Golden handshake
noun
A lucrative severance agreement offered to an employee typically as an inducement to resign or retire.
While sitting having a coffee and saying goodbye to a small group of colleagues today, the conversation came up about my severance, which is colloquially called a golden handshake. This is not to be confused with a golden shower, which is something entirely different. However, while the term is relatively common, I think "golden" is not a very good indicator of what I received, and I joked that it was more like a bronze, or perhaps even aluminium.
I remember a case from the CEO of a bank in Australia who after a little over a year in the role, screwed it up so badly that he was asked to leave with a golden parachute of around 150M dollars. Now, that is lucrative. For me, it is not like that at all and while I don't have to find work immediately, I am still going to have to find work.
I don't know where the limit would be on what is considered "lucrative" but perhaps if it covered a year of salary, it might be close. Though, it really is relative and context based, isn't it? For instance, I am 45 years old, don't speak the local language and the economy is struggling. Is a year enough? If I was close to retirement, it might be fine, but in this middle stage, it might not be. However, if I was much younger and inexperienced, I might be happy with a couple extra months only, because my near-term job prospects are better.
Unfortunately, I don't see this as free money, though it potentially could be if I was able to find work to replace quickly, or build my book of business for my company fast enough. If for instance I was able to replace my work with a similar kind of income next week, me losing my role would be lucrative. However, I am not expecting that to be the case and I think it is going to take time, which means that care needs to be taken.
Today, I was doing some Christmas shopping for Smallsteps' advent calendar, which is a tradition we might end after this year due to her getting older, and knickknack not really cutting it. Even the costs for simple things are ludicrous. But, I want to do it this year still anyway- However, even though I am still on a payroll for the notice period and a bit after, I have found myself immediately more sensitive to pricing. It is not that I wasn't before, because I was, but I had that feeling of be careful, save money.
I hate that feeling.
Not because it isn't smart to consider expenses, but because I have spent so much of my life worrying about making ends meet, living in scarcity, that I was hoping I wouldn't have to feel it again. But as they say, old habits die hard and that poor kid who has worked all his life but hasn't built very much, is still there, waiting in the wings, ready to pounce at the earliest sign of scarcity.
The mindset is very hard to shake.
Perhaps if I had more gold. Well, I don't have any gold to my name at all. But I do have a little bit of crypto and some HIVE, so perhaps I am in a better position than many who might be in the same situation as me. Of course, I am not the only one leaving the company under these conditions, but I think that many of the others have tenure in the company far longer than me, and likely have more stake, making their handshake a little more precious metal than my own. But, lucrative, I am not so sure.
Lucrative seems more for people who already have a lot. For those who do not, not much is likely lucrative, because whatever is received just goes toward staving off the debt collectors a bit longer. If not in debt though, there is the chance that the amount is lucrative.
I am not in that position.
My original goal was to get into that position within the next decade from working, or earlier if crypto did something decent for me. Those plans have taken a bit of a hit in the current conditions, but there is still some hope for alt coins in 2025. It sure would be nice to lose a job and still not have to worry about expenses - but time will tell.
Ultimately, I have taken the assumption that even if I was debt-free, I wouldn't have enough to be work-free. My goal if that is the case is to be able to work for what I need in any crappy job, even if it is flipping burgers. I don't really see the need for that much fulfillment from the workplace, if I am able to work and return to a home that is mine, in an environment where I have enough time and energy to spend with the people I care about, without having to worry about financial hardship.
I feel a long way away from that point.
And, I guess many are in the same boat as me, or even further away. However, that comparison doesn't give me cause to celebrate, rather, cause to wonder why aren't most people concerned about it? Have people just accepted that financial difficulty is a given norm and they can't do anything about it? I think that I used to think like that, and often I might still slip into that mode, but I know that I have the ability to influence outcomes. This might make it harder to deal with perhaps, because then it all becomes my fault.
Fault.
It is my fault in many ways that I am in this position, because I wasn't overly willing just to keep my mouth shut and do what I was told. I tried at times, but my curious and argumentative nature, would rear its head and I would stand out as the one questioning the direction and the status quo. Perhaps I was too impatient, or perhaps I pushed conversations into uncomfortable areas too often, but I am pretty sure if I had just done everything that I was told to do willingly, I would still be in a job. Even if that meant worse results for the company. However, doing that would eventually lead to the same position anyway, right? Except, there might not have been a handshake of any metallic color at that point at all, just an email saying that my services are no longer needed.
It is good to remember;
Very little is lucrative as an employee.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]