I put in thirty six years and walked away at sixty five. That was enough for any person. Since leaving I've stayed as far from corporate anything as I can manage. Meetings, performance reviews, office politics. Don't miss any of it. I'll say this though. The financial piece worked out. I'm comfortable and that's because I stayed. So I give them that. Everything else I'm happy to leave behind. Including the cars. I have zero desire to buy another Ford ever again.
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I also made it out with a pension. Not on my time but theirs. Initially I thought I would have to go back to work, but some market conditions were favorable to me and in the end I didn’t have to go back. So skipping the voluntary and getting the involuntary actually worked out better for me. Good thing it did because getting a job in this market at my age would not be easy.
I worked for Ford for 23 years.
Got the boot in 2023 because I was the same age as two others that had a pension.
And then I found out my job was filled by a foreign national in an H-1B visa.
Yeah @tx when I realized what the place was I just held on until I could retire. If it weren’t for the pension I would of turned tail and ran.
I worked for Ford about 30 years ago, it was run by a bunch of brain dead a-s kissers then, and it was obvious that the only hope for change was bankruptcy and liquidation. The only thing that’s different today is that the job security is gone.
Here’s the problem with Ford, and probably most large corporations: very few people actually care about doing what makes sense. The priority is advancing whatever agenda happens to come from the top. And more often than not, that agenda has very little to do with common sense, building a successful company, treating people fairly, or any other genuinely constructive goal.
What matters is pushing the agenda and showing loyalty to it. Step outside that line, apply a little independent judgment, or try to do what seems right, and suddenly you’re the problem.
In the end it becomes less about building a good organization and more about internal politics, protecting the boss’s priorities, and navigating everyone’s personal interests and value systems.
@g5+1kk6z7sa8 That was financially smart. Sorry you were treated that way
@es
I also maxed out my 401K from day 1 (and added additional catch-up contributions after age 50), and thank God I did. Ford completely sc--wed me out of most of my pension by terminating me just shy of retirement eligibility. Therefore, my pension never accelerated (to the 55 and/or 30 yr level), but I was smart, and now I have a nice healthy 401K. For the small bit of a pension that I did get, I took the lump sum because I don't trust the annuity to outlive me. I can also do a better job investing than what the annuity offers. I have always lived beneath my means, so I will be fine.
When I hired in decades ago I was laughed at by my coworkers for contributing the max to the 401k. Why were they laughing? Because in their opinion there was no need to save for retirement as there was a pension and healthcare for life. Who’s laughing now?
@ch+1kk6z7sa8 right and those who took the pension with the 30 and out have their cheeks clenched as the supplemental they get until they can collect SSN is not covered by PGBC. And also many exceed the PGBC guarantee payments when then become SSN eligible, so would be taking a pension haircut.
@c4
Oh my. They are not out.
Their retirement on Wall Street is made up of digits representing some false valuation.
They can go to 0 in a heartbeat.
@c4
it's more like the Hunger Games
0 trust 0 loyalty 0 competency
buckle up, it is going to be a bumpy ride from here on out
To the ole timers on this thread. Congrats on getting out and living the good life. It ain't like that anymore. We have to squeeze the turnip for all its worth and move on. No 30 year careers at Ford anymore. The "staying was good to me" but is only useful for historical reference because it's irrelevant in today's career climate.
@b9 You still go to a Ford dealer? What's wrong with you? Pack of wolves is right, this place is a shithole and evil. I agree, this whole place is horsesh-t.
Ford went after ICE vehicle and powertrain Engineering with a vengeance in 2022 and 2023. Threw many to the curb with 20+ years and lost the pensions along with retirement age pensioners. All to stop an age discrimination law suit. Bad people including Fartley said EV was the future and gutted ICE. Employees are family is Horse cr-p.
Oh my @an. I feel your pain. We unfortunately encountered a similar gaggle of retired Ford females on a cruise ship. We ended up requesting different dining accommodations to avoid them.
@aa I’ve been retired several years from Ford after 35+ years working there. I agree that financially it was good for me, but less so for the people who followed. I have the two Cherokee Wolves fighting inside me when it comes to Ford, one that makes me angry, the other that makes me feel grateful. The Cherokee story teller is asked “which wolf wins?”, but that is the wrong question. The right question is “How do you stop them from fighting?” When I go into a Ford dealer the two wolves begin to fight again, but when I occasionally meet with Ford friends for lunch the wolves calm down and I can relax.
Good for you @OP. Agree it’s best to leave Ford behind.
Last year I was golfing with some friends and we had a very slow group in front of us, so slow that golfers behind us ended up waiting with us at the same hole. Unfortunately it was four retired Ford LL6 & LL5 females. Jeez talk about PTSD they were bad mouthing ex-coworkers and trying to get gossip out of me. I saw a course ranger and walked over to talk about leap frogging to the next hole. Later my friends told me these Ford retirees were trash talking me while I was gone. They spent 30 years getting rewarded for this behavior @ Ford, so heck why not continue the behavior in retirement ?
Hope they called an Uber to get home as excessive drinking was definitely going on.
Later that night my wife had facebook friend requests from these women. LOL Declined.
@OP
You're very lucky that they allowed you to stay that long. Many of us were chewed up and sp-t out long before 30 years, but very close to our retirement eligibility. Ford totally sc--wed me, but I can say with 100% certainty that I don't miss it one bit. I've also stayed far away from corporate anything.