If you are that worried about burning bridges, perhaps you are not quite ready to retire. It sounds like you want to hold open the chance of going back to work.
Although I was unexpectedly asked to return part-time, and did, I retired in the full expectation of never going back to work.
Therefore I made my departure with simple courtesy and consideration (i.e. giving reasonable notice; cleaning out my in-box). To me, your 30-day notice is more than adequate. Don't make up stuff about sick family. Everyone will either see through it, or else be so sincerely sympathetic that you'll feel sick to your stomach.
P.S. Just realized that I did not address your whole question. You were interested in what to say, if they should ask you to stay on. My situation was not 100% analogous, because I
did want to come back part-time after some initial time off. IMHO, there is no truly good "on-the-fence" response. You can either say "No, I'm not coming back, and hopefully my 30 days will take care of most things," or "I'm not sure at this time; I need time to deal with some outside matters," which will only leave everyone hanging and start a round of, "Well, when
could you come back?" Again, you need to be truly certain about retiring.
Amethyst
Did anyone get pressure when you resigned to stay longer and finish key projects? If so, how did you handle it? When leaving for another j*b, it's easy to understand why one would not stay too long, but when ER is the reason, it's a bit harder to justify if asked to stay longer. Bottom line, I just don't want to. I may not get any pushback as I am giving 30 days' notice which is per my contract, but want to be prepared just in case. It will almost certainly take over 90 days to replace my role. I'm preparing a coverage plan with options for resources to cover my key responsibilities until my permanent replacement is appointed, which I will provide upon resignation. I don't want to fabricate a story about sick family members but am struggling with what a professional but firm response could be that won't burn any bridges if I'm asked to delay my departure.
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