Retirement Date Target Set at Aug/Sept 2025

[Route246]

I'll be 68 and walking away from a great challenging gig, at peak earnings and on my terms, but due to many favorable factors (mostly financials, RSU, etc.) the convergence is for Aug/Sept 2025 retirement at this point. 16 months sounds like a long way off but I tend to plan and over-plan things so a year+ just seems right. Best part is I'll leave on my terms (excepting the unexpected), many times FI and will probably be one of the richest guys at the cemetery (LOL) when I finally check out for good. I'll be leaving a lot on the table but by late next year much less than I would be leaving if I left this Aug/Sept 2024.

Exceptions that could cause changes in this date:

• Retirement package offered
• RIF (unlikely, but I would be first in line to volunteer and thus save another's job)
• Part-time option to maintain RSU vesting (not currently offered)
• Health (hope not but at my age anything can happen)

Why Aug/Sept 2025? No special reason but I know I have to set a target goal and financial factors win out this time. I'm an engineer who is trained to optimize and this non-linear optimization problem seemed to line up in this time frame. I've been a workaholic my entire adult life so 16 months should be adequate time to prepare for the wind-down.

I'm not going to tell anyone at work of my plans as I do not want to introduce any weirdness, and plan at this point to give the customary 2-weeks written notice (official with specified date) and probably an informal notice a few weeks before that if appropriate. I'm starting to document everything I know and will do an orderly handoff when I leave. Older workers have been retiring around me and it is inspiring to watch them leave on their terms (they are all well-compensated and leaving RSU on the table when they do this).

 

[bltkmt]

Great work, and congratulations!

 

[MBAustin]

Congratulations, Route 246! It's great that you have a plan, and even better that you know you can pull the plug whenever you feel like it!

I gave my direct boss an informal verbal notice about 6 weeks in advance and asked her that we keep it quiet until 2-3 weeks out, but she didn't like that idea and started telling people soon after. So if you really want to keep things "normal", your plan makes sense.

 

[Route246]

Congratulations, Route 246! It's great that you have a plan, and even better that you know you can pull the plug whenever you feel like it!

I gave my direct boss an informal verbal notice about 6 weeks in advance and asked her that we keep it quiet until 2-3 weeks out, but she didn't like that idea and started telling people soon after. So if you really want to keep things "normal", your plan makes sense.

Thank you for the pointer about giving notice. This is a business and managers will usually do what is best for the company and secondarily what is best for them. Because of the intensity of my work I do not try to make friends at work although organically it sometimes happens so I won't really be missing too many people, they are just good colleagues and good people but not friends. Because of vesting, ESPP and other date-specific events I will dial in my last day of work on my resignation letter. I have always done this. "Effective, (date), I resign my position at (company) and my last day of employment shall be (date)." I then add a nice closing sentence like "I wish the thank the management for giving me the opportunity to thrive and be productive in a very stimulating environment." This is just in case someone in the management chain or HR says, "Walk him to the door and give him his final paycheck today." The company I work for does not have this reputation but it is a business and business is business, I get that.

An ex-colleague advised me of this decades ago. I know some people write very emotional resignation letters but there is not much good that can come of it when you work for a large corporation, IMO.

 

[Koolau]

I'll be 68 and walking away from a great challenging gig, at peak earnings and on my terms, but due to many favorable factors (mostly financials, RSU, etc.) the convergence is for Aug/Sept 2025 retirement at this point. 16 months sounds like a long way off but I tend to plan and over-plan things so a year+ just seems right. Best part is I'll leave on my terms (excepting the unexpected), many times FI and will probably be one of the richest guys at the cemetery (LOL) when I finally check out for good. I'll be leaving a lot on the table but by late next year much less than I would be leaving if I left this Aug/Sept 2024.

Exceptions that could cause changes in this date:

• Retirement package offered
• RIF (unlikely, but I would be first in line to volunteer and thus save another's job)
• Part-time option to maintain RSU vesting (not currently offered)
• Health (hope not but at my age anything can happen)

Why Aug/Sept 2025? No special reason but I know I have to set a target goal and financial factors win out this time. I'm an engineer who is trained to optimize and this non-linear optimization problem seemed to line up in this time frame. I've been a workaholic my entire adult life so 16 months should be adequate time to prepare for the wind-down.

I'm not going to tell anyone at work of my plans as I do not want to introduce any weirdness, and plan at this point to give the customary 2-weeks written notice (official with specified date) and probably an informal notice a few weeks before that if appropriate. I'm starting to document everything I know and will do an orderly handoff when I leave. Older workers have been retiring around me and it is inspiring to watch them leave on their terms (they are all well-compensated and leaving RSU on the table when they do this).

This sounds like a good plan. I'd leave earlier, but that's just me and I'm not a workaholic. I "guessed" that there might be a "package" if I waited a year or maybe 3, but I did not want to stay one more day after my j*b was changed to something I no longer wanted to do. It turns out, had I stayed another 2 years, I would have gotten a nice package. I do NOT regret missing it. I have enough and that was good enough for me. Obviously, you have to do what feels good to you so YMMV. Good luck!