How did it get to this point? But it's finally inevitable

[Aramis]

I first started posting here in 2017, more than 6 years ago. I was hopeful at that time of retiring within 2 years which then became 4 years with an absolute target date of 2021. then Covid arrived and changed everything; when to retire, where to retire, etc.. not having to go into the office for almost 3 years made it much easier to continue mentally. But now, for some astonishing reason, I find myself still working.

Well, I will have my annual review in the next week or so, and I have to pull the pin. I will probably hang on until the end of February, to ensure that I receive my annual bonus. I don't expect that there will be any negative consequences on the evaluation of my bonus as a result of giving notice now, but most people who intend to quit, rather than retire, will just wait and then give their notice after the bonus hits their bank has anyone ever encountered problems with respect to the assessment of their final bonus when they have given notice to retire just after it is due to be paid? I don't think there is anything I can do about that if I believe something negative is going to happen except to quit as a matter of principal, but that will probably be cutting off my nose to spite my face.

I also have some unused vacation days that, technically, will expire at the end of the year. so I am looking to get special dispensation to have those carried over and paid out, as well. One of my kids thinks I may be trying to flex too hard on those two points.

Anyway, I have agonized over this far too much, for far too long, and I just wanted to tell someone other than family that Daddy's finally done.

I look forward to engaging with the group on all of the regular retired folks.issuesn

See you soon!

 

[Cayman]

Congratulations Aramis! Your question about potentially losing bonus $ due to announcing your retirement "early" is a hard one to answer. Yes, I know 1 person who lost a portion of their bonus in that scenario.... but your risk depends on your circumstances (employer relationship, work culture, etc.).

Perhaps your answer to the question "Are you ok losing some or all of it due to announcing your retirement early?" may guide you. If you don't care if you lose some/all of the bonus, then by all means give extra notice. DH chose to leave megacorp 5 months before his bonus payout and he chose to give his employer quite a few months notice because he knew the bonus wasn't in play. If he wanted that bonus, there's no way he would have risked it - he would have worked a few more months, given much less notice, and waited for the bonus to hit.

Whatever you decide... Enjoy and best wishes!

 

[2017ish]

Congrats for almost finally pulling the trigger!

Given what you said in your second post on this site back in '17, it sounds like the bonus and vacation days are not material to your financial position. Let it rip and start to more fully enjoy your travels.

(DW and I each gave two years notice and had no problems on the compensation end--but others have very different experiences.)

 

[Jerry1]

Bonus and vacation days were determined by policy. You kind of alluded to the difference between retiring and quitting. Those were different in mega corps policies. Not sure about your company.

At some point, anyone retiring is leaving money on the table. Don't be foolish but you do at some point have to let it rip. Sounds like you’re ready.

 

[Ronstar]

I would wait until you got your bonus before giving notice on your retirement. And to a lesser concern - use as many vacation days as possible.

 

[Closet_Gamer]

If there is any doubt about the outcome, I would wait. Particularly if you think your boss or their boss will be prickly about it. Or if your company operates on their bonus by giving a pile of money to the manager and telling them to sort out who gets paid how much. In that circumstance it is very easy for the manager to decide to down weight the bonus of someone who is leaving in order to top up the bonus of someone who is staying.

Finally, have you checked on whether there is any difference in your firm between retiring and quitting at your age? My megacorp does keep a few retirement goodies in the cupboard that almost no one knows about nor thinks about.

Regardless of how you play this final chess move, congrats!

 

[big-papa]

I first started posting here in 2017, more than 6 years ago. I was hopeful at that time of retiring within 2 years which then became 4 years with an absolute target date of 2021. then Covid arrived and changed everything; when to retire, where to retire, etc.. not having to go into the office for almost 3 years made it much easier to continue mentally. But now, for some astonishing reason, I find myself still working.

Well, I will have my annual review in the next week or so, and I have to pull the pin. I will probably hang on until the end of February, to ensure that I receive my annual bonus. I don't expect that there will be any negative consequences on the evaluation of my bonus as a result of giving notice now, but most people who intend to quit, rather than retire, will just wait and then give their notice after the bonus hits their bank has anyone ever encountered problems with respect to the assessment of their final bonus when they have given notice to retire just after it is due to be paid? I don't think there is anything I can do about that if I believe something negative is going to happen except to quit as a matter of principal, but that will probably be cutting off my nose to spite my face.

I also have some unused vacation days that, technically, will expire at the end of the year. so I am looking to get special dispensation to have those carried over and paid out, as well. One of my kids thinks I may be trying to flex too hard on those two points.

Anyway, I have agonized over this far too much, for far too long, and I just wanted to tell someone other than family that Daddy's finally done.

I look forward to engaging with the group on all of the regular retired folks.issuesn

See you soon!

Congratulations! If your employer is like mine was, there's no policy-based difference between quitting and retiring.

In my case, I had a very good working relationship with my boss and gave notice about 15 months before I actually retired. This allowed me to receive the annual bonus and for a significant number of RSU's to vest. My agreement was to stay as long as needed to help find and train my replacement. Fortunately(??) that took a little bit longer than expected.

Cheers.

 

[LateToFIRE]

First of all, congrats! I'm in a bit of a similar boat, so can relate. I can only speak from my own experience as a long-time manager, YMMV significantly depending on your manager and the corporate culture. I would not give notice so early unless this is the norm and you have observed their behavior before in this type of situation. Usually, what happens is that bonus funds get diverted away from the employee who is leaving and added to an employee management is trying to keep happy. Once you give notice, you become instantly unimportant. On the vacation days thing, they can make an exception IF they need your help with transition badly enough, but its likely to be an informal, rather than formal arrangement.

 

[CardsFan]

My advice on this is to always be prepared to be escorted off the premises the day you give notice, so I would echo Ronstar's recommendation to wait until the bonus hits the bank, and use the vacation time this year.

 

[sengsational]

^ That's my position too. I haven't seen anything compelling to go with the announce early strategy. What's the upside?

 

[Closet_Gamer]

Once you give notice, you become instantly unimportant.

This is a very important point.

You should expect that your relationship with your company changes dramatically about 30 seconds after you give notice. Lame duck status is immediate and that can impact your relationships (including with those making comp decisions and in a position to exert influence on outcomes) more than you expect.

I would be cautious about counting on generosity or people "doing the right thing."

 

[target2019]

My advice on this is to always be prepared to be escorted off the premises the day you give notice, so I would echo Ronstar's recommendation to wait until the bonus hits the bank, and use the vacation time this year.

On that day you give notice you'll find out if the company has alternate ready to go.

I went on Mar. 1, 2020. Gave notice Feb. 1. Before that I slowly removed most of my personal effects, so that I'd have little to pick up if I got escorted out.

You think you know your company and employees.

 

[Midpack]

As many others have said, you should wait to give notice, preferably give two weeks notice after you’ve received your annual bonus. I had an outstanding relationship with my former employer, so I gave 3 months notice - it was a huge mistake and it made my last months of work unnecessarily unpleasant. Don’t do it…

We all think we’re more indispensable than we are. People are replaced every day from entry level employees to CEOs, Chairpersons, Presidents, etc. - without any serious issues.

 

[Aerides]

II will probably hang on until the end of February, to ensure that I receive my annual bonus. I don't expect that there will be any negative consequences on the evaluation of my bonus as a result of giving notice now, but most people who intend to quit, rather than retire, will just wait and then give their notice after the bonus hits their bank has anyone ever encountered problems with respect to the assessment of their final bonus when they have given notice to retire just after it is due to be paid?

Never give notice until you are ready to be asked to make today your last day. You have no guarantees and you have nothing to gain from telling them earlier.

 

[mpeirce]

When I left I gave a few months notice because they were reorganizing the area I worked in. Knowing I was leaving soon may have been useful to my boss, so I told him what my plans were. He was cool about it, appreciate the heads up, and was very cooperative. That being said, I was fully ready to leave that very day if things had go differently.

The other thing I did was at my last regular review I reminded my boss I was leaving and to NOT award me any RSUs. They weren't going to vest for me and I'd rather they go to my coworkers.

I left at the end of January mainly so I could spread out cashing in options across another taxable year. I also got a year's worth of HSA contributions from the company and a few other benefits to me.

Good luck!

 

[Alex The Great]

Yes I believe waiting for the best time to maximize your benefit is a right approach here.
Financially I was ready to retire early this year. But I was waiting for October 2023 to quit, in order to collect bonus and have RSUs vested. If I quit earlier I would also need to repay sign-in bonus paid to me a couple of years back when hired. The condition was to repay a part of these money if leaving voluntary before 25 months of tenure.
But I've been laid off in mid-September. I still collected a bonus paid in August and RSUs vested right on termination date. Also I received a severance package which would not be a case if I left voluntary. Finally I don't have to repay sign-in bonus anymore. Overall, waiting was a win-win situation for me. I just told my management they did a great job terminating my position and retired with a smile on my face

 

[MarieIG]

Unless you are contractually required to give a certain amount of notice (or a public employee with specific requirements of your job regarding notice/ retirement) wait until after your bonus hits, and then announce your retirement.

As noted by Aerides, be ready to be "walked out" (i.e. have everything of importance/ that you wish to retain personally out before giving notice).

 

[pacergal]

I would wait until you got your bonus before giving notice on your retirement. And to a lesser concern - use as many vacation days as possible.

+1
End of year holiday time is a great time to be off work and use up your vacation.

Unless you are contractually required to give a certain amount of notice (or a public employee with specific requirements of your job regarding notice/ retirement) wait until after your bonus hits, and then announce your retirement.

As noted by Aerides, be ready to be "walked out" (i.e. have everything of importance/ that you wish to retain personally out before giving notice).

+1

 

[Luvdogs]

I gave my retirement notice (had been there 20+ years) January 2010 and my last day was early February 2010. My manager said I should wait until April because that's when bonuses come out. We discussed it with the director who said since I'm retiring instead of quitting, I was still entitled to the bonus since it was for 2009. And I did get it.

If I had not been employed long and quit, I would not have received it.

And then I also received 1/12 of my bonus in 2011 since I worked in January 2010.

 

[LateToFIRE]

I'll also add that early in my career, I felt compelled to give several weeks of notice. I was trying to avoid a conflict of interest where I would have been working on a critical project at my present employer with my next employer being the client. So I gave an extended notice period as could not start the next job for several weeks. You'd think my employer would have appreciated me being a stand-up guy and helping them avoid a potentially embarrassing situation, but nope, they made those few remaining weeks in the office a living hell just because how dare I leave after all they'd done for me. Lesson learned.

P.S. In this example, it was the division head that was the problem, not my immediate boss. But as soon as the top guy made his displeasure known everyone else fell in line.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

Congratulations! I remember updating your status in the "Retirement Class of 2021" thread. Glad that the end is nigh for you.

 

[HI Bill]

Congrats on being near the end.

Before ER, I was one of the highest-performing project managers in my office (managed more millions of dollars in projects than most others there). I made the massive mistake of giving too much advance notice (three months). I became almost irrelevant immediately, and too early, and my program manager started giving my projects to others before I was ready. Talk about becoming irrelevant, fast. Agree 100% with others here. Wait till the bonus hits. Give the minimum required notice. Cruise during the last of your w#$king weeks. Enjoy FIRE!

 

[brett]

I would always wait until any bonus money is awarded if it is discretionary. Ditto for stock options, etc.

As a senior manager I often had to decide who got how much bonus (or stock options ,etc). I had a budget.

Yes, you want to reward good employees for excellent work/performance over the past year.

But...another question pops up. As a manager, would you rather reward those employees who will be with you next month or someone who will no longer be an employee?

Bonus is not just about past fiscal performance. It it also serves as an employee retention tool.

There is zero downside risk to being cautious, only potential upside.

My strong advice would not to say anything to anyone about your pending retirement plan until your bonus hits your bank account.

Congrats. Six months after retirement you could be a 'new' you! Enjoy.

 

[MC Rider]

I would seriously consider telling them in the afternoon of may last day.
Oh BTW, I am done and this is my last day. AMF!


Adios My Friends, not that other thing about your mother, unless you mean it.

 

[CaptTom]

I remember a long list of dates when I was contemplating when to retire. Wait until the new year, you'll get more vacation days and start the tax at a logical break. Wait until bonus time, as explained above. Yeah, management would take better care of those who are staying. Stay until your start date, then you get another year of service on your pension calculation. Stay through June, then you get all your vacation days. The list went on and on. There was never a good time to retire!