Help Me Pull The Pin

[iWander]

I have almost 27 years between full and part time, and I'm now in a post retirement program where you continue to earn your pay and work normally, but the retirement system invests your money that you would otherwise receive from them. You can stay up to 8 years in the program, and receive your interest if you stay at least 5 years. I plan on working full time until I'm 60-65.

I'm in a weird place regarding leaving the PD and LE. My body hurts enough that I'm ready to go, and we've had enough problems both internally and externally at the PD over the past few years that I'm ready for something else. While I enjoy the job itself, the stress level is great enough it's causing more problems than the $$ is probably worth. I wouldn't leave disgruntled, but I don't necessarily want to stay long term either.

Problem is, I don't have a degree that many of the prospective jobs/careers I've seen require...I have the skills and experience, but not the piece of paper. The current home life prevents me from spending the time needed to complete my degree. I've researched resources like Cop To Corporate but I haven't taken the steps of using a vocational counselor or similar.

So my questions are for those that have already successfully navigated the post LE corporate or other business world transition. Hopefully we can also help others that are in the same position I am.

If you didn't have a degree when your retired, how hard was it to find a long term employer or similar where you feel satisfied and the pay was comparable to the PD's?

How long did the job search take and were your LE skills recognized in the corporate civilian world?

Did you use a vocational counselor or similar to help guide you to a new career?

How long did it take you to transition from being a cop and truly be able to move on?

I appreciate it!

[Jim Watson]

How long did it take you to transition from being a cop and truly be able to move on?

Being an engineer, not a cop, I can't help with the particular stresses of that job, nor on how to get another full time job.
But the answer to this one is... one day. I have never missed a minute of it and I am not one of those retirees who goes back to drink coffee with the remaining old hands. I did go back on a couple of "staff augmentation" projects, but those were well paid and when they were completed, I was out of there for good.

[Tensaw]

I don't know how much this will help answer your question, but I will give you what I got on this topic.

The prevailing mindset on when I decided to retire was, "Time is more important that money." (I always caveat that with saying that money is not unimportant.) So with that, last June I retired a couple of years before my mandatory retirement age. In doing that, left a good bit of money on the table. I mean a pretty nice chunk of change. And I did this while the youngest kid still had 18 months left in college. So, on paper, this was not, financially speaking, the smartest move. I have zero regrets.

I felt pretty good just as soon as I pulled the pin, and 10 months on, I only feel better about separating when I did. I had 30 years in and, while I could have gutted out a couple more, I was kind of running on fumes. Everything about life, except finances, has improved since separating. I knew I was tired when I bailed, but I didn't know how tired. It took about 8 months for my body and mind to fluff back up. I slept *a lot* right after separation - which is something I just don't do. I think that was simply my body and mind trying to recover from years of the grind. To be clear, I drove a desk for the last decade of work, which was arguably worse than being in the field.

I say all that to say this. If making a move will improve your life, and you can find a way to afford it, even if it means things might be tight financially for a while, I say go for it. (Clearly, you are trying to figure out a pathway by asking the question to start with.) Good luck with the switch.

ETA: In today's world of unmotivated workers, I would think that a prospective employer would value real world experience over a piece of paper. The challenges will be getting a foot in the door to start with and then communicating your level of experience to a potential employer in a meaningful way. My observation is that a lot of employees are interested only in getting paid as opposed to actually doing the work and bringing value to the employer. Figure out how to show an employer that your experience adds value to the outfit, and I think you will be good to go.

[blues]

I left LE, (special agent on the federal side), in 2004. I could've stayed six more years and padded my pension but my sanity and quality of life were more important to me and so I left the aggravation behind. (I loved doing the actual job, I hated what had become of the agency.)

So, I left quite a bit of money on the table and have never for a minute regretted my decision, despite missing the "action" from time to time.

I was also fortunate enough that I didn't need to seek a second career upon retiring and had no real desire to do so.

Whatever you do, I wish you the best. Life is great after retirement as long as you make peace with the idea of leaving the badge on the table when you leave the house.

[psalms144.1]

I retired at the end of 2021 with 35 years combined military and Federal LE - I literally couldn't have worked more than 59 more days from my date of retirement before hitting mandatory.

I always loved my work, but, increasingly in the last 5-7 years, hated my agency and the larger government environment. The only reason I went (almost) to mandatory is because COVID let me work from home for the last two years (even those THOSE GUYS in management did everything to make that as onerous as possible), otherwise I'd have gone out earlier.

Like Blues, I'm blessed in that my pension and TSP are sufficient to cover my financial needs, and doubly blessed that my awesome wife went back to work in 2020 and is making comfortably more than I "lost" in my pension. So, I've had no NEED to go back to work. I will say, I talk with friends still "on the job" almost every day, and do miss the work - you'd be surprised to find out that federal LE doesn't allow volunteer retirees to help out on warrants.

Having said all that, there is a LOT of work out there that needs doing outside the bounds of LE. I have no doubt that, should you want it, you'll find something to do besides bother your better half and putter.

Fair warning, having nothing to do has health risks - to whit, without having to constantly run to respond to duty calls, etc left me with enough time to figure out how bad off I was, physically and from an injury perspective. Since retiring, I've been diagnosed with significant hearing loss and tinnitus, ended up with a total hip replacement, and just got a steroid injection in my knee in hopes of staving off further surgery. None of these conditions are anywhere near new, but the demands of the "job" always made me just grit my teeth and push through.

[Wake27]

I also can’t help anything with about LE. But I’ve seen good friends after being out of the military for only a few short months that legitimately looked like they’d gained several years of life back. My guess is LE would be the same, if not even more drastic. Good luck.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[feudist]

I have almost 27 years between full and part time, and I'm now in a post retirement program where you continue to earn your pay and work normally, but the retirement system invests your money that you would otherwise receive from them. You can stay up to 8 years in the program, and receive your interest if you stay at least 5 years. I plan on working full time until I'm 60-65.

I'm in a weird place regarding leaving the PD and LE. My body hurts enough that I'm ready to go, and we've had enough problems both internally and externally at the PD over the past few years that I'm ready for something else. While I enjoy the job itself, the stress level is great enough it's causing more problems than the $$ is probably worth. I wouldn't leave disgruntled, but I don't necessarily want to stay long term either.

Problem is, I don't have a degree that many of the prospective jobs/careers I've seen require...I have the skills and experience, but not the piece of paper. The current home life prevents me from spending the time needed to complete my degree. I've researched resources like Cop To Corporate but I haven't taken the steps of using a vocational counselor or similar.

So my questions are for those that have already successfully navigated the post LE corporate or other business world transition. Hopefully we can also help others that are in the same position I am.

If you didn't have a degree when your retired, how hard was it to find a long term employer or similar where you feel satisfied and the pay was comparable to the PD's?

How long did the job search take and were your LE skills recognized in the corporate civilian world?

Did you use a vocational counselor or similar to help guide you to a new career?

How long did it take you to transition from being a cop and truly be able to move on?

I appreciate it!

A lot depends on, well, a lot. Age, social skills, type of career you had, job you're in now, type of job you're looking for etc.
If you require the same income level you're at now for several more years you might have a tough row to hoe. Most topped out cops are making substantially more than anything in Security or Loss Prevention up to management levels, and unless you have a particular skill set like fraud investigation then the Corporate world requires degrees and certs.
For income, your best bet is retiring and moving to another department if they hire at topped out scales. But you're still in essentially the same situation you're in now, plus you're an FNG and subject to local and internal politics. My former department is so universally hated that guys really go to other departments with rose colored glasses on and soon realize that they traded one set of problems for another-at best.
Getting completely out of LE, if you can swing it financially, is your best bet health, safety and freedom wise.
I did 28 City(in Patrol) and 4 County (in the jail), and was Infantry before that, so I am no longer interested in anything to do with LE...or anything that requires interacting with humans as a job...or interacting with humans at all. So, I'm not really qualified to work as anything except a dog walker.
As far as getting over being a cop: I immediately realized that I, personally, needed to adopt DB's "J-frame Lifestyle", dial down the hypervigilance, and embrace complete disinterest in criminality of any sort short of murder-in-progress. Working in the horrific conditions of a county jail gave me ample motivation to stay out of one at just about any cost. Fortunately as a tee-totaling widower with a grown daughter, I have no need of going anywhere that the "Three Stupids" are in effect so a parking lot robbery is my main concern.

[Gadfly]

I can't offer advice, as I am in the same boat.

24.5yrs of Fed LE time. I could have gone 2 years ago at 50, but my youngest is still in college, and my wife wasn't able to work full time due to her office basically shutting down during covid.

Currently 52.5yrs old. 4.5yrs left to mandatory retirement age. Wife is working full time again. I could retire tomorrow... but then what?


**WARNING: Random Rambling Mode will follow.

I have had a job since I was 18. I still enjoy my coworkers, and the non paperwork side of the job (kicking doors and slapping on cuffs is still fun after all these years). But as others have mentioned, the management and political issues of the job absolutely suck and are 90% of my stress. I hid out at the Academy instructing last year, and I am trying to get back there later this year. There is ZERO stress at the academy, and even now I am TDY on an opp, and the stress level is MUCH lower when you are a guest in an office, and local management is not jacking with you. If I could spend the rest of my time TDY/Instructing, I would.

I just don't know about retirement. I have had a "need" to get out of bed every morning for the past 34 years. I am worried about the "nothing" that comes after I retire. Everyone says how great it is... but to me, the lack of social interaction with co workers, and no purpose, seems daunting.


Anyway, no real advice to offer. But I am following the thread, for some inspiration.

I have considered getting a retirement job. But don't want to learn a whole new job from scratch. Its only a little about the money, its more about having a purpose. I can probably work at one of the many local colleges offering Criminal Justice classes and basic Peace Officer academies. I am guessing with my time on, and my 2 years teaching at FLETC, someone would hire me. Just to get out of the house a few days a week...

** END of RANDOM RAMBLING MODE**

PIC for attention, and to show the job can still be fun... sometimes.

103985

[Hideeho]

Contact me if you want to discuss LE retirement issues. I am 287 pension checks into my first police pension. I retired in May 1999. Since then I've worked public and private sector organizations, universities, and private consulting. There's a lot to it. Happy to help.

[lwt16]

Best thing I ever did was retire. I was able to land a gig as a “Blue Coat” and I love it. No degree required.

Took about 9 months to complete the process. PM me for more details if you’re interested.

Regards.

[Gadfly]

Best thing I ever did was retire. I was able to land a gig as a “Blue Coat” and I love it. No degree required.

Took about 9 months to complete the process. PM me for more details if you’re interested.

Regards.

Blue Coat?

Fed Court House detail?

[lwt16]

Blue Coat?

Fed Court House detail?

Maybe.

[Sig_Fiend]

Problem is, I don't have a degree that many of the prospective jobs/careers I've seen require...I have the skills and experience, but not the piece of paper. The current home life prevents me from spending the time needed to complete my degree. I've researched resources like Cop To Corporate but I haven't taken the steps of using a vocational counselor or similar.


I'm not LE but did work nearly a decade at a job search technology company. So I've seen the job search / hiring industry from the inside. My question is, are there any particular types of roles or companies/orgs you're considering? These days, any forward-thinking employer sees the degree as less important, save for certain highly-specialized roles that really demand it (engineering, healthcare, etc).

There are unfortunately still a lot of of archaic employers that are adamant about degree requirements for roles where it really doesn't make sense. Honestly, a lot of them will probably be going out of business in the next 5-10yrs for failing to keep up with the industry. I've seen companies who have been slow to adapt, who've interviewed 700-800 people for one role that's not even that specialized. It's not sustainable for companies to keep doing business like that.



In today's world of unmotivated workers, I would think that a prospective employer would value real world experience over a piece of paper. The challenges will be:


Getting a foot in the door to start with
Communicating your level of experience in a meaningful way


My observation is that a lot of employees are interested only in getting paid as opposed to actually doing the work and bringing value to the employer.
Figure out how to show an employer that your experience adds value to the outfit, and I think you will be good to go.


I hope you don't mind Tensaw, I reformatted that quote for emphasis. Some good stuff there!

The things that will probably have the biggest effect is working on the "elevator pitch", custom tailoring the resume to each role you apply for, and figuring out how to best translate your experience to value you can deliver in that role.

For most employers, it's a matter of finding a balance between hard (job-related knowledge) vs soft (work ethic, personality) skills. The employer or hiring manager won't necessarily have in-depth knowledge to understand that, with nearly 3 decades in, your soft skills are probably off the charts and a huge asset. Hard skills are easily learned, and any good employer shouldn't be disqualifying an otherwise good candidate based on that alone, unless again it's non-negotiable (regulatory requirements, etc).

[Tensaw]

Well, to spin off what Sig Fiend said,...

I spent the last 10 years of my career as a supervisor. The (LE) gig I worked would surprise most people with how technical it became over time. Still, most folks mastered the hard skills without too much drama. But those soft skills, man, that is where a lot of people fell flat. Even when I would talk with folks about paying attention to the soft skills, that mostly never improved. Maybe it's a DNA-level thing. I dunno. But what I do know is that when it came time to hire someone, hard skills were the focus and we only paid attention to soft skill stuff at a superficial level. Kinda crazy. So for me, hard skills are what get you hired; soft skills get you promoted.

Two caveats. Soft skills are super difficult to accurately assess in an interview process, That said, some people with good hard skills got passed over because of a weird vibe, i.e., soft skill fail.

[TQP]

Again, not LE but...

I've been retired from the FD for a year now. I find there are more parts I don't miss than parts I do. My crew was out on what turned out to be a pedestrian struck, at 4 AM in a torrential rainstorm, and I was completely happy to be on this side of the radio for that one.

I never intended to retire retire, and have always planned on having a second career. I spent 8 months as a police/fire dispatcher for DLA, and in December came back to the agency I retired from as a dispatcher, we do fire/EMS only.

I'm happy I got out when I did.

What field are you trying to get in to?

[DaBigBR]

Do you need to work to pay the bills if you go or do you need to work to have something to do?

What is the difference between your current pay and your pension pay?

What will health care cost on your own?

Do you stand to lose anything exciting your DROP program now?

Our pension is about 9% off the top of our pay. Full benefits at 22 years and maxes out at 30 years at 82%. From 22 to 30 years of service, you add 2% per year. If you retire at 55 (with at least 22 years), you get a 1.5% COLA from the pension. We have people who choose to stay two years for 4% when they could have retired and gotten 3% in the same time. It's madness. Obviously negotiated wage increases are usually more than 2%, but we're talking very small amounts.

A 59 year old sergeant at an agency in my area dropped dead of a heart attack on duty after responding to a call where a kid got shot. He worked four years longer than he had to. Even if his ticket was pre-punched to go when he did, I'm sure he and his family would have rather had those four years together. I'd bet that four years of not policing would have been better for the ticker.

Moral of the story to me is that anybody staying past 55 better have a damn good reason. Definitely a better reason than 2%.

[iWander]

Thank you gentlemen. These are the types of answers I'm looking for . Thousands have "gone before me" , but finding those to share their experiences is the important part.
To address a few questions...

My hard skills are almost all LE related, but I've been an instructor for over 20 years in several areas that translate to the real world. I've also been a road and admin supervisor for over a decade, and worked in and supervised every aspect of the PD except investigations.

As was mentioned, soft skills are what win the day in most any field.
I've worked in sales off and on my entire adult life, and see LE as sales (convincing someone to voluntarily welcome an outcome they don't necessarily want) and customer service (they walk away knowing they were treated with respect and we listened to them even if it wasn't the outcome they wanted).

I have a stay at home wife who cares for our two disabled kids so insurance is an obvious need until we're old enough for medicare. I'll receive an insurance stipend through the retirement system. And the only money I would lose in DROP is interest if I leave before 5 years in the program.

If you remove the current deductions for retirement, union dues, insurance and so on, There's about $1k difference between my current base pay and my retirement every month. But again, I want to keep moving forward not backwards.

For the next career, I'm looking at non- physical jobs that are still mentally stimulating. Like Gadfly, I need PURPOSE at work. I know of so many LE & FD guys that translated retirement as full stop and died shortly after. There's plenty to do at home, hobbies to enjoy and helping others as a volunteer, but I'm not ready to stop working yet.

There's zero desire to work contract private security like an Allied or Wackenhut- especially in the current world. I did it before I was a cop and I'm not going back. I'm reaching out to contacts in Govt- contract and corporate security. I'm open to anything that doesn't carry the risk of indictment or being fired for making a mistake or the perception of one. I have banking contacts and we're discussing investigations jobs with them.