Moving from Germany to the USA at the ripe old age of 22.

 

Life changing? Going to law school. Moving in with Barbara.

 

I went to college the first time with a similar sort of reasoning.
I didn't know why, just that I was supposed to.
But without a driving purpose my efforts flooded out onto the plain like a river hitting a delta.
Without focus I just didn't achieve anything.
Another chance encounter drove me.
I was managing a hifi shop in Cambridge selling used high end audio amps etc.
a fellow from MIT came in and we tried to determine if a particular amp could drive a low frequency shaker table for him.
Being geeky, we had it opened up and were looking at various components to see if they were up to snuff.
well that was the eureka moment that lit the pathway for me. wow I could do this. the destination although not the course had been plotted.

I was already pretty sick of retail and management. I quit my manager role and went back to being a sales guy in one of the bigger suburban stores.
about the same time our apartment lease was up and we were having a hard time finding a new apartment as most were changing over to condos.
our in-laws coerced us to come stay for a weeks which we did.

And the last key encounter occurred. I bumped into secretary to the dean of admissions at the local college.
Although I had not seen her in several years, She pressed me on when was I go to return to school.
I mentioned I had thought about taking courses in the spring semester to which she had replied "well why not the fall?"
I said "well it's too late for fall because classes start in less than two weeks."
Her counter was " If you want to come back in the fall, let me know and it will happen!"
As if the stars had magically aligned, that night at dinner my mother in law suggested,
" you guys are already living here, jerry, you should live here a little longer and go back and finish your degree."
well funny you should mention that......

two weeks later I was in classes and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

20+ years ago, the company I worked for was switching from a pension to a 401K based retirement plan. I was given a choice, be grandfathered in the pension plan, or switch to the new plan. The pension plan built slowly over time with a big ramp near retirement. The 401K projection was continual growth with the end result being about the same. Most of my co-workers chose the pension. I opted for the 401K. Flash forward...the company went through a rough patch, nearly bankruptcy, and sold off my division. The pension plan was still at the bottom of the curve. I traded in my significant 401K for an annuity with a 7% signing bonus just before the market crash. My co-workers are still crying.

 

Moving to Vermont and not knowing anybody here just doing it cold. Been here 20 years this September so far so good not the easiest way to live but if it was everybody would be doing it.

 

Wise move. I had the same decision when I decided to retire in 2001 -- all pension, all 401k, or 50/50. I too did 401k and have never looked back. I've got friends who selected the other two options. They seem comfortable with their decisions as well. One size does not fit all.