There was talk about September layoffs but from what I can see nothing has happened so far. Since the end of the month is near, can that rumor be put to rest? Or has anybody heard anything new and we might be seeing cuts next week?
I feel that working at Oxy now equals 356 days of worrying about layoffs.
Latest statement up to $310,000. increase this year with less than $5,000. in broker fees. Don't feel like I'm being ripped - Please continue your trail and error ways or if your nicer to me - will be willing to send what investments I'm in and you can just piggy back on my work/effort.
Hey OP, how many days are there in a year? Or perhaps you live on a planet that orbits a little faster than ours?
What a ripoff. Why would you want to pay anyone to manage your money. Learn it for yourself through trail and error. Figure out basic trading and portfolio management for 8 to 12 % return. Then get into writing covered calls and more. Pretty soon Vegas looks like a lot of fun because you are making so much money on the market.
Investment info-some asked how we did it. We left 1 million with Merrill (Anadarko's investment company) But after some looking we found AssetBuilders Inc. out of Plano - And placed 1 million with them. We think the original founder was the financial writer for the Houston paper for many years and liked the way he tried to help/advise the people with little retirement money. The have very low fees (less than $350. per month on our money-most others wanted $1,000. per month). It's handled thur Charles Schwab. They only have one office (not on every corner like others). Please review their web-site and see if this helps you. Our adviser is Adam. Good Luck!
Didn’t Oxy give VSPers only a prorated bonus and no LTI. Also the VSP date was unfairly administered across the organization. Not all VPs had the same approach on the VSP date. VSP was the most leveraging parameter in the whole deal.
APC apparently gave a much better deal than OXY. Two years of bonus! Wow. Great deal. Anyway you got it you certainly did well.
Timing on APC helped too. If she took VSP end of 2019 and lump sum pension rolling that and her 401k into self manage retirement account most would have settled to cash as fund transfer is not 1:1. With any normal pause it would still be in cash before the 2020 covid market crash in March. Throwing darts on a board at any stock in April would have likely added another 30%. Luck is where preparedness meets timing. Glad you made it over the fence, enjoy.
Great for you guys. I can see 3 million easily as I am about the same age as you two and have about 1.75 total. I wish I could find the 10% a year income stream you guys have, but not for now. Like you said the key in the oil business if it works is take advantage of the layoffs and VSP offers. After I turned 55 I volunteered for two VSP like reductions and was able to payoff my house and put money in the bank. Both times I was able to get a job within weeks paying as much as I was making. The oil business is always going to have layoffs and it night just work out for a person in the end. Again, congrats on the savings and retirement. Now tell us the secret on the 10% returns. If I could get that I would be out of here asap.
When she started Anadarko they only had normal retirement plan (not 401K). The most she could put in see did -most was in Anadarko stock-We watch it and when it was at 52 weeks highs she would sell and move into others. They also gave her some stock as part of bonuses. Than they added 401 K Plan-they wanted to combined plan but you could leave it as it was - so she had two plans. When she took the layoffs additional money was added and two years of bonuses. Retired with over 2 million - two different investment firms handle our money. I made about $125,000. year also and everything we bought we paid cash for except house purchased for $242,000. (paid off in 3 years) sold for $450,000. sold that house and moved to Alabama and purchased better house for $380,000. They paid for 1/2 of medical insurance until Medicare at 65. We moved to Houston in 1980 with only $500. and both of us went thur layoffs - but we didn't sit at home after them. Unsually we got 6 months of pay and went to work within weeks and saved the rest. No we haven't made $300,000. each year (like the last two years) but it's now grown to $3,000,000. with 10% average the last two years. Again save everything and pay cash for everything and it will work out!
At 10% return it would have been 3 million in savings which I doubt someone making only 125 k per year would save that much unless all salary, retirement, and bonuses were banked under the wife’s name each year. This could be done if they lived on her husbands income over the past two decades
At current low risk fixed income returns of 1% the saving would have to be 30 million which is undoable at 125k per year. The conclusion is that the 300 k per year is not reproducible year after year and was propped up by the high returns over the past few years. Anyway you look at it the investment results are an indication of a job well done.
@1ump+1d0M4zv3 can you roughly give idea about how much your wife has saved to draw such good amount in retirement? I am fresher starting and want to set agressive goals.
Yeah, with what people at Oxy have done, getting let go is your biggest worry.
LOL. Keep thinking that.
Wife work for Anadarko for 25 years. She always deferred as much income as possible. Retired at 55 and she is earning over $300,000. on investments a year more than her $125,000. yearly salary was. Any one can do it just has to start early and live within your means. Also retire somewhere else than Texas. Property Taxes were over $8,500. per year moved to Alabama and paying less than $1500. We use the savings to visit and stay in nice places like Destin, Fla. and the Smoky Mountains. Good luck to your future it goes by so fast.
Don't worry too much. Should be fine before Aug 2022, if you know what I mean.
If you knew the company had a 401K and not a pension when you accepted the job offer, you really don’t have anything to gripe about.
Then at retirement you need to turn it into an income stream if you want to use it to secure a loan. A guaranteed pension in some situations can be more valuable if it is the same present worth as the retirement p-t of money.
I get 7% in my retirement account each check, and that is above the 7% match in the 401K. That is the retirement you are getting from Oxy. If you have been here a while it can add up if you have invested it right. Many companies don't have the extra 7% at all.
Staying away from the office is about all normal retirement at Oxy buys you because there is no pension. The VSP is the only thing that is worth retiring for and then you still may have to find another job if you are only 60.
I can't see any layoffs happening with the current staffing levels. There are a lot of people and departments that are swamped with work, and if anything could use more help. I would think people would be transferred around before any layoffs. Maybe if they sale assets people will go with the assets, but I agree with the below post that Oxy is a good place to work. It all comes down to who your manager is at most companies. The fact we have avoided layoffs and the company survived during this pandemic is amazing in itself. Maybe something will come down as well with how they handle return to the office. I know a few that have talked about retiring, and that would open up the door for hiring or career opportunities within for others, so not bad at all. I bet if they offered a VSP for 60 and over many would take it to stay away from others during this pandemic.
Your career in the oil industry will be full of constant anxiety about layoffs. You just need to guard against it distracting you from professional and personal goals. Oxy is actually a good company to work for where layoff fears are far less than than in most oil companies. Hang in there and keep doing a great job for the company.