Stock Option Unretirement

Do you have your retirement all planned out? So did Bob Bertrand. Now he is trying to unretire. Don’t let this happen to you.

The fools of finance keep exposing themselves. This week it’s another job makeover candidate featured in Money Magazine. Bob retired in 2006 at age 58 to pursue his dream to be a professional golfer. More than half of his retirement nest egg was in company stock options. Oh oh. The company went bankrupt before he could exercise and flip his stock options. Busted.

Apparently Bob was too busy at the driving range to read all of those warnings about having too much invested in your employer’s stock.

But the foolishness didn’t end there. Even though he and his spouse were both unemployed, they continued to live as if they were on someones payroll. Their monthly net burn rate was $6300. They did virtually nothing to cut back. “I’m in denial” Bob mostly continued to do what he did best: play golf.

So after Bob and spouse consumed all of their remaining savings, the job makeover coach came in with some ideas. One of them was cutting expenses while the unretirement job search continued. Bob is thinking about that, but not very hard. From the article:

One thing he hasn’t done yet: cancel his golf membership. His rationale? Says Bertrand: “I can really get a lot of networking done there.”

Did I mention that Bob’s monthly golf networking fee is $700? ‘Nuf said.

By the way, do you catch the irony that Bob worked in the mortgage industry? Apparently financial foolishness can spread from the workplace and infect everything in your life.

Bob could clearly kick my ____ in golf. After that, I like my odds.

My question for you: Did Bob do the right thing by going public with his situation? On the one hand he is getting his name out there to prospective employers. On the other hand, will they be impressed by what they read?

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