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Ken Cutler’s question about his retirement status made me think about how my retirement started. I’m curious about what path you all followed. As I approached retirement in 2020, I considered how much notice to give my employer. I had worked for the company for 20 years. I was not a manager, but I was an expert technical professional and had carved out a very specialized niche within the organization. Substantial organizational changes were implemented during the first three months of the calendar year and as a result I had three different managers over a very short span of time. Because I had questions about exit benefits, vacation pay, 401(k) handling, and other details, I decided to discuss my thoughts with HR.
My HR contact set a time for a confidential discussion. I told her I planned to provide notice three to four months in advance, and leave on the last Friday of June 2020, which would be the 26th. I was very surprised to hear her response.
I scheduled knee replacement surgery to happen very early in the year. The pandemic put that on hold, but I was still able to get the surgery done in May. I was on company-provided short term disability while recovering from the surgery. But the timing was such that I gave my notice the day I returned to work. I had not worked for my manager for very long, but I had known him and worked with him for 15 years. He took it well.
Because of the pandemic, there was no opportunity for a trip to headquarters to see my coworkers one last time. Goodbyes were limited to emails, telephone calls, and Zoom calls. It’s been four years, but I maintain contact with a number of former coworkers via Facebook, LinkedIn, and occasional telephone calls.
My approach was different. As the principal in a small C-corp the board and I decided to spin this into two companies. This allowed me to reduce my involvement.
As I approached retirement age I began a “phased” retirement at age 67, reducing my work hours. I became a consultant and did that for several years, eventually retiring completely at age 76. However, to accomplish this I did have to disconnect the cell phones (I had two) and obtain a new number. That was to reduce client contact.
Had I not done this I would have been working unbelievable hours during the covid pandemic. The multinational companies I worked with had leaned down to the point that it was usual to fly engineers from technical centers to points around the globe for varying projects troubleshooting issues or providing supervision and training. This reduced local staffing requirements. When covid struck some people, including senior managers, were scattered all over the globe. For example, the president of a German firm I worked with was at a subsidiary when airline travel became impossible. He was stranded for months.
I decided on a July 1, 2025 retirement date during spring 2024. I attended several webinars hosted by the two university retirement systems I have worked for and learned that:
With this in mind, I quietly told my closest colleagues of my plans last fall. This enabled them to start planning next year’s teaching schedule without me in the mix. However, we agreed to keep that information to ourselves until I actually filed the paperwork. There are university administrators who would use that knowledge to our unit’s detriment, and they didn’t need to know anything any earlier than I had to tell them. In fact, I told my colleagues that if anyone started poking around about my plans to tell them, “Oh, Dana seems like the kind of person who will just die at her desk. I can’t see her ever retiring. Did you know she rides Peloton now? She has more energy than I do, and I’m 20 years younger.”
So time went by, and I finally filed my paperwork in April and formally notified my department chair, our unit’s chief administrator, and the associate dean and HR person for the college. I’m sure I made the budget dean’s day with that news. It’s no longer a secret. But I could still change my mind!*
*not a chance 😂
I don’t have data for this observation, but at mine and my husband’s orgs (academic med ctr, health philanthropy), HR personnel seem more short term than other departments and not at all representative of otherwise stable scientific, tech and clinical employees. Also they tend to be much younger. I’m not sure I would take their advice alone. Most employees seem to work closely with their managers to either phase into retirement or set a date months or a couple of years in the future.
I have no plans yet, and we have 80-year-olds still in the saddle, but my husband and his director will retire together (one wants to avoid personnel responsibilities, the other can do that but is not as analytically deft, so a symbiotic thing). This org requires a 6-month separation before returning as a contractor, but it is likely they would both return on a part-time basis. It’s worth noting that if we thought we were standing in the way of a younger person filling our roles, we would give serious thought to leaving, but in fact there are never enough candidates for our jobs.
Not a very good HR person. I just advised people the best timing regarding vacation payout, and bonus payments so they were maximized.
We encouraged two to three months notice, seemed the decent thing to do for your boss and perhaps fellow workers.
Some people just gave one day notice- and they waited several weeks to get their first pension check because all payroll periods had to clear.
I disagree and thought they were an excellent PR person. I believe your viewpoint is as a VP of HR, whereas I was working as an individual contributor and discussing future plans with an HR individual contributor. I appreciated that they were looking out for me in the sense they answered all my questions in a way that maximized my benefit.
In response to your comment about fellow workers, most of my coworkers knew me well enough to see this was coming, including my manager. I was one of the oldest people in my group and they’d worked with me for many years (in some cases they’d worked with me for two decades). To my knowledge, there was no corporate request to provide an extended notice. In fact, one former coworker was escorted out the door the day he gave his two-week notice after he mentioned who his next employer would be.
Their job is to look out for the best interests of all employees and the organization. This person as in bullet two was undermining the organization. While your group may not have been affected by you leaving under short notice that may not always be true.
Do you have a sense that the HR role has changed at your old employer over the last 2 decades? Around 2008, my favorite Lockheed HR person, now a VP, lamented that their role was increasingly one of keeping the corporation out of the courtroom. When my division was sold to a PE firm in 2010, the HR role became a revolving door, mostly very junior, with most services outsourced, They did not last long, changing jobs frequently. Over the next 7 years, we were merged three times, and acquired and incorporated 3 companies. These changes were opportunities to reduce the back office staff to eliminate “redundancies”. Our pension was replaced with a cash balance plan – the traditional portion was frozen. The Cash balance plan was frozen 15 months later. I know nothing about Jeff’s company, but given that experience I can see how an HR person could provide the type of guidance Jeff described.
Only a sense of change based on feedback, I know how we used to do things is long gone. But that guidance is still not appropriate. As I said the “employer” isn’t being hurt, but the people the person works with might be by a quick exit.
From my perspective, your experience with HR is rare within corporate America. Usually, HR is focused on protecting senior management and executives. They might be honest about policy but rarely give advice to the benefit of the individual lower level employee. Congrats on your positive exit.
That’s a rather cynical view. Giving a decent notice is fair to your boss and quite likely fellow workers who have to pick up the slack. Senior management could care less.
Am I not entitled to my own views based on my own interactions with HR? I don’t think I suggested OP not give fair notice.
You made a general criticism about HR didn’t you?
I retired from my full time job October 1st 2000, the day I reached 30 years. I went back to work the next day as a part time contractor, doing the same job. I don’t remember how much ahead of time I discussed this with my manager, but I remember there was a suggestion that I should become a permanent part time worker. Since I wasn’t planning on staying very long, and I thought it might confuse the benefit situation, I declined. I got a nice breakfast party, with balloons. Nearly a year later I left on my first long trip.
The retirement was precipitated by corporate changing the pension plan. I was “grandfathered” into the old plan, but my pension would be frozen at 30 years. Unfortunately, my local management wanted to keep me, so I wasn’t offered a package. Also, I was seeing people retire at 65, and six months later it seemed they either came back to work, or became ill.
I “retired” twice. First time I wanted to be nice and told my boss 6 months in advance. Word leaked out that I was leaving and it changed the dynamics with my co-workers. Then covid hit and I delayed retirement.
I learned my lesson and “second” retirement I gave my boss 1 month notice. I recommend a shorter notice.
During my annual review in the spring of 2017 my boss, as always, asked about my goals for the following year-I was prepared for the question and told her I planned to retire in 2018-almost a year’s notice. We worked out a plan so that I recruited and trained my replacement. During the meeting I raised the question of getting a severance package-as it happened the organization was going through downsizing and I, along with a few others, were able to get a severance-this was in part precipitated by my severance question. The only real downside for me was a bit of “lame-duck” treatment, but that was minor and to some extent, to be expected. I left on good terms and considered myself fortunate.
I plan to stop at HR at 3 pm on my last day, complete the forms, and leave.
Jeff, thanks for an interesting topic. I wrote about this a few years ago. I never “announced” my retirement. I oversaw the shutdown of a major program in our Valley Forge, PA location. I spent much of my last few years heeling to find jobs for the 100 employees impacted by the shut down. I was the last one to go. I could have continued with the company had I been willing to the DC area, but that was not an attractive option. Luckily I was able to return as a consultant a few months later, and that allowed me to do a more gradual slide into retirement.
Rick – Looks like the stars were aligned for your exit and consulting. I just looked and see that I commented to your earlier article, too.
This might only work with a boss you can really trust… I let my boss know that I was thinking about retirement. He helped me make it a wonderful process for me but also got some things in return.
1) We worked out an arrangement where I worked part time for a couple years to ease into it. He got some budget relief.
2) I took an unpaid leave of absence during one summer to further test it out. He got to slot someone into my role temporarily to prepare for the permanent transition.
3) I suggested he shift some of my annual salary increase into a bonus so he could give bigger raises to younger staff (who would enjoy the recurring benefit of a bigger raise vs. a one-timer bonus).
4) When I learned a RIF was underway (and I was ready for full retirement), I suggested he put my name on the list. I got 9 months severance and he got to meet the requirements for his group (to contribute to the reduction) without losing an employee with long term potential.
I only announced my retirement to other colleagues a couple months ahead of time. We were coming out of the pandemic at that time and were able to have a joyous team dinner.
That kind of boss and arrangement is rare.
I suppose it is. My former boss is an exceptional person and leader. The point, though, is if you want something, try to think of creative ways to sell it. Most people will do something for you if it helps or at least doesn’t hurt their situation.
At 67 1/2, I’ve never officially retired. Being self-employed since 2017, there have been gaps in employment of my own choosing. I notice that some of those who retired tried to give lengthy notice with varying results. I’ve left many jobs myself and had employees retire and as a manager, giving more than 30 days notice creates problems for the employee, the manager and a potential hire. If you tell a manager you are retiring, expect them to focus on the search and training of the new hire. They may not even do that much! Get your ducks in a row and know as much about your benefits and rights as you can before you give notice. The company will carry on and no one is irreplaceable.
Not a retirement (still 15+ years away from that), but a “leaving for a new company in a new city across the country” change.
I scheduled my last day as the first Friday in January to qualify for the prior year’s annual bonus payout and get the employer HSA lump sum deposited the first business day in January.
My employer’s PTO schedule had offices closed between Christmas Eve – New Years Day. Combined with a significant number of people taking the full week of Thanksgiving off and starting the end of year vacation early, it was entirely possible the two weeks prior to Thanksgiving was the last time I would see some coworkers, so I notified my manager and then the team-in-full the first week of November to capture any knowledge transfers.
The only feedback other than the usual “we’ll miss you, sorry to see you go, etc.” was about an hour after I sent the email, a manager of an adjacent team I worked often with came over. “You’re leaving in two months? Don’t you think you gave notice way too early?”
I retired at the end of 2010. I was head of IT and one of the highest ranking managers in our organization. I felt I should give some advance notice as a courtesy to our chief executive. I gave 4 months notice. My recommended successor was on my staff but I did not know if management would follow my recommendation or not.
I had planned to retire at end of 2008, but decided to stay a couple more years to recover from the great recession and increase my pension payout. Fortunately, I did not tip my hand, so no one was the wiser.
The morale of that story is to be absolutely sure you leaving before announcing your retirement. I was sure in 2010, but not so much in 2008.
I was planning to retire in 2020, but when my employer moved to all remote work during the pandemic, I decided to keep working because one of the things I least enjoyed about work was the daily commute into Philadelphia on SEPTA, especially when weather was excessively hot/cold/snowy/rainy. On nice days I enjoyed the 45-minute train ride and 10-minute walk from 30th Street Station. However, working from home was a breeze! Why retire just when there was nothing much else I could do anyway during the start of the pandemic lockdown?
This turned out to be a great decision for our finances, as well. I finally retired at the end of 2022, at the age of nearly 71, having made nice gains in my pension and my SS benefit. I was even able to put the maximum amount into my 403b during that last year of work, something I had never been able to do before.
I told my manager early in 2022 that I would retire at the end of the year. Because I was the only person in the company doing my particular job, during most of that year I met once a week via Zoom with a small team, explaining and mapping out exactly what I did, so that 1) together we could look for ways to improve processes and 2) I would leave behind clear instructions for a successor. This process was very enjoyable.
I had planned to work until December 31, but in the fall HR informed me that everyone retiring before December 1 would receive a 4% pension increase for 2023, and I would be wise to take advantage of that, so I did. We had a nice little retirement party in person in November. All in all, it worked out very well, largely thanks to a generous employer and great colleagues. Everyone knew that I would be retiring for about a year before I actually did, and the only downside to that that I can think of is that I became aware of a few people who really wanted my job and made it known, and I knew that some of them would inevitably be disappointed. It really was a great job.
After working at home for three years after Covid, last June we were called back into the office for three days a week. I found I didn’t care to commute to the office any more (imagine that). I did it for about a month. Then I asked my boss (new to being a manager) if working part-time was an option. My proposed model was two days at home and one in the office. His reply was that he’d want me in the office all three days and I could have Mondays and Fridays off. That didn’t suit me so I asked what if retirement was the other option? He didn’t change his position, so I proceeded to take off almost all of the in-office days for the rest of the summer and retired once my vacation days were exhausted-the day after Labor Day (why give up a paid holiday?) I had a nice retirement luncheon with my team along with some retiree friends. Some other activities also helped me feel closure after working 38 years at one place.
For the good of the organization I gave 2 years notice to the senior mgt team in a small senior staff planning meeting so they could get my replacement hired and I could train them up. Two years later when I left, no replacement had been hired (let alone trained). But I do suspect, at least at the unconscious level, my early announcement probably removed me from consideration in their minds as a viable candidate for promotion. In hindsight, I probably should have simply stressed the importance of succession planning and not revealed my personal plans so early.
I was supposed to train my replacement also, but the first was (unfairly fired), the second quit and the third complained that i was interfering when i pointed out misinformation she was sending to people. She didn’t last long after i left. That process didn’t go well.
Well, at least they tried to preserve your knowledge. I doubt they’d ever admit it, but I bet they missed you after you were gone.
What I learned is how one vindictive person in power can change peoples lives.
Truer words were never spoken.
I walked into my Sr VPs office in May 2008 and said I was going to begin phased retirement July 1. It was supposed to last two years, but she cut it short in January 2010 without explanation. Overall my exit was very disappointing for me and the victim of vindictiveness. The culture changed in a very short time as the old guard retired.