So, its Friday and we are beginning to get our heads round the fact that we have both been "deselected", are "surplus to requirements" and about to be "outplaced". Together we have given 25 years of "devoted service" to our company but this has suddenly and somewhat unexpectedly come to an end.
We heard the news on Monday but have been anticipating it for the last 3 months when we were notified about the huge "down-size" and the company entered the 90 day period of collective consultation. We just had to wait for the final decision which was complicated because both of us were involved and a number of different scenarios were possible from both of us being retained, both of us being redundant and everything else in between.
Its sad and its almost impossible not to feel hurt and let down, rejected, undervalued, angry, bitter, scared, confused and a myriad of other emotions. BUT - we are going to make the best of a bad situation, seize the opportunity and have the adventure of a lifetime!!!!!!
So its no more talk of the past, only the present and the future! We have got to get over it big time! Close the door on that chapter of our lives and literally hit the road. Yippee! USA here we come.....Our plan is to rent out our house, head off to the USA, buy a camper van and travel the USA for a year.
We have decided to keep a record of our experiences over the coming year for many reasons, the main one being simply to capture everything we do for our own memories, but came to the the conclusion that a blog might be the best way to do this as, when we are away, our friends and family will be able to follow our progress and share our adventure. Also, we thought it might help others who find themselves in a similar situation work through the practicalities of dealing with redundancy and even planning a year out or extended road trip.
We are "mature" in years and have never "blogged" before so this is our first attempt but so far so good....thank you Google for making it so easy!
So, what have we done so far to make the fantasy a reality?
I have created a little spreadsheet to work out the finances and see whether we can even afford to do it and so far its looking good. Mike will just qualify for early retirement by a couple of weeks and, although his pension will be considerably smaller than we were anticipating had this not happened, by paying his severance money into the pension it will boost it a bit and reduce the amount of tax he has to pay. So from Mike's pension and renting our house out we will have small income. To boost that even further we have decided to reduce our mortgage payments by extending the term from 6 to 11 years which essentially halves the monthly payment. We need to firm up all these figures over the coming weeks but estimate that we might only eat into the severance "pot" by £20,000 or £30,000 over the year.
This week we have started the process of getting visa's for travelling in the USA for more than 90 days. We are hoping to get them for a year but are aware that this might not happen and we may only be able to stay for 6 months at a time. The plan if this is the case is to drive into Canada for some of the time.
Mike is clearing his half of the office of all work-related material and I will begin this process next week. Today I am going to ring the mortgage company to confirm our decision around this. I have my first individual consultation meeting at 10.30 when they'll tell me how much money I'm getting. Before that I'm off to see my doctor at 09.10 to ask for a referral for a second opinion on a shoulder problem I have. I need a joint replacement but am not sure whether to leave it until we come back when I will no longer have private healthcare. This also raises the risk that the trip could be spoiled if my shoulder deteriorates while we are away. Even if it stays the same I still have a lot of pain and some disability and will need to find a way to get a years supply of my prescription medication for pain relief. The alternative is to have surgery in January which will be my last month of employment when I will still have healthcare cover and should be fully recovered before we go in May. Big decision that is important to get right.
May is the planned date of departure because in order to qualify for retirement Mike will take Employment Seeking Leave from the 31st of January for 3 months and remain employed until the end of April when all his money will come through. I on the other hand, will be on the Pay In Lieu of Notice option which means I will finish work on the 31st January.
So, that's the scene setting done. We'll keep you updated on our progress......
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