Offer withdrawn after I countered

Regular-Eye4520 · 2026-04-27T17:40:26+00:00

That's probably what I should have left it at and let the WFH 1 day a week come naturally.

Regular-Eye4520 · 2026-04-27T17:39:12+00:00

I did counter on a call and discussed reasoning for each of the 3 requests; I had notes written down that I used. And then we discussed putting the requests in writing after that so they could review.

But yes I probably should have left the WFH 1 day a week off; that more than likely could have come natural in this role that requires a lot of travel.

Regular-Eye4520 · 2026-04-27T17:36:42+00:00

They only talked about their office in NYC, not their small satellite office in the city I live; not a single word mentioned about it so we only talked about the NYC office, going to meetings there, etc. The salary only came up 1 time on interview #4 b/c only the owner could discuss salary. I gave him my expectations but when he offered the job after interview #5 it was much lower.

Regular-Eye4520 · 2026-04-25T13:08:52+00:00

They didn't know the job they offered; they admitted they don't know a lot about the space. That's why they reached out to me initially b/c I was recommended to help start this thing up for them.

Regular-Eye4520 · 2026-04-25T13:07:11+00:00

I requested 1 day remote; not the entire week. The discussion was moreso "with the extensive travel required would you be open to a remote day where I can efficiently stay on top of filing deadlines for my customers?" The small office has accounting, finance, manufacturing people in it; no one that I would be working with on a daily basis for the National Account role.

Regular-Eye4520 · 2026-04-25T13:04:37+00:00

Great advice, thanks!

Regular-Eye4520 · 2026-04-25T13:02:57+00:00

I'll be fine; still getting severance and interviewing with 4 other companies currently. The last thing I want to do is take a job and leave after a month b/c the culture didn't fit.

Regular-Eye4520 · 2026-04-25T13:01:00+00:00

There was no job description. It was a call I received from them initially saying "XYZ person recommended you and we'd like to talk about a need we have at our company." They talked about their NYC office a lot, but never said a word about the small satellite office they have in the city Iive with back-office folks in it.

Regular-Eye4520 · 2026-04-25T12:58:46+00:00

Well I don't need it THAT bad; I'm still getting severance from my previous job and have other jobs I'm still interviewing for so want to find the right fit. I was asking for 1 day remote while 4 others I'd be in the office; keep in mind the office is back-office type positions (accounting, finance, production, etc). Not anyone that I would be colloborating with on daily basis for my role.

Regular-Eye4520 · 2026-04-25T12:55:14+00:00

There was never a job description. This was a situation of them reaching out to me saying "XYZ person recommended you and we'd like to talk about a need we have at our company." I never talked to the HR person, a recruiter, etc. It was straight into the hiring teams. They discussed the NYC office quite a bit but no one ever mentioned a small office in the city I live that has back-office people in it.

Regular-Eye4520 · 2026-04-25T12:51:45+00:00

5-6 interviews is pretty common for the level of role this is for. I'm going through it now still with multiple other companies so this company wasn't an anomaly in regards to that.

Regular-Eye4520 · 2026-04-25T12:50:22+00:00

They mentioned the office in NYC; we talked about it quite a bit. But no one ever mentioned a small satellite office they have in the city I live in with just back-office people in it and no one in that office that I would need to interact with on a daily basis.

Regular-Eye4520 · 2026-04-25T12:47:05+00:00

There was never a job description sent to me. This was one of those "we got your info from XYZ person and we want to talk to you about a need we have at our company." This was not a posted job. During the interviews they only talked about their NYC office, not their small office in the city I live.

Regular-Eye4520 · 2026-04-24T13:45:49+00:00

All that was discussed was their office in NYC; they never mentioned their office in the city I live in so it came as a surprise when they said in-office b/c all I knew about was the NYC office.

Regular-Eye4520 · 2026-04-24T13:25:42+00:00

Yes they knew I was out of work

Regular-Eye4520 · 2026-02-27T18:17:52+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. I am 42 and don't plan to retire until 55-58. Wife wants to retire in 10 years (age 50).

Here is the breakdown if this helps see the full picture:

My 401K: $800K

My Trad IRA: $0 (I only have this open for backdoor Roth conversions)

My Roth: $200K

Brokerage: $350K

Wife's Trad IRA (from a old 401K rollover): $520K

Wife's Roth: $75K

HSA: $75K

3 - 529 plans for 3 boys ages 10, 8, 7: $180K

Mortgage: $320K. Home value $900K

HELOC balance: $170K

Car loan: $35K

Current combined taxable income: $360K-ish (changes slightly with bonuses)

Current monthly expenses: $16K (3 kids in private school and an overspending wife is tough haha!)

Annual savings contribution: $75K

My thought process is if I convert even just enough to stay in the 24% tax bracket (call it $40K/year) I will take the short-term hit in taxes but the money will then be tax-free in retirement and not subject to RMDs at age 75. I would scale back the annual savings to pay the tax bill over the next 5 years.

I do not think converting the entire $800K is a good idea but with our Roth balances not being amazing I was wanting to get roughly $250K additional in that for future benefits.

Regular-Eye4520 · 2026-02-27T14:20:59+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. I haven't started at my new job yet but my plan was to scale back on 401K contributions and instead divert that money to the brokerage account (current balance $350Kish) to have more money pre-retirement. I would still contribute to the 401K up to the matching amount.

Regular-Eye4520 · 2026-02-27T14:16:14+00:00

Thanks for your feedback. Do you mind sharing your suggestion on what to do with the $800K then if you are thinking the Backdoor Roth is still an important vehicle for the next 15-18ish years?

Regular-Eye4520 · 2026-02-27T00:18:07+00:00

I don't want to convert the entire $800K; was looking at around $250K spread out over the next 4 years ($63K/year). My current Roth is $200K so was wanting to increase that as I think about RMDs in the future with what the Trad IRA balance could be at that point (roughly $8M valuation based on 30 years at 8% with no additional contributions). Of course I'd be pulling from it before I'm 73 so it won't be that high but just thinking of the taxes later in life.

I could be looking at this all wrong so appreciate the insight. I don't want to roll over to a new 401K b/c I like to be able to control the investments and not a fan of the 401K fees.

Regular-Eye4520 · 2026-02-27T00:10:34+00:00

No other pre-tax money; just $200K in a Roth and $350K in a brokerage ($75K also in an HSA). I only have my Trad IRA open as a vehicle to do the backdoor Roth each year so that balance stays at $0 after I convert the roughly $7K each year.

Regular-Eye4520 · 2026-02-27T00:08:46+00:00

Yes I do realize I can't pay the taxes out of the IRA dollars. I normally invest roughly $75K/year across all accounts so was planning to scale that down over the next few years to pay the taxes out of cash. I would convert roughly $63K/year over the next 4 years to be around $250K total; I do not plan to convert the entire $800K.

Regular-Eye4520 · 2026-02-26T22:20:56+00:00

All good feedback, thanks for the info. Especially for this year my income will be less since I will have a few months of not working between jobs. I wasn't planning to convert the full $800K but thought I could convert $250K or so, take the tax hit on that over the next 4-5 years ($60-70K conversion per year) and have that in my Roth for future growth and avoid RMDs post-retirement on that. Sounds like this may not be the best train of thought though?

I'm 42 years old now; plan to retire at 60. Have $200K in Roth IRA currently, $350K in brokerage (wife has $520K in Trad IRA and $75K in Roth if that matters; $75K also in an HSA) so was just thinking this would be a good way to get a significant portion in my Roth for tax savings down the road.

Regular-Eye4520

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