Sharing your early retirement plans?

[tjelvar]

Hi,

How open are you about your early retirement plans? Do you share this with your friends or even colleagues?

Me and my wife have been planning our early retirement for a year or so. We are discussing this with friends. However, we have 15+ years left until retirement. I would probably tell my boss if he asked me, chances are small he will still be my boss by then

Then I shared the link to my blog on Facebook. One of my US friends was a bit surprised I connected that blog to my name. Apparently, that topic is much more sensible for her.

What do you think? Am I being naive? Better to remove that Facebook post?

 

[Teacher Terry]

I would remove the Facebook post. We retired at 53 and 58 and many were supportive but not all. One couple told us we were making a big mistake when we downsized our house and retired despite me saying for years we stayed at our government jobs for the pension. They inherited money at 66 and bought a huge new home despite having no kids to come visit. They are still working at 74 because they have too. Our friendship took a 7 year break and recently she reached out to me to have lunch.

 

[njhowie]

I think you're better off not sharing. What benefit is there for anyone involved?

Stick to your plan, keep it between yourself and your wife, and just do it.

When the day of success comes, you quit the job, and have all the time in the world to do as you please, then everyone else will take notice.

In the mean time, I don't see how any good can result.

I definitely think it's a personal thing - really no different than sharing your finances with everyone else.

 

[Katiek]

I wouldn't mention anything at work until I was ready to leave. We all have plans, but plans can change. Medical emergencies, stock market drops and life in general can impact our plans. I wouldn't want to give management any reason to think I was a "short timer" or not committed because that could impact the opportunities I might get at work or how they'd view me for new jobs.



I'd certainly tell people who wanted to know about my general approach to LBYM and savings, but not specific dates or plans.

 

[aja8888]

However, we have 15+ years left until retirement.

That's a long time to broadcast your plans. A lot can happen over those years.

 

[RobbieB]

I agree.

Plan away, but keep it to yourselves.

 

[MarieIG]

I wouldn't mention anything at work until I was ready to leave. We all have plans, but plans can change. Medical emergencies, stock market drops and life in general can impact our plans. I wouldn't want to give management any reason to think I was a "short timer" or not committed because that could impact the opportunities I might get at work or how they'd view me for new jobs.



I'd certainly tell people who wanted to know about my general approach to LBYM and savings, but not specific dates or plans.

This

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

I've got just under 2.5 years to go and have not told anyone at work, including friends I work with. I don't care about promotions but there's a limited annual pool of money for bonuses, raises, and other incentives (eg. stock options) and I don't want to let the cat out of the bag at the risk of the perks being allocated to someone else that is staying longer term. The plan is to start dropping hints to my manager around the 9 month (~after mid year review) indicating I might be interested in a severance package if the department is needing to find a sacrificial lamb. The packages generally provide 12-18 months of base pay so I'm hoping to come out ahead of target if I do get severed. Otherwise, I'll probably let my manager know in December that I'm looking to retire in April to allow enough time to hire and train my replacement if needed.

My family/siblings know. Retirement is a family dinner talking point cuz everyone is kind of planning their exits.

I've only let a subset of my friends know; mainly friends that have successful careers of their own and/or are interested in personal finance. I'm trying to identify a crew to hang out with when I do retire. However, if a friend specifically asks me, I'm pretty forthright unless I work with them.

Personally, I only post fluff on social media to limit what can come back to haunt me. YMMV depending on what you're looking to achieve.

 

[dirtbiker]

I still have 20 years or so to go, so it's a long way off. If the topic of retirement comes up in conversation, I'll let people know I plan to retire at or before age 59, depending on how my retirement savings look at that point. However, I don't broadcast it (except here), and I certainly wouldn't make a FB post. If I worked in a corporate job where learning that I would be retiring early would in any way hinder my promotion, bonus, etc. I would be extremely tight lipped, as there really isn't any upside to broadcasting this information and several potential downsides.

 

[Bir48die]

That's a long time to broadcast your plans. A lot can happen over those years.

+1. Facebook is not the way to do this. Get together with a friend and set a challenge for you to retire at "X" time.

 

[Bamaman]

Life is a work in progress, and all things change from time to time.

I wouldn't tell anyone at work of my plans until it's 2 weeks out.

Like was said earlier, you never know when MegaCorp is going to go a different direction and offer a big retirement package. My MegaCorp retired everyone over 55 years of age as long as we signed a hold harmless agreement on age discrimination.

 

[youbet]

Am I being naive?

Why yes, yes you are being naive.

There are substantiated reasons why sharing financial details too broadly leads to strained relationships. I've learned from experience (my own and others') that shouting out about politics, religion and finances to the world can strain relationships that might otherwise be beneficial/happy.

 

[Mdlerth]

A wise plan, and a noble one

The plan is to start dropping hints to my manager around the 9 month (~after mid year review) indicating I might be interested in a severance package if the department is needing to find a sacrificial lamb.

This is a win-win-win. You score a sweetener; some younger, needier person escapes the axe; and the employer secures workforce stability.

 

[CoolRich59]

The plan is to start dropping hints to my manager around the 9 month (~after mid year review) indicating I might be interested in a severance package if the department is needing to find a sacrificial lamb. The packages generally provide 12-18 months of base pay so I'm hoping to come out ahead of target if I do get severed.

I had a slightly similar situation - and ended up getting screwed by my megacorp.

We were instructed to put together a list of people in our department for involuntary separation. At first it was easy; we just put the substandard performers on the list. But, we ran out of poor performers before we ran out of slots and had to make some hard choices to complete the list.

At the time I was also interviewing with another company. Although I did not have a written offer, they let me know that I was their choice. So, I took a chance, struck the last name on our list and replaced it with mine.

When I met with the HR rep on my last day, I was informed that there'd be no severance package for me because I was leaving voluntarily.

 

[youbet]

I was informed that there'd be no severance package for me because I was leaving voluntarily.

Yeah, that's a touchy subject and a real gray area.

My son and I both worked for the same MegaCorp for a while, although widely separated in different divisions. During a period of massive layoffs, I whispered my "I volunteer" status to my boss and later was RIF'd with an attractive severance package. My son found a new, very desirable job with another company and tried to volunteer for the next RIF in his division. They said they weren't going to pay anyone they wanted to keep (scarce-desirable skill set) to leave and waited him out. When he had to depart for the new job or turn it down, he left with no severance package even though his departure saved someone else.

Although I would have liked for him to get the severance money and perks, I guess I understand Mega's point. They really can't have severance packages encouraging folks they want to keep to find new jobs and leave.

 

[tjelvar]

Thanks a lot for the many great replies! The consensus is clear: good for me to reconsider.

What could be benefits? Pretty much the same as posting in this forum: Getting feedback and opinions on my plan. I found out I have many friends who have similar plans, that was certainly positive.

However, I agree that the downsides are more unforeseen, so posting is probably not worth the risk.

 

[Midpack]

I didn’t talk about it with anyone other than DW, until 3 months before I actually retired. And I’d planned to wait until a month in advance - but my boss outed me, that’s the thanks I got for the courtesy of warning him early. It was an awkward 3 months as a lame duck. There’s no upside to early disclosure, and lots of potential downside! Planning and talking about it anonymously here 15 years in advance is smart, but talking openly about it is not IME.