Break Free From the Golden Handcuffs: A Case Study挣脱金手铐：案例研究

type

Post

status

Published

date

Aug 28, 2023

slug

filneers0828

summary

来源：The Fioneers

Break Free From the Golden Handcuffs: A Case Study挣脱金手铐：案例研究

Is your company incentivizing you to stay (in a job you don’t really like) with a stock vesting and bonus schedule that makes it difficult to leave?您的公司是否通过股票归属和奖金计划来激励您留下来（从事您并不真正喜欢的工作），从而使您很难离开？

If so, you are not alone. We got a lot of questions from readers about the golden handcuffs.如果是这样，你并不是孤独的。我们收到了很多读者关于金手铐的问题。

We respond to every question we receive. Since we receive so many questions about breaking free from the golden handcuffs, I decided to write a post about the topic.我们会回复收到的每个问题。由于我们收到了很多关于挣脱金手铐的问题，我决定写一篇关于这个话题的文章。

I’m going to do this in a case study style, by sharing one person’s story. If you can see yourself in this story, I hope you find the ideas and considerations helpful.我将以案例研究的方式，通过分享一个人的故事来做到这一点。如果您能在这个故事中看到自己，我希望这些想法和注意事项对您有所帮助。

Here is the case study question we received.这是我们收到的案例研究问题。

“I am married with 3 kids. My husband stays at home with the kids, and we have reached Coast FI. I usually enjoy working but have found myself in a function that I don’t particularly enjoy.“我已婚，有 3 个孩子。我丈夫和孩子们待在家里，我们已经到达了 Coast FI。我通常喜欢工作，但发现自己从事的工作并不是我特别喜欢的。

I’ve also reached a higher leadership role and have the golden handcuffs.我还担任了更高的领导职务，并戴上了金手铐。

If I stay until May 2024, I will get ~$115K in stock transferred to me along with a ~$50K bonus.如果我呆到 2024 年 5 月，我将获得约 11.5 万美元的股票以及约 5 万美元的奖金。

I have 3 kids, and I’d like to pay for college (assuming they want to go). The $165K that I’d receive next year could round out the rest of the kids’ college savings. It seems like easy money to stick around even though I don’t particularly like the work.我有 3 个孩子，我愿意支付大学费用（假设他们想上大学）。我明年收到的 16.5 万美元可以凑足孩子们剩下的大学储蓄。尽管我不太喜欢这份工作，但留下来似乎很容易赚到钱。

Each year after that I’ll likely have ~$75K in stock transferred along with a $50K bonus. At some point, I’ll just have to walk away from it.此后每年我可能会转让约 75,000 美元的股票以及 50,000 美元的奖金。在某些时候，我将不得不离开它。

My retirement is funded. Staying one more year would top up the kid’s college funds. Staying two more years would allow us to pay off our house, which is our only debt.我的退休金是有资助的。再呆一年就可以补充孩子的大学费用。再住两年就能还清房子，这是我们唯一的债务。

The work isn’t terrible but not something I’m passionate about either. I typically have enjoyed working though, and I don’t enjoy this. I’m passionate about using money to create my dream life and hope to do something different in the future.这项工作并不糟糕，但也不是我所热衷的事情。我通常很喜欢工作，但我不喜欢这个。我热衷于用金钱来创造我的梦想生活，并希望在未来做一些不同的事情。

I’m also in the process of getting my MBA. I’m not sure what I particularly plan to do with the degree, but I got a full scholarship and figured it could provide me with some opportunities for the future.我也在攻读 MBA 学位。我不确定我具体打算用这个学位做什么，但我获得了全额奖学金，并认为它可以为我的未来提供一些机会。

What would you recommend?”你会推荐什么？”

Are there aspects of this story that sound like you? If so, keep reading!这个故事的某些方面听起来像你吗？如果是这样，请继续阅读！

Case Summary and Assumptions案例摘要和假设

All I know about this person is what she shared by email. To make it easier, I’m going to refer to her as Jennifer.我对这个人的了解仅限于她通过电子邮件分享的内容。为了方便起见，我将她称为詹妮弗。

First, I know that I need to make a few assumptions and draw some conclusions based on what she shared.首先，我知道我需要根据她分享的内容做出一些假设并得出一些结论。

Jennifer shared that she and her husband “have reached Coast FI” and that their “retirement is funded.” Based on these statements, I am going to assume that they have surpassed their Coast FI number. This means that they don’t need to add another dollar to their retirement accounts. But, they do need to cover the cost of their everyday expenses and non-retirement financial goals between now and retirement.詹妮弗分享说，她和她的丈夫“已经到达 Coast FI”，并且他们的“退休金得到了资助”。根据这些陈述，我假设他们已经超过了 Coast FI 数字。这意味着他们不需要再向退休账户添加一美元。但是，他们确实需要支付从现在到退休之间的日常开支和非退休财务目标。

Jennifer is also working in a job she doesn’t enjoy. It’s not terrible, but it’s certainly not great. She wants to use her money to create her dream life, but it seems like she doesn’t yet know what that would look like.詹妮弗也从事着一份她不喜欢的工作。这并不可怕，但肯定不是很好。她想用她的钱来创造她梦想的生活，但她似乎还不知道那会是什么样子。

Lastly, her company is incentivizing her to stay in her current role. If she stays until May of 2024, she will receive $165K in stock options and bonus payout (in addition to her regular salary). Each year after that, she’d likely receive an additional $125K in stock and bonus.最后，她的公司正在激励她继续担任目前的职位。如果她留到 2024 年 5 月，她将获得 16.5 万美元的股票期权和奖金（除了她的正常工资）。此后每年，她都可能额外获得 12.5 万美元的股票和奖金。

Unlock the Golden Handcuffs – Recommendations and Considerations.解锁金手铐——建议和注意事项。

It can be incredibly difficult to walk away from a financial upside like this. To be clear, I am not advocating that she do this. What I want to share is a series of thoughts and questions that could help Jennifer (and you) think through the trade-offs.摆脱这样的财务优势可能非常困难。需要明确的是，我并不是提倡她这样做。我想分享的是一系列的想法和问题，可以帮助詹妮弗（和你）思考权衡。

Jennifer is not stuck. She holds the key to the golden handcuffs. She has a choice to wear them as a bracelet for as long as she wants, but she can take them off whenever she wants.詹妮弗没有被困住。她拿着金手铐的钥匙。她可以选择将它们作为手镯佩戴多久，但她也可以随时将其摘下。

Recommendation #1 – Consider the Opportunity Cost建议#1 – 考虑机会成本

To be clear, it is completely valid to stay with a job for a period of time that gets you past some sort of “cliff” where you’ll get extra benefits. In fact, Corey stayed at his job for a few extra months before quitting, so that he’d receive his bonus. This bonus is helping to cover his year off.需要明确的是，在一份工作上呆一段时间是完全有效的，这样你就可以跨越某种“悬崖”，在那里你可以获得额外的福利。事实上，科里在辞职前又在工作岗位上多呆了几个月，这样他就可以获得奖金。这笔奖金可以帮助他度过这一年的假期。

It sounds like Jennifer has some specific financial goals that she’d like to achieve with the money that she’d receive for staying. These goals include:听起来詹妮弗有一些具体的财务目标，她想用留下来获得的钱来实现这些目标。这些目标包括：

Funding her kids’ college

资助她孩子的大学

Paying off her mortgage

还清她的抵押贷款

Both of these are valid goals.这两个都是有效的目标。

But, the main question I’d ask Jennifer is, “What is the opportunity cost if you stay?”但是，我要问詹妮弗的主要问题是，“如果你留下来，机会成本是多少？”

I’d want to know if the job is impacting her mental or physical health. Is it impacting her relationships?我想知道这份工作是否影响她的心理或身体健康。这会影响她的人际关系吗？

And, is there something that she’d rather be doing with her time? It sounds like she doesn’t enjoy the work. Is there anything that she feels like she’s missing out on because of work?还有，她更愿意花时间做一些事情吗？听起来她不喜欢这份工作。她是否因为工作而感觉错过了什么？

Lastly, I’d ask, “Is fully paying for the kids’ college and paying off your mortgage in the next two years worth these opportunity costs?”最后，我想问，“在未来两年内全额支付孩子的大学费用并还清抵押贷款值得这些机会成本吗？”

It might be, but she won’t know until she asks.可能是这样，但除非她问，否则她不会知道。

Recommendation #2 – Explore What You’d Like to Do Instead建议#2——探索你想做的事情

It’s really difficult to make a change when we’re solely focused on what we want to move away from. Without a clear vision of what we want to do instead, it’s easy to stay stuck.当我们只专注于我们想要摆脱的事情时，真的很难做出改变。如果对我们想要做什么没有清晰的愿景，我们很容易陷入困境。

Luckily, you don’t have to completely upend your life and job to start exploring what you’d like to do instead. In fact, I don’t recommend this (unless something is so bad that you need to get out immediately for your mental health and well-being).幸运的是，你不必完全颠覆你的生活和工作来开始探索你想做的事情。事实上，我不建议这样做（除非事情非常糟糕，为了你的心理健康和福祉，你需要立即离开）。

In Jennifer’s case, I’d ask the following questions:就詹妮弗的情况而言，我会问以下问题：

Do you have ideas for what you’d like to do instead?

您对自己想做的事情有什么想法吗？

Do you have time to start experimenting with these ideas?

您有时间开始尝试这些想法吗？

Experimenting with ideas will make the path forward a lot clearer. It’s hard to take action when you only have a push. When you also have a pull, it becomes a lot easier.尝试想法会让前进的道路变得更加清晰。当你只有推动力时，很难采取行动。当你也有拉力时，事情就会变得容易得多。

To learn more about experimentation, I’d encourage you to check out this blog post or watch the video below.要了解有关实验的更多信息，我建议您查看这篇博客文章或观看下面的视频。

For example, Corey originally wanted to keep working in a traditional job until we reached $1M of invested assets. Spoiler alert: We didn’t get there before he quit. The biggest thing that helped him quit before we got to this milestone was that he had already experimented with a new lifestyle.例如，科里最初想继续从事传统工作，直到我们的投资资产达到 100 万美元。剧透警报：在他退出之前我们没有到达那里。在我们达到这个里程碑之前帮助他戒烟的最重要的事情是他已经尝试了一种新的生活方式。

In 2021, we experimented with vanlife by renting a campervan. From that experiment, we decided to buy and build our own campervan. This vision for a location-independent lifestyle along with a desire to have more time to dive into his hobbies and interests – pulled him to quit.2021年，我们通过租赁一辆露营车来尝试房车生活。从这次实验中，我们决定购买并建造我们自己的露营车。这种对不受地点限制的生活方式的愿景，以及对有更多时间投入自己的爱好和兴趣的渴望，促使他放弃了这一想法。

He wasn’t enjoying his job, but I’m not sure the push factors alone would have given him the confidence he needed to leave.他并不喜欢自己的工作，但我不确定单靠推动因素是否会给他离开所需的信心。

Most people say that their current work situation doesn’t provide them with the time they need to explore new options.大多数人表示，他们目前的工作状况没有给他们提供探索新选择所需的时间。

If this is the case for Jennifer (or you), I’d recommend starting small. Over time, you could start scaling back work (or simply scaling back the mental energy you put into work). This will give you more time and energy to dream and experiment.如果詹妮弗（或你）就是这种情况，我建议从小事做起。随着时间的推移，你可以开始减少工作量（或者只是减少投入工作的精神能量）。这会给你更多的时间和精力去梦想和实验。

Here are a few recommendations I have to help you start scaling back:以下是我必须帮助您开始缩减规模的一些建议：

Set boundaries around the time you spend working (or thinking about work).

围绕您工作（或思考工作）的时间设定界限。

Take ALL your vacation time.

充分利用你所有的假期时间。

Use your vacation time to take 1 day/week off for a month or two.

利用假期时间/每周休息一两个月。

Negotiate a non-traditional schedule, like working four 10-hour days.

协商一个非传统的时间表，比如每天工作四天，每次 10 小时。

Scale back and work part-time (3 or 4 days/week).

缩减规模并兼职工作（每周 3 或 4 天）。

Request a sabbatical or a period of unpaid time off.

请求休假或一段无薪休假。

Scaling back the time and/or mental energy that you spend on the work you don’t enjoy will provide space. This space can help you figure out what you really want and create a vision for what you want to move toward.减少花在不喜欢的工作上的时间和/或精力可以提供空间。这个空间可以帮助您弄清楚您真正想要什么，并为您想要实现的目标制定愿景。

With that vision, it’ll be easier to take out the key and remove the golden handcuffs. As a bonus, this vision will make the transition a whole lot smoother too.有了这样的愿景，取出钥匙、摘下金手铐就会变得更容易。作为奖励，这一愿景也将使过渡更加顺利。

Recommendation #3 – Consider What is Truly ENOUGH建议#3——考虑什么才是真正足够的

Companies have an incentive to get good employees to stay with them for as long as possible. Bonuses and vesting cliffs are tools that they use to control employees and make them feel stuck.公司有动力让优秀员工尽可能长时间地留在公司。奖金和归属悬崖是他们用来控制员工并让他们感到陷入困境的工具。

Knowing how much is truly enough allows us to build financial freedom and confidence in ourselves to unlock the golden handcuffs.知道多少才算真正足够，可以让我们建立财务自由和对自己的信心，以解锁金手铐。

Since Jennifer has reached Coast FI, all she needs to do now is cover her actual expenses and save for non-retirement financial goals.由于 Jennifer 已加入 Coast FI，她现在所需要做的就是支付实际费用并为非退休财务目标进行储蓄。

The first question, I’d ask her is, “How much of a priority for her is it to fund her kids’ college and pay off her mortgage in the next TWO years?”我问她的第一个问题是，“对她来说，资助孩子上大学并在未来两年内还清抵押贷款有多重要？”

The answer to this question would likely depend on a few things:这个问题的答案可能取决于以下几点：

Does she want to completely scale back after leaving this role and only cover her actual expenses forever? OR

她是否想在离开这个职位后完全缩减开支，永远只支付实际开支？或者

Could she make enough money in the future (doing work she enjoys) that she’d have a surplus that would allow her to save for these other goals?

她将来能否赚到足够的钱（做她喜欢的工作），以便有盈余可以让她为这些其他目标储蓄？

From my limited knowledge of Jennifer, it sounds like she’s a pretty ambitious person. She’s reached the upper levels of management in her company and is currently getting her MBA (with a full scholarship!).以我对詹妮弗有限的了解，听起来她是一个很有野心的人。她已经达到了公司的高层管理水平，目前正在攻读 MBA（并获得全额奖学金！）。

Based on this, it seems pretty unlikely that once Jennifer finds work she loves, she’ll struggle to cover her expenses and save in the long term. But, if Jennifer has the desire to scale back completely and only cover her actual expenses she may want to work in her current job for a bit longer.基于此，一旦詹妮弗找到她喜欢的工作，从长远来看，她不太可能难以支付自己的开支和储蓄。但是，如果詹妮弗希望完全缩减规模并只支付实际费用，她可能想在目前的工作中工作更长时间。

One final question I’d ask Jennifer is this, “Once you make it through the two years and pay off the mortgage, would you come up with another reason you should stay?”我要问詹妮弗的最后一个问题是：“一旦你度过了两年并还清了抵押贷款，你会想出另一个你应该留下来的理由吗？”

This is classic one-more-year syndrome brought on by golden handcuffs, which is exactly what your company wants.这是典型的“金手铐一年综合症”，而这正是贵公司想要的。

Figure Out the Right Balance找出正确的平衡点

To make a decision like this, it’s all about finding the right balance, between:要做出这样的决定，关键在于在以下方面找到适当的平衡：

Your goals (financial and otherwise)

您的目标（财务目标和其他目标）

What enough means for you and your family

足够对您和您的家人意味着什么

Any push and pull factors

任何推力和拉力因素

We could have stayed working full-time and in traditional jobs for longer. But, at a certain point, the trade-offs were no longer worth it. We both had things that were pushing us away from the roles that we were in. We also had a vision for the life we wanted pulling us toward it.我们本可以在传统工作岗位上全职工作更长时间。但到了某个时候，这种权衡就不再值得了。我们都有一些事情让我们远离我们所扮演的角色。我们也对我们想要的生活有一个愿景，推动我们走向它。

We have reached Coast FI and trust that the work that we will do in the future will meet our needs and allow us to work toward our goals.我们已经到达 Coast FI，并相信我们未来要做的工作将满足我们的需求并让我们能够实现我们的目标。

Will the work necessarily look like what we’re doing right now? Who knows? But, we also trust in our ability to be resourceful.这项工作一定会像我们现在正在做的那样吗？谁知道？但是，我们也相信我们足智多谋的能力。

I’d encourage Jennifer (and you) to reflect on the trade-offs and decide which ones are worth it to you. Lastly, I also want to remind you that you can choose to make a change simply because you want to. You hold the key to the golden handcuffs. You do not need something external to push you to make a change.我鼓励詹妮弗（和你）反思权衡并决定哪些对你来说是值得的。最后，我还想提醒你，你可以选择做出改变，只是因为你愿意。你拿着金手铐的钥匙。你不需要外部的东西来推动你做出改变。

The post Break Free From the Golden Handcuffs: A Case Study appeared first on The Fioneers.文章《摆脱金手铐：案例研究》首先出现在 The Fioneers 上。