Ask Slashdot: When Is the Right Time To Discuss Retirement With Your Employer? 333
An anonymous reader writes: As I am sliding down the far side of 60, retirement is something coming up in two or three years.
The usual notice time is two weeks, but I'm one of two people (maybe three if they pull one back in off other projects he's done the past four years) who do what I do, and is fairly important to the company's product. Yeah, we'd be in serious hurt if one of us were hit by a truck.
I'd like to give a lot of notice. It took them six months to find me for this position half a decade ago. But I don't want to be let go before I'm ready to go, either.
Most slashdotters seem to be a lot younger than me, so maybe I'm asking in the wrong place, but has anyone else dealt with this issue?
The usual notice time is two weeks, but I'm one of two people (maybe three if they pull one back in off other projects he's done the past four years) who do what I do, and is fairly important to the company's product. Yeah, we'd be in serious hurt if one of us were hit by a truck.
I'd like to give a lot of notice. It took them six months to find me for this position half a decade ago. But I don't want to be let go before I'm ready to go, either.
Most slashdotters seem to be a lot younger than me, so maybe I'm asking in the wrong place, but has anyone else dealt with this issue?
No good dead goes unpunished (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
It took me two times to learn this. During those attempts, I have tried to leave a company on their terms. It was bad for me.
Your life, live it.
Who knows, maybe the prospect will result in an offer that you can't refuse.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Typically...
You retire, do not give them any notice.
If what you do is truly necessary, then they will hire you back as a consultant, and pay you a lot more to do your job part time.
Re:No good dead goes unpunished (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:No good dead goes unpunished (Score:5, Insightful)
But I don't want to be let go before I'm ready to go, either.
I would give them notice on the day you are ready to retire, and then carry on with them until they are ready or until your good will wears out. If your boss/HR has any competency at all, they already know what's coming.
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Re:No good dead goes unpunished (Score:5, Informative)
My current employer will not pay out my unused vacation if I do not give at least two weeks notice.
Depending on which state you're in, that may be illegal. It certainly is in California.
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Re:No good dead goes unpunished (Score:5, Insightful)
If you work for an unenlightened employer who doesn't have a written policy to pay out accrued vacation when you leave then you should treat them likewise, give no notice and plan your departure to be on the day you would have returned to work after using all your vacation
Likewise with any employer that says they want two weeks notice but reserve the right to give you no notice before laying you off. At the end of your last work day hand HR your resignation letter that says "Due to your under-performance as an employer I am laying you off effective immediately".
Re:No good dead goes unpunished (Score:4, Insightful)
It will reflect more badly on you and your profession than on your employer, so I don't recommend it. It's always best to leave on the best terms possible ---- leave the door open, just in case you need something in the future: maybe not a job, but one sort of favor or another from your former company, boss, co-workers, etc.
My suggestion would be start making your post-retirement plans now, and when you have them finalized, figure out a hard date you want to stop working. Make sure you used up your normal vacation time for the year, and afterwards let your employer know a few months before that date you want to retire and start cutting back your hours after 2-3 weeks, and how many hours you're still willing to put in a week to get the project done on time and work with others to offload your duties..
If you've been in the service of the company a long time; they'll probably work with you on prepping to retirement...
Re:No good dead goes unpunished (Score:5, Insightful)
Here is my $.02 worth.
When you are good and ready, give your two weeks notice, BUT offer to stick around for ... say ... six months, if they need help finding and replacing you.
That way, you're fine either way, and come out like roses.
Re:No good dead goes unpunished (Score:5, Informative)
This!
We have a guy at my office much like you.
He gets hit by a truck, we stay in business, but we slip all sorts of deadlines, and likely contractual obligations, and our bug escape count will go way up.
He's a greybeard and greatly valued, but he wants to retire. He gave us a year notice, and he was in a position that if we said "bye" he'd have been fine (bored, but fine). As it is we are grateful for the year's notice and have him advising Jr devs when they get stuck. We're 6 mo in and he's down to 4 days a week (his choice, but good for us as it's driving home the point we need to learn everything we can from him first).
Honestly, if you're that valuable I predict that you will be fine having the "1 year warning" retirement convo, particularly if you approach it with something along the lines of:
"I've loved working here, but as I'm sure you can guess I am getting to the age where retirement is looming. I don't want to leave this team in a lurch, so I was thinking about working out a (1yr|6mo|nn week) transition plan where I can mentor a replacement. What do you think about that?"
This puts you in a position of relative power in that they can say okay, or you can leave and they have no choice but to hold the bag. Naturally if you have some trigger that needs to happen, like stock options vesting, wait till *after* the trigger, just in case.
In a reverse version of this I know a guy who knew his value, but when we were bought by Intel he simply didn't want to work for such a big company. He offered a similar resignation, a transition plan, knowledge transfer/training. He was rebuked and told "If you're quitting then we'll have your final paycheck to you plus some severance".
6 months later we were hiring him on a *LUDICHRIST* contract of $20,000 + expenses and $500 per diem for 4 days of work to crash course a group of devs to get past some roadblock.
Re:No good dead goes unpunished (Score:4, Interesting)
I have the opposite problem.
Our 'team' has been whittled down to the point that it consists of 3 guys - all over 60. There are no junior people to take our places - and the company seems to have no plans to hire any. This situation arose out of a botched outsourcing program. The outsourcing firm was pathetic and was ultimately dropped after everyone who knew the product had been fired. They brought me back as a part-time consultant to replace the Indian guys, and that's fine with me. But at this point 2 out of 3 of us have gone part time, and it's finally dawned on my boss that he's going to have a completely unsupported - and largely unsupportable product on his hands in a few years.
I'm not sure how common this scenario is - but I suspect it's more so than you might think...
Re:No good dead goes unpunished (Score:5, Informative)
I'd play this a tad differently.
I'm still on board with the "Day Of" method, and I'd give them a month extra after notification. After that, my pending retirement becomes a negotiation tactic. You want me around for another 2 months? Cool, here are my terms, and they're expensive.
This works on a couple different levels. First, you are GIVING them a month extra, and how nice of you to do so. Second, you are being compensated for the extra time ( generously ). Third, you are giving them a strong incentive to find your replacement.
I've seen places say, "Oh, we're looking for your replacement"...but then not. So this poor, kind, soul gets stuck because he said he'd stick around until they find a replacement. This way you can charge them commiserate with how much you don't want to be there, and they really have incentive to find your replacement.
Re:No good dead goes unpunished (Score:5, Funny)
This way you can charge them commiserate with how much you don't want to be there, and they really have incentive to find your replacement.
It's commensurate, dumbass.
Yes, I'm calling myself a dumbass, doesn't make it any less true.
Re:No good dead goes unpunished (Score:5, Insightful)
My current employer has treated me well so far. I've seen them treat my coworkers well, including when it came time to retire. As a result, I try to act in our mutual interest and trust them to do the same. I'm much happier with this arrangement than I would be if I was convinced that everyone was only self-interested.
This isn't always practical. I'm lucky to work for a small company staffed by human beings instead of corporate drones.
Re:No good dead goes unpunished (Score:5, Insightful)
Watch out for your own best interest. Your employer will be doing the same
If you're still working at a shitty place late in life, then sure - why even give notice? But if you're working somewhere reasonable, there's no reason to be a dick.
Retirement is coming up for me in the next few years. I plan to let my boss know informally about a year ahead of time that retirement is looming, and he should plan accordingly. I don't want him to be surprised when I give 2 weeks notice, but that's all the formal notice I'll give the company.
That being said, you should be able to retire for at least a couple years before you actually retire. This is important! When you get to the point that you believe you can live acceptably on your savings, don't stop working immediately. It really sucks to be wrong about how much you need - I've seen it, and it's not pretty. Soldier on for a couple more years to account for errors in prediction about what life holds.
If you do that, and your company uses knowledge of your plans and screws you by e.g. firing you 3 months before you had planned to retire, then you don't really care. You should be able to retire for some time before you'd even think of warning your boss that you plan to actually retire, for so many reasons.
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If you're still working at a shitty place late in life, then sure - why even give notice? But if you're working somewhere reasonable, there's no reason to be a dick.
Precisely. If your company treats you well, return the favor. I gave my "six-month" heads up last month. Now I'm working on my last project and mentoring colleagues on all of the stuff they'll need to know after I leave.
Who knows? You may discover that retirement isn't all it was cracked up to be. Why screw with your chances for a part-time gig with your last employer or one of their clients?
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Why screw with your chances for a part-time gig with your last employer or one of their clients?
Yes, this. I didn't retire, but I went indie. I also stayed on at my employer for many months, helping them to make a smooth transition, even going down to half-time for a while.
Leaving on good terms helped out, because a few years later, when money was running a bit thin, I did some contract work with them. Win-win, everybody was happy.
There's no reason for business transactions to be back-biting affairs. Done correctly, both parties benefit.
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Of course it's an option:
(1) Assuming you have a paid-off home, rent it out
(2) Go live somewhere where it costs $1000-2000/mo to survive. Bali, Costa Rica, parts of Portugal, you get the drift.
Why do you have to be tied down to the US?
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Re: Retirement? (Score:3)
Retirement is what happens when you think beyond tomorrow and plan for it.
You set aside a good chunk of your pay each pay period and invest it ( intelligently ) with a thirty + year timeline in mind. About one quarter of my pay is what I aim for.
You don't buy overly expensive homes or cars / toys that you can barely afford and you live within your means.
Do it right and you may get to retire someday. Do it very right and you can retire early.
Do it wrong and you'll be working till the day you die and asking
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Waiting until you qualify for Medicare may make sense.
Not for long [washingtonpost.com].
Re: Tell him (Score:2)
Unless the "new guy" is just the next highest person in seniority and they plan to hire someone off the street. Then they can fire you whenever and the only difference is they save a year or so of the difference in salary.
Plan your own transition. Tell boss when ready (Score:4, Interesting)
> This will allow him to plan a cautious transition. He will want the time to do it gradually rather than all at once. Trust me, your boss will love the idea of giving the new guy time to master each piece of the job before taking on the next one. Orderly transitions are worth the money.
All true and good. I'll add that where I worked the person leaving did a lot of the transition planning and that worked well because they were effectively TELLING their boss and everyone "here's what needs to be done before I go, and how long it will take". Looking at it in reverse "here's a ton of stuff that won't get done, and will cause problems, if you don't keep me until July."
So we'd have a rough schedule:
Over the next few weeks I'll document the processes for X, Y, and Z, and all admin passwords needed and other access information, etc.
Next month I'll show Bob how to do A, B, and C.
Then I'll let Bob do it himself (asking me questions as needed) and I'll check his work, clarifying any issues. We can then discuss whether it appears that Bob will be able to take over these tasks, or if someone else is needed to help.
In February we'll finish up the project I've been leading for the last year, etc. Bob will need a backup in case something happens to him, so in March Bob and I will walk through the processes with Sue, so she is also familiar with them. February and March I'll bring Bob into the monthly meeting with Very Important Client so they can meet him, and he can see how we conduct that monthly meeting.
The flip side of that is you're telling the boss "if I leave today, nobody will know how to do X, Y and Z, or A, B, and C."
At my last job, retirements were planned a couple YEARS in advance. That made for smooth transitions. When I left for a new job, I started planning an orderly transition as soon as I had a good interview, more than three weeks before my last day.
Gold Mine (Score:2)
It seems to me that if you notify your employer of intent to retire, and they subsequently fire you, you've got a pretty solid case for wrongful termination... I say make sure you do everything in writing, and store copies of those communications somewhere outside of the company's control.
Let them know early (Score:4, Interesting)
So, go ahead, let them know, and start training your replacement.
One thing to add-- [Re:Let them know early] (Score:3)
So, if you expect an upcoming raise or a bonus, that might be a reason to wait.
(particularly if you have a pension plan where your payout is proportional to your salary at retirement! But those are pretty uncommon these days.)
Re: (Score:2)
Generally I'd agree, but I've also seen much stupider things done in business.
6 months of pay may be a significant thing for a smaller company. Someone may have a grudge and the ability to pull the firing trigger without being forced to walk through 6 months of CYA.
I'd still suggest giving notice. Maybe a bit less and offer to stick around for up to 6-12 months at a higher rate and/or part time.
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...Someone may have a grudge and the ability to pull the firing trigger...
Yes, but if they have a grudge and the ability to pull the firing trigger, you're already toast.
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Gold Mine (Score:4, Informative)
You're right, but wrong.
At-will employment does allow either party to terminate the employment with zero notice for no reason. However that absolutely DOES NOT absolve either party of obeying laws around employment. You can terminate me for no reason, but you can't pretend a reason doesn't exist. i.e. if a company terminates someone a week after they announce they're pregnant there are sufficient grounds for a lawsuit - at which point the company would need to justify the termination was not on illegal grounds.
Age is protected status.
Retaliation is also illegal. You can't fire someone because they gave notice to terminate their employment. Many companies DO decide to go with leave in lieu of notice for employees with privileged access. I've had that more than once and it amounts to a couple-week vacation where I'm technically on-call but have all my access cut so can't do anything.
If you give notice of retirement in 6 months and they are stupid enough to fire you for "no reason" shortly after, you'd have a pretty solid lawsuit in the making. Not to mention they'd easily get crucified in the media over it and any cost to just pay you out even for 6 months would be minor in comparison.
I've had two employees retire on me. (Score:3, Insightful)
Don't overthink this (Score:5, Insightful)
When you are *ready to go*, tell them you have decided to retire, and offer whatever notice period you want to.
Heck you could even retire and offer to provide consulting services on an as-needed basis.
Just talk with them (Score:5, Insightful)
My mom and one close coworker have went through this in the past couple years, and in both cases they started a dialogue about this years before they were ready for retirement. Don't fool yourself into thinking that your employer hasn't already thought about the fact that a key employee is in his 60's. The best chance you have for this to work out in your favor is to open a dialogue with your employer.
Sure your employer could screw you over, but he could also hire someone in the next few months to cover his ass even though you intended on working a few more years. Unless you have an absolutely horrible relationship with your boss, this could likely be solved with a little communication.
What are YOUR plans! (Score:3)
The day after your retirement party do you plan to buy a boat and head out to sea?
If you are not doing something like that I would not worry about giving more than a couple months notice.
Which really is enough time to put together an orderly transition/success; if you take some personal steps on your own to document things and fix up anyone old problems before you make your plans public.
If they really need you and you are not going anywhere right away, they can always bring you back on to do a little 1099 work for a few weeks.
Given them YEARS notice on the other hand just allows time for shenanigans like pushing you out to get the transition over on their terms rather than yours maybe before you are ready. Worse I have seen crappy companies let people go before making eligibility for 30 year bonuses / increased pensions etc. That sorta thing may or may not apply to you but why invite trouble if it does. At 60 you are not quite ready to take SS but might really have trouble finding another gig, taking SS early can have major financial draw backs; is another thing worth considering.
Really a couple months notice is plenty fair to all and makes sure you go when the time is right for you.
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Given them YEARS notice on the other hand just allows time for shenanigans like pushing you out to get the transition over on their terms rather than yours maybe before you are ready.
No, for any reasonable company, there's no reason not to let them know even years in advance. When they know you're retiring, this is an incentive for them to not lay you off, so you can train your replacement. It's an incentive for them to not make your work conditions miserable to try to force you out-- since you're on your way out anyway.
Worse I have seen crappy companies let people go before making eligibility for 30 year bonuses / increased pensions etc. That sorta thing may or may not apply to you but why invite trouble if it does.
Now, that is an important consideration. If there is some period of time such that if you are employed more than XX years you get vested in something that costs the c
Re: Dumb fuckers who don't know what they are t... (Score:3)
This is the fun part of Slashdot. Dumb fuckers who don't know what they are talking about giving advice like they know what they are talking about.
There is a technical term for such people: "anonymous cowards".
Like you.
If I may... (Score:2)
second - I wouldn't prematurely discuss retirement with them. Yes, it will take time for them to find a replacement...but I wouldn't discuss it with them if you're not willing to be let go immediately. (Just in case)
third - when you ARE ready...discuss. Offer to train replacement. Discuss a date when you're ready to leave. When you're ready to leave - offer a consulting contract (1099) to come back if necessary on a limited
Retiring is different than Switching Jobs (Score:4, Insightful)
The best time is... (Score:3)
Assume the worst (Score:3)
Give them as much notice as you like but be prepared for them to cut you loose early.
Whenever I give notice, I'm prepared to be walked that instant.
Do you have a financial interest in your employer? (Score:2)
If no financial interest, then just leave when you want to retire.
Most employers won't give you a similar notice or consideration.
Loyalty doesn't work if it is one-way. What loyalty to you does your employer have?
Why retire? (Score:2)
Retirement is a mid-1900's concept, a fleeting fad. It was based on age 65 because most people didn't live that long, the median age was late-40's to mid-50's or something like that. From the employer's perspective there was a burgeoning younger work force and retirement was a way of dumping out the more expensive, more fossilized older workers in favor of cheaper, eager, more trainable younger workers.
Why retire? You are at your peak, so far, earning power. What are you going to do with your next 50 years?
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There's more to life than work.
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I like your enthusiasm, and I love the idea that people who don't want to retire shouldn't have to.
I do plan to retire, not anytime soon, because I already have answers to what I plan to do with the next 50 years. A full-time job gets in the way of dating strippers, I mean, landscape painting and community volunteer service.
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"Retirement" doesn't mean not working. It means not HAVING to work 50+ hours a week for someone whom you dislike.
Go back to school. Retrain. Do something that you love that pays less. In high school, I had a history teacher who was a former fireman -- he retired in his late 40s, went for his master's in history, and ended up teaching high school. Great guy, inspired a lot of kids.
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I have to say, its sad to see you have nothing in your life to fill your time other than work. Ive just retired at 57, and plan to spend my retirement flying a sailplane I bought with my retirement payout, a plan I have had for many years.
Dont assume because your work is your life, everyone is in the same boat.
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Once you reach the point where you're financially independent (able to live off investment returns), why wouldn't you "retire" from your day job? I don't know about you, but I have plenty of things I could spend my days doing.
I have people telling me I'll be bored, but I can remember Summer vacation when I was younger and I was always out having fun. I've been working 20 years and I really miss those 4 months off every year! You can always do consulting or contract work if you want more income.
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Hasn't ever been true for Fed employees so far as I can tell. The retirement system you're probably thinking of, CSRS, was closed to new employees back in the late 1980's. Everyone since then that hires on is part of FERS, which includes a much smaller pension that can't be drawn from until you're 57, possibly earlier if they're looking to reduce staff and offer early retirement. If you wait until age 62 you get 1.1% per year of service. The rest of FERS is essentially the same as what anyone else can get a
What sort of places do you people work for? (Score:4, Insightful)
Retirement isn't a big secret. You think your bosses don't see that you are getting old? They know that anyone over 58 can go whenever they want depending on how they've planned. They'd much rather be able to plan a replacement assuming you fit a spot that needs filling.
Why would they fire you because you said that you were planning on leaving in the next 1-2 years? That makes no sense.
Alternatively, if they know you want to retire and they know a layoff is coming then that is a win win. They don't have to upset anyone, they get rid of someone who likely has a higher salary, and on top of it you get severance pay, insurance and unemployment.
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In the US, anybody can go at any time for any reason. Being 58 doesn't have any significance in the US.
Alternatively, if they know you want to retire and they know a layoff is coming then that is a win win. They don't have to upset anyone, they get rid of someone who likely has a higher salary, and on top of it you get severance pay, insurance and unemployment.
Also not true in the US. People who are laid off are
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The 58 was just used as from experience the typical age that people start to really consider retirement and those that have planned well or gotten lucky can achieve it.
Again, I ask what sort of crap places do you all work for if you are afraid to even discuss retirement. Any place worth its beans will typically give 1 week per year of service pay and health insurance during layoffs. Add to that unemployment and the company is doing you a favor if they lay you off anywhere along the lines of 1-1.5 years prio
Assuming (Score:2)
Clueless (Score:2)
When to talk about your retirement is separate topic. Personally, as someone who's 55, I would give 6 months to a year notice, and would likely do some heavy planning way before that. For example I have accrued (c) 450 hours of sick time.
I'm in the same boat (Score:2)
Same age, same issues. I tried to retire last year and they basically offered me enough more money to tough it out for another year and finish a Corp project I've been working on forever. I'm healthy, relatively happy, and have it pretty cushy as a remote worker. I like the job when I get to do it. I'm on track to provide my deliverable for the project on time. So add some time for Corp to figure out what's up and maybe I'll try again next year.
subject (Score:2)
I'm still 15 years out from retirement, but I'd not give any MORE than 3 months notice, but at the same time, I'd not give any notice at all until I was comfortable that if they said "Thanks, but you're gone." I would be fine with it.
I am younger than you, but I've seen people leave (Score:2)
The day of (Score:4, Informative)
I can tell you from personal experience that the best time to discuss retirement with your employer is the day you are walking out the door for the last time. It's so satisfying. I still got my party and when the time comes, I'll still get my pension.
If your employer is going to end your employment, he almost certainly won't tell you about it until the last day. You already gave them their money's worth and you don't owe them anything.
Better yet, call them at 9am on the first day of your retirement to let them know you won't be in ever again.
Re:The day of (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3)
Best of both worlds... (Score:2)
...I'd put off notification until you are ready to retire, then let them bend over backwards to keep you around until they are ready with a replacement.
Plan to win (Score:4, Interesting)
I agree with the earlier poster who said let them know when you are ready to go.
Keep in mind that they may walk you out the door the minute after you tell them you want to retire.
With that being said...
Most companies have some kind of development plan structure in place for employees to give them room to grow. Initiate a development discussion with your employer and state that one of your development goals for yourself and the company for the year is to plan for retirement. (Where do you see yourself in a year? On a beach sipping margaritas.) This gives them a chance to either find a new hire to work with you on a transition, or an internal employee who might want to broaden their skillset and work with a mentor (you) for the next year or however long the transition is.
Mutually agree on a date to leave and invite them to hire you as a contractor or part-time employee if they need additional work done.
It's ok to leverage this! Everyone can benefit. (Score:3)
When you are ready to retire, give them two weeks notice. If they really need you, they'll find the amount of $$ that makes it worthwhile for you to stay on until they find a replacement. They get what they need, and you get properly paid for your rare skill (finally).
Not retirement, transition to a new stage of work (Score:3)
They'll fire you for retiring? (Score:2)
But I don't want to be let go before I'm ready to go, either.
If they are so ready to stab you in the back (by firing you for planning your retirement) then why do you have any loyalty to them? Did I misunderstand this part?
Also, if they are this disloyal to employees, they may be planning on firing you anyway if you are close to vesting on any retirement benefits. I know a few people this has happened to. Hopefully your company is better than this.
Leave a positive memory (Score:3)
There may be opportunities to come back part time when you find yourself getting bored. Keep in touch and don't burn bridges! People often think of retirees from their company differently than people that just left for somewhere else. Co-Worker Emeritus.
But always be prepared to be shown the door.
To quote Homer Simpson (Score:2)
No Notice (Score:3)
I have learned the hard way to never give notice. In your case, where your retirement funds may be adversly impacted, this is doubly true.
Tell them the day after your 65th birthday that you are not coming back. You owe them nothing. They pay you for the labor you provide, and they would likely terminate you without notice should the need arise. With each payroll you are square with the house. No consideration beyond that should be given nor expected.
my thoughts from the mgmt side... (Score:3)
I've seen this a few times in my career, never anyone that reported to me but to my colleagues. It's challenging, because it can be tricky legally. I've seen where we all knew someone was going to retire, but she wouldn't announce it. Management can't really ask about it. So a year goes by.. nothing. We wanted to be able to plan around getting her replacement, but couldn't because we didn't know when she would announce it. Ideally you want the employee to bring it up so you can work out some kind of transition plan.
I've also seen it where someone announced her retirement date, then moved it out, then moved it out again. She was terrible, and we couldn't wait for her to leave. But we couldn't get rid of her. Then we got new management, and he basically pushed her to actually DO her job, which stressed her out, and she left rather quickly.
My initial thoughts are always to be nice, be open, and things will work out. But you never know when some asshat at a company will screw over the employee. Sometimes HR gets involved and when they do, there isn't much a manager can do about it. I've seen some minor decisions made by CEOs of business units get overturned by a simple HR rule. They even know that you can't fight the system. So my advice to anyone looking to retire is to look out for yourself first. Chances are they are aware of your pending retirement, and you can drop subtle hints without making anything official. Educate yourself on what is and isn't legal, what your HR policies are, and be wary of actually engaging anyone in HR. I've found that they really don't know what the H in HR stands for.
Depends on the company. (Score:2)
If you are in a large corporation the answer is two weeks before you do it. Even if your boss is honorable, his boss might not be.
If you are in a small-medium company and know both your boss and his boss are honorable and loyal, then I would consider giving them six months notice.
But only if the culture is loyal.
If you do decide to talk to them, make it a bigger discussion than just when.
Talk about training your replacement, what kind of person would be a good fit. In particular talk about hiring from wit
tit for tat (Score:2)
it's sort-of not your problem (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm getting to be that age also, but haven't been in the position to give notice, yet. That said, in every place I've worked so far, if you give six months notice, they'll start looking for a replacement immediately, and find a reason to dump you as soon as they're confident of business continuance. Don't do that to yourself.
Consider also, that if you retire you might get some benefits that you wouldn't get if you were, for instance, fired. A big disadvantage to announcing that you're going to leave sometime in the next several months is that it gives the company that long to figure out how to get rid of you at minimum cost to the company.
Even if your boss is a good guy and wouldn't do that to you, there are probably people higher up that would see the minimal cost option as business as usual.
Keep in mind also that some companies don't want an employee continuing to work there who has announced his intention to leave, to reduce the risk of pilfering and sabotage. Often, you give two weeks notice and they ask you to leave right away, and pay you for the two weeks.
And finally, your boss knows how old you are. If he doesn't have a plan in place already, it's on him, not you.
So in conclusion: Don't tell anyone. Just do your job up until it's time to give two weeks notice. It's safer for you.
Dont tell them till you are ready (Score:2)
Once your retirement is planned and you are really sure about accepting a pay cut for reduced hours, let them know and offer to stay as long as they need you to find replacement. Offer to train the replacement, and also to come in part time sliding down from 5 days a week to 4, and then 3 etc.
Depends on the company (Score:2)
Most of the colleagues I've seen retire kept their cards close and then retired suddenly due to some external trigger: the end of a project, departure of their boss, an odious policy change or the like. The attitude was, I'll keep working until the next thing happens that annoys me, then I'm gone.
If that is how things go at your company, you're in a bad company.
If you're not in a bad company and your boss isn't a dick, then you're doing him/her a favor to start talking about how to pass on your knowledge an
Two week's notice cuts both ways (Score:2)
Tell them two weeks before. If they are smart, they will have arranged something longer term along the lines of consulting for you with you before. Or they will have arranged for a definite end-date, but they will assure your continued employment before. If they are not smart, do not depend on them being honorable.
You have to tell them two weeks before, everything else is their problem. Of course, they may still make you an offer for more time when you give them that notice, but you should only accept that
Some historical perspective (Score:2)
Tacitus in his historical and ethnographic work 'Germania' discussed customs of the Ancient Aryan Peoples.
Retirement came from fighting the Romans to west or savage slavic tribes to the east. And by retirement I mean 'death'. He doesn't mention any prior discussion.
I hope this has proved helpful.
What's the dilema? (Score:2)
Wait until you are really ready to go (don't talk about it before then), then talk to your boss and tell him/her you're ready to retire but are flexible to the exact timing up to some limit (max 6 months, say).
The usual 2 weeks but offer to come back part time (Score:2)
When was the last time a company thought of *you* first and showed you some loyalty? *crickets*
If you're like most workers with decades under their belts you've been laid off at least once. Let's face it, you got no warning most likely and found yourself looking for a job the next day.
Give 'em their 2 weeks (which by the way isn't written anywhere) and offer to work part time. You get some time to ease into retirement, th
Re: (Score:2)
Not your problem (Score:2)
Bring up the possibility of your departure and they might realize their best strategy is to start the search now and when they find the right person kick you out the door. Or they bring in someone much cheaper and direct you to train your replacement.
Stop worrying about what happens to the company if you get hit by a bus or retire, you aren't being paid to solve their management problems. So do your job and retire when you want, with two weeks notice. If they are real dummies and don't plan ahead you can
Depends on your goals (Score:2)
We have a number of people in our office that are semi-retired-- usually either working as 1099 independent contractors (often part time), but a couple take a few 1-3 month sabbaticals every so often, and one just works part time as an employee. It works for us, and generally works for them-- although I do see them handling stress poorly as deadlines come which worries me.
Me, I will provide 12-months notice. I can be replaced in a month pretty easily IMO, but as an owner of the company I do have some spec
Keep the upper hand. (Score:2)
Assuming they're a good company with people you like, you can be nice about it while doing the best thing for yourself.
Don't mention it until you're ready to walk. When you are ready, give something reasonable like a month. Make it clear you're willing to extend that period out if they desire, if they make it worth your while. A guaranteed bonus for staying longer, maybe some guaranteed minimum commit contract hours to help with transition training or something.
You don't owe any employer anything and you've
You really won't be missed (Score:2)
You really won't be missed as much as you think. Most people are not in positions that are so crucial that everything falls apart when you do leave. And for those who are, whose fault is that? If your leaving caused chaos, then the company is not in a very good position to begin with. Most times your desk will be reassigned. Your phone number will be given to someone else, your email will be erased, and your key card will no longer work. In a few years when you walk through the door, no one will know or car
This seems really simple (Score:2)
I'd just keep working until you are 'ready to retire' and THEN raise the subject that you'd like to retire.
Given your attitude of wanting to help the company transition; I'd go into it with the mindset that once you are 'ready to retire' that you still plan to be available for 3-6 months beyond that to transition out, help train a replacement, perhaps part time.
Many people in your type of situation transition to a part time / consulting role for several months or even years after 'retiring'. And, if they r
How is your current relationship? (Score:2)
Working for a state government, it's not unusual for folks to talk openly about their retirement plans a few years in advance. I just had one of my staff retire; he provided the necessary paperwork 8 months before the date, and began training his interim replacement 2-3 months before he left. It was very orderly, which I appreciated. But it's also in state law that a permanent state employee can't be exited or summarily dismissed without going through a progressive discipline process; private sector mileage
Overthinking? (Score:4, Insightful)
Seems like most people are overthinking this a bit... Once you're ready to retire, the exact date you stop working isn't very relevant.
My plan would be:
- Wait till the day I'm totally ready to walk out the door
- Walk into my bosses office and say, "Hey boss, I'm ready to retire. How long do you want me to stick around?"
Then it doesn't really matter what their reaction is.
You know who you're dealing with... (Score:2)
The safest course is to decide if there is a sufficient gap between when you are 'able' to retire and when you 'want' to get out the door.
If you can save the announcement until you are safe, then you are protected against any capricious management decisions, and still able to provide for an orderly transition.
On the other hand, how much notice would -they- give you, if your servi
Observational Experience (Score:2)
If they don't already know it's coming they're complete idiots, if they haven't realized they are going to need to replace you either they are idiots or you're not terribly valuable moving forward; and if they haven't already approached you, you don't owe them more than 2 weeks notice.
Keep the bridges intact though. My g
If you're actually "retiring" and ... (Score:2)
As for getting fired for announcing your retirement, any company that does this is (a) stupid and (b) probably breaking the law. I've known several people that retired from my compa
Re:In the modern climate, there isn't (Score:4, Insightful)
Employee says they are going to retire in 6 months
Let them work for 6 months - they leave on their own
RISKS ?? Their productivity falls to 0 - costing 6 months salary (100K with benefits maybe?)
Benefit - Find a replacement worker, including letting current employee interview and give insight... Current employee trains replacement (Value - ???)
Benefit - Everyone else sees this person is treated well, including an office retirement party that is good for team morale (cost 10K including a small parting gift)
Fire them ASAP Risks - Possible age bias lawsuit as they are well over 40, and there would be no dings on their record otherwise
Risks - Everyone sees what happens and no one will help in the future
Risks - Who will do knowledge transfer, you are down an employee until you find a replacement Benefit - Save 100K in salary.
I don't see any reason to go through firing an employee early - the lawyers for the lawsuit alone will cost you 100K even if you win and don't have to pay a dime... Assume you would have to pay AT LEAST the 100K to the employee plus cover his legal costs (another 40-50K)
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You act like people are rational or reasonable and that they will not cut off their nose despite their face. Better to play it safe and not say anything.
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Maybe you should have a look at how the French handled this at the end of the 18th century.
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Same is true for sysadmins. And (if they are good) consultants.
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The obligatory troll every self-respecting story must have is found!
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Don't think of it as retiring - think of it as finally having enough discretionary time to spend on the projects that *you* want to work on.
Vacations usually exist in that limbo-time where they're long enough to start getting boring, but not enough time to even get a project properly started.
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