[Nords]

It's more "what you won't be able to do at work anymore" than "what you can do in ER". In no particular order, here's a long list:

Does your company offer free career/personality assessments? If possible go through the exercise of investigating what your interests have become. It's a free brainstorming session on "What will you DO all day?" You might discover that you want to pursue another career field (hopefully not!), that your personality type has changed, or that you need to explore a half-dozen hobbies you haven't thought of in years.

If possible, go to your company's retirement briefing at least two years in advance and then do it again a year out. People will wonder what you're thinking (sometimes that's all the justification you need!) and the exercise will focus your planning. Your second attendance shouldn't produce any surprises or changes of heart.

Max out all the company's medical/dental benefits. It's best to start on this step a year out. That includes physicals, bloodwork, cleanings, and even prescriptions. Have every medical issue examined & resolved (or at least documented) since it may affect future insurability (and military disability). I even knew veterans who decided to have their last pregnancy on the military dollar. The rounds of medical bureaucracy-- consultations, referrals, physical therapy, and other treatments-- could take months.

Think about how you want to do your exit before everyone else does the thinking for you. Classic maneuvers include keeping all plans secret until the bonus checks have cleared, providing the absolute minimum notification, announcing that your departure will take place at the worst/best time of the year, widely publicizing your final day and then leaving a day early, and refusing to mark the occasion with any ceremony. Whatever decisions you make, announce them when required and then (this is important) stick to the plan. Don't change your mind because people will start thinking that you're indecisive, coy, or canceling your ER. The only exception to changing the plan would be if you decide that it's worth changing your mind for large wads of cash.

Don't submit your retirement request until the deadline. At least one ER on this board was already privately planning to retire when, unaware of his intentions, the company offered him a lucrative buyout.

Are you planning to move to a new location? You could stay on in the area for months after ER or you could move the day after you ER. Both will take a lot of advance planning (and the latter a day or two off work for the packing & shipping). Military veterans are notorious for moving the day after their retirement ceremony-- because things just weren't complicated enough already-- but it's probably better to negotiate your ER benefits so that you don't have to compound that busy final week with a household move as well.

Make sure you have all the gear that your job is entitled to. The person who takes over your job may balk at doing so until they have the tools they need. This might be a great opportunity to obtain the cool gear-- a new computer, a Blackberry-- whatever would attract your sucker relief to your job.

Make sure that all the gear you're responsible for is actually present. Then, wherever possible, make sure that it's under your personal control or locked away or transferred to someone else's custody. If you've been sharing locked storage with someone, segregate your stuff or lock it up separately wherever possible. Nothing sucks worse than spending the week before retirement looking for "missing" objects.

Make sure all your administrative records are straight. This includes you pension record, your 401(k) contributions, sick/vacation time, training required & completed, and certifications. You may or may not need any of it, but that's not the point. It's far easier to get these things fixed while you're still in the office and darn near impossible to fix after you give up your keys.

Let your family vent. Talk about any lifestyle changes, budget changes, and domestic chores. You may "know" that you're getting rid of the housecleaner, but your spouse may have other plans. You may think that your kids will want you to spend more time with them, but they may just see you as a chauffeur with a wallet. Small kids may be very afraid of change. Teenagers may be too busy with their own selfish lives to even think about yours, let alone care about it. Talk about what you're going to do with your "me time", too, so that you can at least negotiate a chauffeur's contract. Your parents, siblings, in-laws, and adult children may have expectations of your behavior that are dramatically different or even wrong. You don't have to live to their expectations but you can start letting them down in easy steps.

Chew through a couple planning calendars. Map out all the vacation time, sick time, seminar/training days, and personal days to make sure that you don't leave anything on the table. There will be days when you will have to be in the office for an important meeting or event, but you can't sell back all of those benefits. Pay attention to important family dates, too.

If you're in a position to do so, find out who wants your letter of recommendation or your commendation, and then write it. It's also a great way to knock off the fence-sitters. I spent over six weeks writing recommendation letters for people who'd been "meaning to get around to it" and who were only motivated by my impending departure. We inspired two new officer candidates who are still on active duty.

Do you need letters of recommendation from your bosses? If so I'd have to ask why you're ER'ing in the first place, but it's possible that you'll need an employer letter of recommendation for renting an apartment, getting a mortgage, or joining some other organization.

Try not to get sucked into any travel or other expenses in the quarter before you ER. It's that much more work to track expense reports, travel claims, reimbursements, or other paperwork-- both for you and for the exhausted HR staff who are trying to finish up your ER processing.

Planning a celebration? Make the reservations early. You don't want to spend your last month scrambling for space, a caterer, music, balloon animals, or whatever. You also don't want to compete with a wave of buyouts or layoffs. If you're collecting plaques or certificates or other mementos then try to get them weeks in advance. It's amazing how quickly those necessary ceremonial components pile up and then slip past their deadlines.

Stealth exit? Then agree to a lunch with your peers and perhaps one more lunch with your bosses. Don't get sucked into an evening/weekend event. Whenever possible try to defer the inevitable. I had a "farewell" lunch a month after my ER; everyone had a great time looking for changes and catching me up on the latest gossip.

Whenever possible finish all your "final" processing the week before. If you're planning a big celebration exit then you won't have to waste valuable planning time over at HR signing paperwork. If you're planning a stealth exit then when you show up on your "last" day (everyone thinks it's tomorrow but you know it's today) you can get the final things done as early in the morning as possible. You go to lunch, you don't come back, and no one notices for at least another workday. It's even better if you can do those "last" things at a local restaurant or other offsite meeting location.

What can the company do for your spouse/kids before you're outta there? Make sure you take care of their medical/dental/personal needs-- including dermatology, orthodontia, school sports physicals, scholarship applications, company internships, or other programs.

Can anything be converted? This isn't just about COBRA but also life/disability insurance and other benefits. If you don't convert within the window then you'd have to start all over-- possibly at greater expense, too.

I've heard of employees who make maximum use of available "free" office equipment, especially high-speed copiers. Others attempt to restock their homes & vehicles from the Office Depot catalog. My advice in this area is-- get a life. Kinko's is cheap and scanners are even cheaper. It's not worth risking a retirement delay pending litigation just for the chance to steal files, copy a bunch of books, or sneak home that computer equipment.

If you want debt then max it out. Apply for a mortgage or a HELOC (a great source of emergency funds) and as many credit cards as you think you'll need. You won't be able to list a salary on an application after this.

While it's best to acquire debt before you shed your job, it's not necessarily the same for possessions. Things you desire may not seem so vital when you have more leisure. You may not want to take care of more "stuff". In ER you have much more time to shop for bargains.

What can you do with company stock or options before you ER that can't be done after? Is it worth doing? What about Net Unrealized Appreciation treatment of your options?

Look at estimated taxes, especially if you're getting a lump-sum payment. You may have to send in more money, adjust your withholding amount, or shift to the dreaded annualized income method of estimating your taxes.

This is going to seem like a dumb statement, but make sure that you have enough cash for the next three months. Your pension check may not start up until the beginning of the month following your retirement. Your 401(k)/IRA rollover may hit a bureaucratic delay. You may be getting a humongous credit card bill for all the celebrating you did the month before.

Make sure your home answering machine can record a half-dozen messages a day during your first week of ER. If your outgoing message is work-related then change it. You might want to consider de-listing your phone number or changing it completely!

In the month before your final day, decide how you're going to respond to the following questions:
- Can you stay a couple weeks (months/years) longer?
- Can you go part-time?
- After you're gone, where can we reach you with questions?
- Can you come in for lunch next week?
- We're looking for a volunteer to...
- Hey, you're retired! Can you help me with...
- We know you retired last month, but we need you to come in to take care of...

Don't be rude or crass. This is a great opportunity to tell your bosses & co-workers what you really think of them as you exit the smoking rubble, but it's not a classy way to behave. It's also an admission that you were unwilling to deal with the issues when you were working with these people, and you don't want to make things worse than they already are for your workplace friends. Focus on your new life, not your old scores.

However, once you're out of the office, there's nothing holding you back from blowing the whistle to higher authority-- especially if all your pension benefits are delivered in a lump sum. Hold off before taking this step, however, because the whole issue may seem trivial with a few weeks of rest & a new ER perspective.

Don't go over the top. You may be surprised at the number of jealous bosses & co-workers at your ER party. Self-centered people won't celebrate your ER-- they'll feel sorry or envious that it's not their ER. They won't compliment you or ask what you're going to do the first day-- they'll say that they wish they knew how to invest for ER like you did.