Evening folks,
I've been doing a lot of internet research regarding early retirement which seems to have been forced upon my mother, but seems to only get me so far. This is a bridge for which she is the first in the family to cross, so I wanted to see if I could get some advice from those whom situations might be similar...
She's 61 years old, and will turn 62 in April of '09. Last week, her company sent out early retirement offers to, supposedly, everyone over 50. Problem is, my mother wants to work until she's at least 66, if not, as you probably know, her SS benefits are significantly less. The offer they've made, in conjunction with her SS and 401K, just really isn't enough for her to live on (it comes close, but just not enough, particularly when you factor in health insurance costs). She's a retail employee, so her income is relatively low to begin with. To sum it up, there is a very real chance she would have to sell her home, which doesn't have that much equity in it anyway (and for perspective, she lives in a modest home with a 130K mortgage left (house is worth approx. 160, it's not as if she's trying to maintain a high standard of living, but rather get by on her small home, and simple living expenses))
Question I have (and I know it's a loaded question), is what might happen should she refuse the offer? I get the very bad feeling if she refuses the offer, a few months down the road, she'll suddenly get laid-off or fired for some reason. She has been with this employer for 14 years now, and suddenly, within the last year or so, they've given her all sorts of other "new" work she has to be successful in, which ultimately resulted in a not too stellar review. In other words, I truly believe they've been "stacking the deck" against her. After 14 years of service (winning awards along the way), she's suddenly not doing great ...and now herself, and others her age, have received these early retirement offers.
Currently, my inclination is she should take it, as the risk of "losing it" is just too great.
Anyone have any thoughts, comments, opinions, on this?
Thank you, it will be much appreciated....
I've been doing a lot of internet research regarding early retirement which seems to have been forced upon my mother, but seems to only get me so far. This is a bridge for which she is the first in the family to cross, so I wanted to see if I could get some advice from those whom situations might be similar...
She's 61 years old, and will turn 62 in April of '09. Last week, her company sent out early retirement offers to, supposedly, everyone over 50. Problem is, my mother wants to work until she's at least 66, if not, as you probably know, her SS benefits are significantly less. The offer they've made, in conjunction with her SS and 401K, just really isn't enough for her to live on (it comes close, but just not enough, particularly when you factor in health insurance costs). She's a retail employee, so her income is relatively low to begin with. To sum it up, there is a very real chance she would have to sell her home, which doesn't have that much equity in it anyway (and for perspective, she lives in a modest home with a 130K mortgage left (house is worth approx. 160, it's not as if she's trying to maintain a high standard of living, but rather get by on her small home, and simple living expenses))
Question I have (and I know it's a loaded question), is what might happen should she refuse the offer? I get the very bad feeling if she refuses the offer, a few months down the road, she'll suddenly get laid-off or fired for some reason. She has been with this employer for 14 years now, and suddenly, within the last year or so, they've given her all sorts of other "new" work she has to be successful in, which ultimately resulted in a not too stellar review. In other words, I truly believe they've been "stacking the deck" against her. After 14 years of service (winning awards along the way), she's suddenly not doing great ...and now herself, and others her age, have received these early retirement offers.
Currently, my inclination is she should take it, as the risk of "losing it" is just too great.
Anyone have any thoughts, comments, opinions, on this?
Thank you, it will be much appreciated....