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I was miserable on my last job so I said, this is it after 39 years working straight. Retired at age 62 and 11 months, that was 4 years ago and have not regretted it, even though I took a cut in SS, it was worth it. I'm happy now.
Wow! I need to read all these responses when I get home from work, but what I have read so far is fascinating. I see one theme come up, that is some people just saying they were "done" with work and ready to move away from their career. This is great!
It is NOT as easy as it sounds. I do it occasionally and pass up 3-4 opportunities for everyone more that I accept.
I will get an e-mail. Dine at XYZ restaurant and get $65. I will open up the e-mail.
They want me to head to a restaurant 30 miles from my house. They will reimburse me up to $65 for a meal for two. Sometimes, the two can be any two adults. Other times, it MUST be a male and a female. Often, it requires at least one drinker.
Sometimes, I can get a former coworker to come along. Since he drinks (and I generally do not), that helps out, BUT he and I are both males. If I need a female diner, I take my wife with me BUT then I need to have a drink and she has to drive home.
I go eat. It is NOT all that easy as I have to gather a bunch of information such as the waiter's name. I have to walk around the restaurant, check the restroom, and see if the manager is around. I have to be able to answer 80-100 questions when get back.
After the meal, which I have to pay out of MY pocket, I head home and have to spend 2-3 hours writing up all of the details, good, bad and ugly. Yes, it often takes that long. If you are NOT extremely thorough, you will get SEVERAL follow-up calls. It was a real PITA when they would call me at work and want to speak for twenty minutes. If you do NOT answer all their questions on a timely basis, they may refuse to pay.
Increasingly, they want pictures and receipts sent in in different ways. That takes a while to figure out.
In other words, you are getting a free meal for the cost of three hours of your time, carfare to and from the restaurant, and the like. in MOST cases, it is not worth it, especially if the restaurant is not one that you particularly enjoy.
By the way, I am one of their preferred reviewers as I have significant hospitality industry experience. I do not think that the compensation is enough for what they want you to do.
Points taken. But if I am overall reimbursed for my gas, food, etc. and make as little as $10-15 for my time it's all good. I mean, I might otherwise waste all that time here on C-D.
I guess it all depends on your priorities. Since I have none, some can be a good ting. But thanks for trying to squelch it from your perspective!
Sorry! I appear to think more positively. I even enjoy it.
I'm not yet retired, but I'm getting closer and closer to stepping off the edge ...
#1 A friend of ours who is 15 years older said, "Whatever you want to do in your life, don't wait until you 'have time'. Do it now! The older you get, the harder it is to push yourself to do all that neat stuff."
#2 DH is de facto retired, and is often lonely and bored during my workday.
#3 Our finance guy just asked me why the heck I was still working - and if it was solely for financial reasons, to just stop that!
#4 Not yet firmed up because I tend not to be an early adopter, but if Obamacare turns out to be a success that'll take care of my final reason for continuing to work (still have a few years before I'm eligible for Medicare).
OTOH ...
#1 If we get the hoped-for contract, my work will suddenly become extremely interesting and engaging.
Thank you, but I may have spoken too soon. As of a phone call last night I'm now a secret shopper. For going to, shopping at, evaluating and reporting upon quality and service at restaurants and stores and doing so on my schedule, I'll now be receiving anywhere from $25 to $250 per visit, plus reimbursement. Since I'm 67, it doesn't mess with my SS and is basically "found" money!
Yep been there done that Mystery Shopper, one of the big time scams. You'll probably end up paying out more than you'll get in return. Google Mystery Shopper Scams.
Hope in your case you found a real legitimate MS company.
Yep been there done that Mystery Shopper, one of the big time scams. You'll probably end up paying out more than you'll get in return. Google Mystery Shopper Scams.
Hope in your case you found a real legitimate MS company.
So far, so good. It remains to be seen. If it comes a cropper, oh well. I just don't do it anymore. Thankfully, I don't have to. Live and learn!
I will be retired shortly. The main reasons for me retiring are that retirement health benefits kick in and my retirement financial plan says we'll have enough to do so. A secondary reason is that management changed last year and the B.S. bucket overflowed. Staff have quit because of incompetent management. It's tiring to see upper management's solution is to pass down the workload of management to staff, to make up for incompetence.
It's enough to survive on, but I do contract work also.
Some here will say "I'm not retired"
I have a letter signed by the President that says otherwise. But then... politicians lie!
I guess you'd be what's sometimes referred to as "semi-retired"?
I retired from my full time job a little over two years ago, but still do some contract work ( with a continuing education company) as well. It's not related at all ( other than requiring some of the same qualifications) to the job I had, and I do it at home, requiring only a computer and internet connections, and the written material I am working with. It's so portable, and I can set it aside as I need to to do other things, makes me wonder if I'm "retired", or "semi-retired" myself. Whatever it is, it still pays fairly well.
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