Thread regarding Shell Oil layoffs

I took the package and retired 4 years ago at 49.5 after 24 years with shell at 80 points. One thing that allow us to retire is that we never inflate our life style as salary grows. when we repatriated back to Houston we didn't go buy a maximum amount that the bank would approve but a house that worth a year of my base salary. My wife stay at home and my kid just started high school when i retired in 2021. I am glad i get to spend family time with my kid before he is off to college. We are living on Shell severance and other investments, still pay off our mortgage but it's very small on a very low 2% interest. My only child is off to college this year on a merit full ride scholarship. our health insurance is with Shell getting more expensive each year but still cheaper than buying it yourself. What I regretted was that we didn't find our trusted financial advisor ahead of time of retirement but a year later so, that was wasted of opportunity. Shell was my first employer and my last. I am glad i retired when i did.

I took the package and retired 4 years ago at 49.5 after 24 years with shell at 80 points. One thing that allow us to retire is that we never inflate our life style as salary grows. when we repatriated back to Houston we didn't go buy a maximum amount that the bank would approve but a house that worth a year of my base salary. My wife stay at home and my kid just started high school when i retired in 2021. I am glad i get to spend family time with my kid before he is off to college. We are living on Shell severance and other investments, still pay off our mortgage but it's very small on a very low 2% interest. My only child is off to college this year on a merit full ride scholarship. our health insurance is with Shell getting more expensive each year but still cheaper than buying it yourself. What I regretted was that we didn't find our trusted financial advisor ahead of time of retirement but a year later so, that was wasted of opportunity. Shell was my first employer and my last. I am glad i retired when i did.

Focus on what is important and likely.
There is a great website Rich Broke or Dead. If you give it a little bit of impersonal information it shows your probability of outcomes by age. A lot of us are needlessly worried about going broke, when it is more probable to die... instead of focusing on working longer focus on living healthier and living longer! Live well, and live healthy, live long. Focus on the probable and do something about it.
https://engaging-data.com/will-money-last-retire-early/

The main thing is being able to afford healthcare. In the U.S., this is a big issue. If you can afford healthcare and have about $4-5 million in the market and other investments, a paid-off mortgage, and no kids or kids done with college (or soon to be done with the money set aside) and you aren't trying to live like a drunk billionaire, you should be golden.

if your friends and family that you want to spend more time with are not retired, then it is a little bleak.
Its awesome to take care of aging parents or home school your kids. Great if you have loved ones you can spend more time with.

But it is still way better to be retired waiting for friends and family to join you than working with people who you only tolerate because they're paying you.

@es
1st congratulations. I totally agree, get that package! And, make sure you are on the 80pt pension formula at this point, the return from the 80pt pension is way better unless you let the AFP sit and grow in the stock market for 15 years.

So, you have to hang in for 2 more years to age 55 to get the benefit of being able to pull from your 401k without the extra 10% penalty. Pulling out less over a longer time frame is generally better tax wise. But you can always just live off your post tax money until age 59 and 1/2. For tax purposes, try to minimize income and maximize qualified dividends and capital gains. After income and interest and the standard deduction the capital gains and qualified dividends are tax free up to $96K of total income, then taxed at 15%.

At age 53 and 19-years of service, you are special leave of absence eligible to bridge you to immediate retirement eligible. You're now almost bullet proof, just don't get fired for cause. You can ask your boss to post your job and become redundant that way and get the package even if your group isn't going through a lay off any time now.

I'm happy to read events like this.
I did this, and my only comment is it is a bit out of sync to retire early. None of my friends or family have done this yet so the people I want to spend more time with are not able to be free with their time yet. Hopefully you and your dear spouse are happy and you can do time exorbitant things.

Age 53, been with Shell for almost 19 years. Grew up poor and got student loans to fund my engineering degree. Married another professional (who also grew up poor) and have consistently lived off of (less than) one income for the last 20+ years. Have more than enough to retire, but ideally waiting to be eligible for early retirement in a couple of years. Also no chance I'm leave without a package at this point. Do I need the package or the pension? No. But I can't bring myself to leave money on the table - see previous point of growing up poor.

@aw
I feel for you bro! keep on keeping on. Remember an ex-wife is the most expensive thing you can have in this life. Think of it this way, pick the person who is out to get you most (you probably like them the least too at this point... they hate you too) and you buy them a house and pay them to live like you would when retired or on vacation... that is what divorce is like.

But cutting back and saving is the way to go. Save save save! The easiest way to make money is to have an army of dollar bills invested. Once you have $5million, you can live decently on the returns of your investments. At that point you're more likely to die before growing broke. That puts things in perspective. Live your life without a boss or be your own boss.

Well I am 45, but don't have the minimum 20 years at Shell (13 so far). I am also not on the 80 point plan. Wish I could downsize my life. But married to a silly woman who doesn't get what spending less is. So I am stuck. Trust me thought of divorce everyday. I regret getting married.

gees. way too many people of a certain generation made their work
their entire identity with room for nothing else

explains a lot tbh

At Shell you can be immediate retirement eligible if the following three things are ALL true:

1. being laid off during an actual layoff,
2. you are over age 50,
3. you have 20 years with Shell.

Otherwise, they treat it as a resignation or termination.
Cons:
The severance package is reduced.

• Basically, the severance is paid in year... so chances are there are $75k extra in taxes due to it not being split over 2 years
• they pay 80% of insurance for 4-months instead of 5-years ( adjusted for years past age 40 divided by 20. example retiring at 55 means 15 years over 40 =15/20=.75 means they pay the 80% for 3.75 years) ~$100k
• they drop you from Shell retirement life insurance... could be multiples of your last salary not paid to your heirs ~$600k but most people don't invest in this.

Pros:

• If you're over age 55 then the 10% penalty of withdrawing from shell 401k is waived.

• But really, if you have 5million saved, why not? Insurance on the market place is ~$1k/month for gold level family coverage.
• Using Bill Bengen's 4% rule that's about $200-250k per year you can spend and expect your money to last in perpetuity even with inflation adjustments.
• if you're on the AFP pension you can start getting paid right away the annuity is paying 6% right now! or just get the value rolled into an IRA and wait and If you can leave it untouched for >15 years you might even surpass what you'd get from the 80pt formula.
• if you're on the 80 point formula.. yes the payout is reduced but the pension is still gonna be more than 25% of your salary+ annual bonus!... even more if you delay taking it glad you didn't take the AFP pension right? For a JG2 thats like $120k/ year!!! OR MORE!

I agree why are you working if you don't have to? Especially, on those days your boss is not appreciating you.

Do it !! Do it!!!

I worked with and knew people at Shell whose entire identity was wrapped up in their title on a business card. Probably the same everywhere. They’d retire and be completely lost because no matter your rank or contribution at work, post-employment you’re just one more retiree.
Work can be fulfilling, even enjoyable, but best keep up your personal relationships, hobbies, interests, etc. because after the work-a-day corporate life is over, you’ll realize it should have been the means to an end, not the end itself.

Downsizing and retiring sounds simple, but for a lot of us at Shell over 50, it’s complicated. It’s not just about the money. It’s about identity, purpose, healthcare before Medicare, kids in college, and aging parents. Some of us are still figuring out what life after Shell would even look like,.. and that unknown can be just as stressful as staying.