How long to stay at job after announcing retirement

[Retired Expat]

Brilliant!

Worrying about leaving the company in a bad light is only to be considered in very small firms where one is a major player (think like a doctor practice, or small legal firm).

It's admirable, but rarely a 2 way street. 4-6 weeks vs. 6 months just means they will wait 4 months before getting serious about replacing her. She'll also find she has a high chance of getting "dead man walking" fever in about 4 weeks, and may then further regret the long exit ramp.

4-6 weeks from now is mid-march - perfect retirement season! Spring! She'll have the best of the year in front of her to adjust and de-stress, vs. retiring into mid-summer. (And if she gives them 6 months now, they'll punt at the end and ask for another 3.)

If she's even thinking of the 6 month thing, I'd say set a firm date of 6 weeks, and she can always ask them if they still want to extend when she reaches 4 weeks if they are doing things right. By then, she'll have a good idea of how that would work out.

You are spot on with your comments. I ran the West Coast Division of an East Coast based firm. When I announced my retirement it was to happen once a replacement had been found and trained. But head office insisted on doing that finding. They took forever and picked a guy I rejected previously as whole unsuited to.the role.. After more than 15 years the relationship I built with the firm completely unraveled during this protracted 6-8 month period.

Honestly would have been better served to say nothing and just walk out the door one day or with a few weeks notice. Very much a case of “No good deed goes unpunished”. Only positive was they allowed me to reduce my days in the office to pack up my house and get it sold, and spend a bit more time where I was moving to while telecommuting.

 

[pb4uski]

My wife and I have a good friend who announced she wanted to retire yesterday. She's part of the telecommunications team at a software company that she's worked at for 10 years. They asked her to stay for 4-6 weeks, but they'd love it if she stayed 6 months. She's has many stress related disorders due to underlying anxiety and hopes retiring will address some of them. She's trying to wrestle with what is best for her, but doesn't want to leave her company in a bad light.

I don't see 4-6 weeks as an outrageous request..., and they are giving her an option to stay longer if she wishes to. I can understand wanting to leave on good terms. She needs to do what is best for her. She might consider agreeing to 4 weeks full-time and then part-time for as long as she thinks makes sense.

If it gets to a point that it isn't working for her then she can always say that and give them a week or two of notice.

 

[Cobra9777]

It was April 1, 2013 when I told my boss I intended to retire in 2013. After some discussion about timing, we ultimately came up with this... I worked regularly for about a month until a replacement and my retirement were both announced. I then consulted with the replacement until about mid-July... a lot in the beginning, very little toward the end. I then consumed about 4 months vacation balance, which would ordinarily be cashed out at 75%. This also meant that I continued to accrue additional vacation, 401K match, pension growth, full health benefits, etc.

Also during those last 4-5 months, I worked from home about one day per week on an acquisition project I had been heavily involved with. This was mostly just advising others by email as needed and participating in a weekly conference call. I finally terminated in November when my vacation balance ran out and the acquisition deal closed.

For all practical purposes, I retired in July and really only worked "normally" for the first month (April). The rest was just helping with a smooth transition in exchange for getting full value from the 4 months vacation balance.

 

[StephieJean]

Walk out the door this morning.
She owes the company nothing.
She is retiring, not going job hunting.

Two weeks, then get the heck out. The longer you stay, the more stress and obligation you feel to remain. Plus, they will only USE you to train your replacement, not have you stay longer because they truely care about your welfare. (company speaking)

 

[CRLLS]

Not knowing this person, I can't help but ask if her stress situation might diminish now that she has announced her retirement. That is often the case IMO. I would give it a few days to let things sink in before responding to her boss with an end date to see how things "feel". If things don't feel better, she also has to ask herself if leaving ASAP will actually eliminate any of her stress.

Usually it is best to retire "to" something rather than "away" from something (stress). Of course if she is both financially and emotionally ready to retire, then who cares about the company? 2-3 weeks is plenty. As a rule of thumb, I would consider whatever one's earned vacation time is, is my recommended amount of notice. If she gets 3 weeks vacation per year at 10 years, then 3 weeks notice is plenty.

 

[rick55]

If I were her and suffering from overwhelming stress I would go out sick and seek medical care. Provide a doctor’s note to the employer and stay home to recuperate.

Regarding giving notice, I er’d in 2013, I gave notice equal to my annual vacation accrual (5 weeks). My last day was Good Friday.

Rick

 

[Midpack]

It depends on the job somewhat. 2 weeks is a minimum, but 4-6 weeks may be appropriate for some jobs if you're leaving under (reasonably) amicable circumstances. I foolishly gave 3 months notice to my boss so as not to surprise him and asked that he keep it confidential for 2 months. He sent an email blast out 2 days later, so I had to contend with being a lame duck for almost 3 months - that was a PITA. I'd never give 3 months for ANY position, much less 6 months.

 

[scrabbler1]

I gave 4 weeks notice. But at the time, I was working only 2 days a week, so it turned out to be only 9 working days. That was how long I thought it would take to get my one main project done. I got it done, all right, with about 45 minutes to spare on my last day.

 

[MarieIG]

Well, I haven't retired yet, but I have changed jobs.

I have found the time between giving notice and the last day - miserable. So, I'd prefer to keep it brief (two weeks). I always tried to leave my work in good shape . . .

One place I did not give notice. I saw that the employer became verbally abusive to one of the employees who gave two weeks notice and threw her out. (I found another job and did not return.)

 

[bushpilot]

I recently gave 6 months notice. I am a college professor, and will finish the semester per the contract. It gives them the opportunity to start hunting for my replacement, and they got right to it.

I think it will work fine for me.

 

[Cpoggiog]

3 months max

 

[Live Large]

Leave at your pace...

Interesting enough, job had an pay incentive to set the date 1 year in advance. However, you could change it at will, so I did to the tune of 3x. Seem there was a resistance by management ( just leave). Not so much to the degree it would help the agency as to an additional benefit to my overall retirement, so I stayed what amounted to an additional 6mos. Of course, if health is a stake, by all means leave fast! Don't get hung up on company loyalty - read post about the person walked out after 30min having worked 10yrs!

Oh, ER at 51 April 2018 - take the plunge! No stress from work pressures is the best!

 

[Badger19]

Like Cobra, I was looking for a more advantageous departure and transition from my MegaCorp manager career of 36 years. When I was a few years out, I asked about phased retirement, IOW, stepping out of my position to allow them to hire my successor. I would then transition to a part-time job training the successor and orchestrating a smooth transition for the team while I coached, mentored and worked on special projects for 6 to 12 months. We didn't have a PR program so I was asked to develop one, which I did and now my successor is hired and I am starting my new role, 3 days per week. The program I wrote and got approval for prorated my salary and time off, but gives me full pension credit, access to our benefits to include health, profit sharing, retiree medical, bonus, short-term disability, etc. I will carry over 6 weeks of vacation that I will eventually receive full pay pension/vacation accrual. I know this is new and to some extent, I'll be the guinea pig, but the prospect of transitioning more gradually and leaving my team in a good spot will make my eventual transition to full retirement a better experience.

 

[steffano]

My contract called for three months. They asked for a year. I compromised on six months which in retrospect was too long. My position was filled in twenty minutes by those who wanted a change.

 

[Jcny18]

How long to stay reply

I agree with the poster who say that she’s retiring, not job hunting. This is absolutely her opportunity to put herself first and with the issues she’s described, it sounds like that should be her priority. She should stick with her plan.

 

[morriss003]

My wife and I have a good friend who announced she wanted to retire yesterday. She's part of the telecommunications team at a software company that she's worked at for 10 years. They asked her to stay for 4-6 weeks, but they'd love it if she stayed 6 months. She's has many stress related disorders due to underlying anxiety and hopes retiring will address some of them. She's trying to wrestle with what is best for her, but doesn't want to leave her company in a bad light.

It took me several months to leave a computing job. The college I was working for kept saying that they had accidentally cut another check for the month, and would I please continue so they wouldn't have to do more paperwork?

I finally had to say, "I don't care if you've cut ANOTHER check, I'm outta here."

 

[cranberryjoe]

I took a package Megacorp offered right about the time I was planning to retire anyway, so I retired mostly on their terms. They offered a choice of two off-roll dates, 3 months and 6 months. I foolishly took the 6 month date, thinking it would help the project if I stayed an extra 3 months, as well as getting 3 extra paychecks to pad the coffers.

In actuality, the hand-off of my responsibilities took only a couple of weeks. I still had a small amount of stressful work assigned to me until the end, but I was mostly bored. When the 3 month date arrived, I was jealous of the people leaving that day and wished I could join them. And I didn't actually need those 3 extra paychecks. Those final 3 months went very slowly.

 

[CRLLS]

DW had to announce her retiring 3 times, I think, before it finally "took". Each time they offered her less stressful situations to keep her on. Less responsibility, work from home etc. Eventually she decided enough was enough. She had other things she wanted to do with her life.

 

[Oh no]

My wife and I have a good friend who announced she wanted to retire yesterday. She's part of the telecommunications team at a software company that she's worked at for 10 years. They asked her to stay for 4-6 weeks, but they'd love it if she stayed 6 months. She's has many stress related disorders due to underlying anxiety and hopes retiring will address some of them. She's trying to wrestle with what is best for her, but doesn't want to leave her company in a bad light.

She should let it be known that her stress related anxiety is the motivation for her retirement and it's in her best interest to leave asap.

 

[sfbrown]

Her health is primary, but if she can hang in there long enough to prevent bad blood, she should. She may find that she doesn't like retirement as much as she thought she would, or she may be able to perform lower stress consulting work in retirement for her old employer. That said, 6 months seems excessive. I think there's middle ground here. My company asks that pre-retirees notify those who need to know 3 months in advance of the day they want benefits to begin (it's a big company). If she works for a smaller outfit, or there are no retirement benefits, then the 4-6 weeks is more than enough.

 

[nativenewenglander]

I have an update on our friends. The husband had another mild stroke in the last few weeks, he retired in June. She knows now that retiring is the right choice, since his health continues to be fragile. March 1st, her last day, can't come soon enough. Both are 60 years old.

 

[stevenjj71]

I'd say give them the 4 weeks.



Would any stress incurred during that month outweigh stress felt afterwords knowing she left her coworkers in the lurch without turnover?

 

[gwraigty]

I have an update on our friends. The husband had another mild stroke in the last few weeks, he retired in June. She knows now that retiring is the right choice, since his health continues to be fragile. March 1st, her last day, can't come soon enough. Both are 60 years old.

I'd say give them the 4 weeks.



Would any stress incurred during that month outweigh stress felt afterwords knowing she left her coworkers in the lurch without turnover?

I'd say the post directly above yours answers the question. A spouse is infinitely more important than leaving "coworkers in the lurch".