaining the merits to my family, but if you want to be a fifty something hanging out with bar girls in Bangkok and Manila, you do you. There are plenty of YouTube videos out there telling the rest of that story.
@bs No one is disputing that someone can have $2.1M in their 401k or retire early. That just doesn't appear possible solely from the last 13 years of Exxon contributions.
@OP Finally a post that acknowledges that working is about making money and taking care of yourself and your loved ones.
I’m really getting tired of this “it’s not about money” moral posturing from people on here, who are all clearly putting up with this BS because they need the paycheck and pension.
If it’s not about money, then get up and walk out or offer to do the job for free. If you’re not doing that then you clearly need the money.
Ok to all the disbelievers. I came into exxon with about 500k of 401k already which I transfered into exxon's. During the covid market crash I was all in common assets (cash) exxon 401k plan. I bought exxon stock at 34.00 and then after a few years when it went up to 95 dollars I sold. So for all the genius stellar engineer exxon minds that is roughly 1.5 million in assets at the end. There was also some dividend growth from stock and further growth until my departure. I also made some extra money with my outside investment fund during the crash. All stocks were down 60 to 70 percent at this time. You can do it don't be scared or afraid that you have to stay at a horrible place. The pension pay out is at 51 is 55 % you do get something at age 50 and older. I am single and can eat cereal or a can of soup for lunch and dinner. I enjoy everyday of my life now.
@bd Yes, I don’t believe the 72k is reasonable. But $30k is (assuming a few years worked elsewhere) is.
@bc The ~$70k cap in the 401k is indexed for inflation, so he couldn't have been contributing at that level every year. Also, $265k is a pretty high pension payout at 2025 interest rates for 13 years of work unless this guy was an experienced hire when he started at Exxon. He's either making things up or he is a bit older and has a number of years of previous employment.
@aw I hope you realize you can put up to ~$70k a year in your 401k using the annual in plan Roth conversion. The issue is we are capped at 20% of our salary at XOM for employ contribution. Need to make about $265k to hit the ~$70k contribution limits if you include the 7% company match.
Also, the poster mentions another company and does not mention how long he worked for said company while he contributed to that 401k. I presume he rolled them together when he had a job change.
The market has averaged a return of something like ~15% since 2011. You would need to contribute 72k a year in the 401k to grow to $2.1M in 13 years, so it’s definitely a bit of a stretch. BUT, if you are working for 16 years instead (since we don’t know how long this person worked elsewhere and contributed to a 401k) then the math is more reasonable. Only requires a total contribution of $38.7k a year. Keep in mind, this includes the 7% company match, so you’d only need to contribute anywhere from $21k to $33k just depending on your salary.
See a breakdown of how much you’d need to contribute per year to hit the $2.1M. Let’s assume a 15% return since that’s right around the average return since 2009 - 2010 (again, your actual portion would be less due to the employer match of 7%).
Working years:
18- $32k
17- $37k
16- $39k
15- $44k
14- $50k
13- $72k
Man people sure get worked up when someone else steps off the treadmill and gets a life outside EM. There is another way of life besides grinding yourself to death to make other people richer.
OP good for you, I don’t care if you fudged the numbers a little or not, the intent and message is all good.
@OP you miss us so much that you had to come back with your little lies?
Look you didn’t make the cut, you got PIPd now just go away
Your math ain’t mathing. There are limits to what you can put into the 401k each year and we all know what the market return has been. Please stop making things up.