One year less

[pb4uski]

Things are about to start unravelling, a little sooner than I had planned. Aside from the colleague who left, and the friend who understands our pension plan, I have been really good at keeping it to myself in order to avoid becoming a lame duck earlier than necessary.

But next week, the boss is interviewing people for a position that is parallel to mine, including someone who reports to me and who is seen as being ready to move up. (I know of two other good candidate s in the pool.)

So I feel that I should let the boss know of my plans (now 26 weeks to go) in case that has any impact on her decisions in this competition.

The only thing that has been holding me back on this is that doing so will change my role in the organization. I expect that the news would not be shared for another three months or so, at which point I would announce it to my staff and the competition for my replacement would begin.

I feel like I am pulling a pin....

Do you trust your boss? Do you think the person who reports to you would be a good successor? Do you think they would prefer your job over the one they are interviewing for?

If you trust your boss I see nothing wrong with sharing your plans with her.

While not when I retired, in another job I told management that I was leaving about 6 months before I left so there could be an orderly transition. Until we announced it, only me, our Pres, and our CEO knew I was leaving. I later found out that some CFO candidates that I interviewed during that 6 month period also knew. However, I know many organizations tend to have more leaks.

 

[Davis65]

pb4uski, the questions you raise are excellent ones. A friend of a friend working in New York City gave his boss one month's notice, and was fired the next day. The circumstances for me are different. I work in a government organization where we are encouraged to give six months' notice when retiring. I'm not retiring since I won't be eligible for a pension yet, but I am able to give more notice, unlike people who move to new jobs. Further, I just had a positive mid-year review, so she has no basis for firing me.

Most importantly, it would be her reputation that would be hit. If she were to fire me after I've been considerate in giving her advance notice, few in the organization would trust her again. She is smart enough to recognize that. It is different in the private sector where a boss can claim that they don't want you taking business secrets to a competitor (Husband is planning to give one month's notice).

If I had doubts, I would provide notice in writing to have documentation for a wrongful dismissal suit, but I'm not worried.

And in the end, I can afford to go now, so there is no worst case scenario here.

The meeting is booked for tomorrow at 9:00 EST. I'll report back in case anyone is interested..

 

[trapperjohn]

Flat out ... I would not tell your boss yet. You don't know the future. You may regret It later.

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[pablo]

My 2 cents: When I came to the conclusion this year in early spring that I was financially ready to quit (I had several more years planned in my mind) my high-stress level job became no or low stress since I could just leave anytime I wanted to. When I finally left, and despite being given a large raise to stay, I felt great and I haven't looked back or regretted it one bit. The past 4 months have been the best 4 months of my adult life! And I have every expectation of this continuing. Why would I want to go back? I'm now not even sure how I used to go to and from work during rush hour!
As I've come to realize more and more, we can attempt to do things to improve our health (exercise, eat well) and we can attempt to help our finances (go back to work full time or part time or invest 'better') but we can never get back the years that have passed by. Especially the relatively youthful and energetic years.

 

[rayinpenn]

My target date is July and I have not said a word; i will be 62. I am scheduled for TKR surgery later in the month and I heard the boss say Ray will be out until the new year "hopefully he comes back". She is a nice person.

I feel a bit guilty as I called HR and they said your eligible for 25 weeks s/t disability... It is kinda sad after 32 years I don't feel in any rush to come back to work. Gone are the days when I'd would have used a walker to get to my desk....why you say?

I remember it like it was yesterday I was in my thirties - Bob my colleague 53 was a competent guy with 35 years with the company. The firm had a early retirement package/promised RIF (reduction in force) Bob was told if you don't take a package you may not have a job.. He lost about 22% (as I remember) of his pension because he wasn't old enough even with the buyout. At his retirement dinner his wife told me he only missed 1 day in all those years ... Bob had been an accident and hurt his leg - "he just couldn't lift his leg high enough to get on the bus."

My buddy Kenny was also let go a few years ago 37 years on the job. His Tears welled up as he walked out. I felt terrible about it too. Then just A couple days a ago a colleague with 41 years was also shown the door. The firm is highly profitable ...Words fail me.

Like it or not each paycheck starts the relationship anew. I owe them nothing and they owe me nothing...


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[Davis65]

Pablo and Ray: thanks for the reminders about why I'm doing this. I spoke to the boss this morning. Her first reaction was, "You're SO lucky!" She also said that she is really sorry to be losing me, asked if I wasn't interested in her job some day, but understood that once you have enough, there's no reason to be stuck in an office when there is a whole world out there. She said, "it's just a j*b".

We're going to keep it a secret for now because I don't want to be a lame duck in my position. She's not going to tell her boss, because "he'll blab it around the office".

I thought that this would be a bigger thing than it is. But I still have work to do. I went out to coffee with a w*rk friend, and managed not to tell him, partly because he has been in a series of temporary positions since he was laid off, and hasn't found anything permanent, so I don't want to rub it in. But I think that more than that, I still have six months to go, so it is not sinking in with me yet.