Career Advice

[Tman122]

Go Bosco go. From big city to country life was for me a long time ago. I was not in law enforcment but fast paced none the less. I found myself longing for slower things and outdoors instead of asphalt and exhaust fumes. There was a kid shot at the high school my kids would of gone to and I was gone in 2 months.

Now it hasn't quite worked out as I planned because it turns out I still stuggle for slower times, but I do cherish the time I get with my family more enjoying the outdoors. And even for less money I would have gone, it turns out we reach a time in our life when we realize money isn't everything and we actualy have enough, but we never have enough TIME. And when we do, it's to late.

But none of us can help much with your decision, ultimatly you and her have to decide. My son is almost done with his first year of law enforcment training. He decided to go to a very small college in Ely Minnesota pop. 450 from our city of 80,000 he wants to stay in that area. I want to join him in that area. I have a feeling he has become a better person because of our choice to leave a city and surrounding area of over a million 20 years ago. His interests are hunting and fishing instead of mall hopping and cruising.

[thearm]

How much of it is that you'll miss the adrenaline rush, vs you'll miss feeling like what you do makes a big difference for others?

If part of your happiness at work stems from the feeling that this current job is more "real" and that the other is not as rewarding, then perhaps you can make a difference in other ways. At-risk school groups? other community outreach? You have a perspective on life and the city that others could benefit from.

Right on Anne, There are many ways to get the adrenaline rush and from making aa difference. I am in full time sales but also a volunteer fireman and EMT. Sales pays the bills but the most satisfaction is from my part time duties serving the community. One last thing is the pastor said he had heard several death bed wishes and never had he heard someone say they wished they had spent more time at work. Change is never easy but usually results in more growth. Work will always be there Family may not. Good luck in making the correct decision.

[wmccall]

Bosco:

I have only one real regret in life.  I put work ahead of my family for many years.  My physical and mental health suffered due to the stress.

My advice is to put your family above all else.  Enjoy your kids and cherish your wife.

I'm a a couple of Corporate buyout, factory closings, downsizing, replaced by someone half my age for half the money past putting work first.     If Walmart would pay me $50k to say"Welcome to Walmart"  I'd be there.

The number 47 is the only thing that has kept me working for the last 10 years.

[Campsalot]

Boscoe, let me start out right away by saying please forgive me for what I'm about to do or the picture I'm about to portray.  

You sir, like all of us here are maturing and with that comes wisdom.

Imagine Boscoe, a day sometime in your future when you are faced with one of those "adrenaline high" issues, only this time things go real wrong real fast.  Maybe you didn't see it or expect it but the gun was there and the bullet found its mark as it caught you just above your chest protector and penetrated your neck.  Funny, you felt no pain but by the look on the faces of the other officers and the amount of blood spurting from the wound you knew that this was not good.  As you fell to the ground you were strangely aware of your colleagues gathering around frantically, some applying pressure to your wound and screaming at you to "STAY WITH US" and some just staring in shock.  Remember thinking how sharp your mind stayed?  Remember those thoughts of your wife,  the courtship, the marriage, the birth of your children.   The blood cannot be stopped and it has boiled down to a matter of time.  Minutes, seconds ticking away and you lay there thinking and remembering those things you could of done, the simple choices you could of made.  "Christ" you yell out as you realize that yes, you are dying right this very moment and you did not kiss your wife goodbye this morning.  After all, why wake her? You will be back at home by ten.  As the very last bit of your life pools beneath your cradled head you think of how simple it could of been to chose not to be here.  

Boscoe, think of your wife and your children.  Don't put yourself into the position that carries a higher probability of being killed.  You quit living your life for you the day you were married!

I wish you well on your choice!  Forgive me for attempting to bring some reality into a, "what if scenario".   God bless and stay safe!

[TD]

Let me preface this as I have been a member, and mostly lurker of this forum for a very long time. It took me awhile to get re-registered, as I had forgotten my password, and never post to any forums very much. I simply had to respond to this thread.
 
Like you, I have been a career law enforcement officer for a very long time, nineteen years. I was a member and supervisor of a multi-jurisdictional narcotics unit for almost twelve years. I understand the "adrenaline rush" and the desire for an exciting work environment, believe me, I had it. But about 3 years ago I was faced with a similar decision- my kids were 5 and 3, and I was working as a salaried employee, putting in over 250 hours per month, about a hundred hours per month over what I was being compensated for. I was missing an integral part of my kids growing up, and I was also faced with an ever-decreasing commitment by the U. S. government to battle drugs in our country.  I decided I had to make a change, both for my career, and for my family. I went to work, back in uniform, for a  different metropolitan suburb police department, at higher pay, but much less excitement and job satisfaction. I now work FAR fewer hours per month, and am able now to be an integral part of my family, and I would not trade this for anything. I still get the occasional opportunity to get my "adrenaline fix", and although this is rarer now, I still relish those moments, but I would rather be watching my kid's ball games, or helping coach, than to be crashing in some doper's door. Yes, admittedly, I am getting older, and more reserved, but I now realize how important my family is over my own sense of satisfaction in my career. I wish you the very best of luck in your decision, and I don't believe you will go wrong, however you choose. But for me personally, my kids think its much neater to have their Dad there, than to tell their friends what a cool job he has. I must admit, although I miss the old days, I prefer to be their Dad, than to have a fun job. I used to be more cop than Dad, and now I am more Dad than cop, and I prefer this. So, its off to the routine police work I go. With luck, you can have some of both. My main duties now are supervision and training, and I have really learned that I enjoy teaching these younger officers what it takes to be safe out there, and a few tricks on how to catch the crooks, after all, our main goal is to go home to our families after each shift. Godspeed to you, my friend.
 
TD

[stuart]

I have often though about selling my store, getting out from under the constant drive to compete, get rid of employee problems, move to the mountains in a small town that has no other spa companies, have my wife and I and maybe one other employee and live on much less.

That would be very nice but as competative as I am I would probably turn it into what I have now again!

[East_TX_Spa]

I, too, have struggled as of late regarding my career.

When I first started in the spa business, the entire emphasis was directed towards getting "drunk and laid in the hot tub, baby!"  We wore these wonderful gold chains with (some might say) gaudy medallions with mystical symbols on them which no one really knew what they stood for, but you could make others feel so unhip if they ventured to ask what they meant.  Women didn't have tats on their cracks or baubles in their bellybuttons, and few guys wore earbobs, though some did, but only in one ear and they were likened to pirates if they wore it in their left ear and it was a hoop.  Those years were considered to be the Golden Age of the Spa Industry (the Salad Days, if you prefer) when anything went, people didn't care about filtration or Consumer's Digest or ozone or insulation....few even had ever heard of Titanium, although it was known to be "space-aged" by those of us in the biz.

It was common to refer to spas as a "one man, five woman model" and everyone would giggle and some even guffawed and said "damn straight!  This puppy'll be seein' PLENTY of wild parties, dude!".   Five thousand dollars would get you the cat's meow of love tubs with one jet per thousand dollars spent and the more foam, the better, because it's sexy and fun!  People would pile in on top of one another and try to get that jet to hit just the right spot.  They were all Jacuzzis even if they weren't.

The women were hot and skanky, the men were fat and hairy and wore pinky rings and sometimes boots in the hot tub.  Beer would flow in and out of their bodies and no one cared.

Nowadays, it's just old people coming in wanting something to "relax" in or "for therapeutic purposes" because their bodies are ravaged with arthritis or fibromyalgia.  They don't want a "party tub", they want to sit in there by themselves and get away from the day to day stresses of their lives.  They micromanage their water instead of just throwing a cup of Clorox in to kill cooties, and so I have to sell them all this crap like MPS and Water Clarifier.  Hell, they don't even want foam in their spa anymore!

So I sit here, day after day, thinking about what a sorry state the industry is in.  Yeah, I sell my 13 spas a month on average and I smile about it and I tell them how easy it is to own and how much relief it will give them.  And I keep waiting for some cool cat to pull up front with his big pimpin' hat with feathers on it to come through the door and say "What's up my man?  Sell me somethin' I can get DOWN in with some fly honies.....I mean some serious hippo sex!"

Only one dude in the last 8 years answered that call....Mr. Wynne.

Here's to you Mr. Wynne, last of the hardcore hottubbers!

Term    

[Bonibelle]

and your advice for Bosco is.......start selling hot tubs to old folks? :-?

[East_TX_Spa]

and your advice for Bosco is.......start selling hot tubs to old folks? :-?

My advice would be to leave the city and get the excitement and adrenalin rush from time spent with family.  Nothing else is more important.

I just realized today that my daughter is halfway grown.  I've been very fortunate to have a job where I get to spend a lot of time with her.  I realize that Bosco's young and probably still excitable and not a broken down ol' goomer like me, but excitement and fulfillment is what you make of it.  I get excited talking to ya'll, lighting a cigar with this cool blowtorch flamethrower, walking down by the river, selling spas, going fishing, etc.  It's all a state of mind.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Term

[Spiderman]

Do what's best for you and your family.  I'll have 10 years next July (and vested) and plan on leaving police work for good.  We know what a tough and stressful job it is.  I've have enough.  I just hope I don't go over the deep end by then.  Good luck!!

[bosco0633]

what does 10 years get you in your force?  I know that some places in the united states offers early retirement packages for officers in high stress areas.  I need to do 30 years before I can go.  Recently many are cashing out thier pension and rolling it over into retirement savings plans.  This is making them just as much with the ability of leaving 5 years early.

If that is the case for me, then I get to retire at 47 instead of 52.

[LtDan]

In Ohio, if we go at out with 25 years and at least 48 years old, you get 62% of your highest three years average. If you go 30 years, you get 72%. There is talk of making the 30 year mark mandatory to support the pension fund due to the health care costs associated with retiree's.

We are not vested until we get 15 years in.

[Spiderman]

We have a "20 and out" plan regardless of age, but it does not include any health benefits when you retire.  You multiply your years of service by 2.75%, so at 20 years you'd get 55% of your pay, 25 years 68.75% and so on.  If you leave at 10, after you vest, you'd get 27.5% of your pay, but not until another 10 years from that point.  If we leave anytime before we vest, you get all the money you've put in, which is approximately 8.3% of our wage.

30 years is an unbelievable long time for this profession.  One of our Sgt's retired last year with 33+ years and he was still working the road.  I have no idea how he did it.  

[bosco0633]

Wow, here in Canada we have great health care so not an issue.  Our pension is 2% a year for our service. Our service matches our yearly contribution.  So we work on a factor known as an 80 factor.  Your years on and age must add up to 80 to be eliigble for retirement.  So when you work 30 years you will gain a 60% pension.  So most guys stay an extra 5 years to get 70% pension.

Now here comes the fun part.  If you leave before the 80 factor kicks in, you lose 5% for each year you leave early.  So when you want to leave with 25 years of service, you lose 25% off of your pension.  So now you are only clearing a 35% pension.  That hurts.

The canadian government holds your pension in limbo so to speak if you try and cash out after 50 years of age.  They with hold 1/3 of your pension.  So now a new event has started within our service.  Guys are coming up to 50 years of age and retireing early.   they cash out thier pension to prevent getting the 5% a year hit and rolling it into an RRSP.  RRSP's are a private pension plan from the government that you can buy into for your retirement. These guys then live off of the intrest.  A friend of mine just left with 28 years of service, and rolled his pension into an RRSP. His pension buy out was just shy of a million dollars, so the interest generated on that is enough for him to live.

Oh by the way, what is vested???

[Spiderman]

Oh by the way, what is vested???

It means you've put in enough time to qualify for retirement benefits, so for us, once you've worked at least 10 years, you're guaranteed to get something for retirement.  If I leave at 10 years, I qualify to get 27.5% of my current wage, but not until 10 years from that point.  If I work until 13 years, I would get 35.75% of my wage, but not until 7 years from that point, and so on and so on.  If I work for 20 years, I will get 55% of my wage at that time and I would start getting my monthly pension checks immediately.  Our Sgt who retired last year with 33 years of service is getting 90.75% of his wage when he retired, not too shabby.  Like I said though, 30 years is crazy for this profession.