Early retirement, given notice final thoughts and turmoil

Apricota

Hi, I met with my boss this week and said I was going to retire early. It was a surprise. I am highly valued in niche role, there is never going to be a good time. They would like me to stay on possibly 4 days a week. I am in turmoil. Have a meeting Monday to give response. Financially would be ok. Once I step off there’s no going back. Long notice period.

Would value others experiences and thoughts, particularly ref 4 days a week in project role etc. I feel so very weird.

Thanks

StewedApple

How does it fit with your retirement plans - had you, for example, expected to tour Europe, go on a cruise, spend time with the family - would you still be able to do this?

Would it be genuinely 4 day week, or would they expect you to cover the same duties for a 20% pay cut.

What about offering yourself as a consultant to them, on say a fixed term contract over winter, with summer free to either renew or go on holiday? That way you're genuinely earmarked for defined projects rather than gophering for less money.

Part of this is about motivation - for many people retirement is an opportunity to do things before ill-health and old-age become issues. You may be denying yourself this chance.

UrbanAchiever

I dropped to 4 days a week at the beginning of August in the lead up to my early retirement in 12 months time. It's brilliant compared to 5 days a week, but 4 days is long enough to feel like work is still dominating my life (may be related to the fact that I run a large business unit with lots of people in it, so every day is full on). I feel that 3 days a week would feel better balanced and more like a gradual run in to retirement.

daveyjp

Go back to the reasons why you have decided to retire. Are they still valid? If it is causing turmoil it suggests you aren't 100% convinced you are making the right move.

However, having just retired, one reason I never used to possibly remain working even part time, was loyalty to the organisation. I had a great team, great colleagues and friends, but friendships can continue.

I was involved in long term projects, which I left mid way through, but I knew to see them through would be another 2-3 years and new projects would come along during that time so there would never be a time when I had completed all my work.

Triumph13

Four days is a long way from retiring, so if retirement is what you wanted, then it's hard to see how it meets your needs. As StewedApple says, so much depends on what you were planning to do in retirement to be able to say whether or not some PT work can be readily fitted around that.

I was in a very similar position to with a niche role. I offered work one year of one day a week, working from home, to smooth the transition - with paid overtime if I did more than my one day and a salary increase. They bit my hand off. It worked well for all concerned and made my departure much less stressful in terms of handover. Eight years later and I'm still doing a half day! It's a small enough commitment that I can easily combine it with plenty of travel, and the money has been a nice bonus.

It sounds like they need you much more than you need them, so make sure you only offer a deal that works for you.

indiasign

To avoid the “cliff edge” of retirement, I dropped down to 4 days, then 3, before finally pulling the plug this May. It helped me ease into the concept of not working, and gave me time to start developing other interests.

As others have said, consider whether the offer of 4 days works for you, both financially and socially, but if you really want to go now (or whenever your notice period takes you to), then do it! 😃

Dead_keen

It was a surprise.

To you or your boss.

I dropped to 3 days a week 21 years ago to get good at a sport, and I was doing complicated, time-pressured niche things.

Over time, I got persuaded to do four days a week (15 years ago) and then five days a week (around 10 years ago). I found that the part-time thing worked well when I was able to control what I was doing but it meant I had to slowly move my niche from things with very unpredictable "it needs to be done tonight" deadlines. I think the main reason for increasing the days was the recognition that I struggled to keep the days off as mine. So I'd get calls asking me to do a call at 11pm that night or a quick catch up tomorrow morning as it was the only time the client could make it. So if I was doing the work, I might as well get paid properly for it.

I retired five years ago at 53 and planned it so that I would take a sabbatical for two months over the summer. A sabbatical meant that everyone was happy I was going to be away for a while, I handed over my clients and agreed to do the odd call while I was away. After the first month, I said I was going to retire and that I might as well go at the end of the sabbatical, even though I had a six months' notice period. I didn't ask for permission to ignore my notice period but, as I had a number of bosses, I just ignored it and said "and Fred said he's happy with me going at the end of the month". It all worked out great.

hugheskevi

It will vary by workplace, but where I was, it was often the case that working a 4 day week really meant doing a full-time job with condensed hours. Most things can wait a day, so folk doing a 4 day week just came back to a bigger inbox after their day off. Working a 3-day week, particularly 3 consecutive days then 2 days off, led to a bigger consideration of actually working part-time.

A 3 day week also meant 3 days of work and 4 days off, before any leave. That is a big difference to 5/2.

When I left, I always viewed the date of leaving as somewhere that would be in a window of time within about a 2 year period, rather than a specific date. That gave finality by having an ultimate end date, but also options should something happen within the window of leaving I planned. I found it made work far more attractive, knowing that if I started not to enjoy it for any reason, I'd just leave. As it happened, I got offered a paid exit in that period, so it worked out perfectly.

I also made a big list of everything I wanted to replace or do to my house and car before retiring, to get everything in order before quitting work. Psychologically, it was much nicer to spend money and work out future spending with an income coming in, using the figures to work out the latest possible date it would be beneficial to work, after which point I would just be building a pile of money I would have little use for. I used the results of that to inform the end date of my leaving window, with the end date representing a very comfortable retirement.

It can also be helpful to work out the difference in retirement income from 1 more year of work. The difference can be very material depending on expenditure and income, but if the result of that is the extra would make no material difference, then again there is little point carrying on.

One of the most important things for me was how much I liked my job. I was very happy doing it, so I was in no hurry to leave. Because I liked what I did, I viewed it more like moving on to another phase of life, like leaving university, rather than something I was particularly looking forward to. So for me, it was something I was definitely going to do, but there was no time pressure. If I had not liked doing my job I would have left sooner.

george_jetson

I pulled the plug 2 years ago at 57. I took a day’s a/l a week for the last few months to ease into it.

I would say if the numbers work and your happy with your budget just quit and be done with it. It’s amazing how fast work “fades away” and f/t retirement is amazing. Go for it!

ali_bear

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6685464/early-retirement-given-notice-final-thoughts-and-turmoil

Sounds like you're in the driving seat, but why is there such a short time limit (Monday) on you making a decision? If you're in turmoil you would justifiably need longer to weigh things up. And if your notice period is so long. Probably your boss is in a bit of a panic.

I'm sure you are valuable to them, but in reality nobody is irreplaceable.

Big question would be, was this an impulsive decision on your part, or have you been basing your plans on it for some time?

You could go in on Monday and say something like "I understand you are taken by surprise with my resignation for retirement. But it has been coming for some time (or but I've been unhappy in my role for some time) and my upcoming retirement is more important to me. So let's discuss what options we have for a planed/phased/gradual exit (or notice period or whatever)" Make it sound like you are reluctant but it has to be so.

They should be sympathetic to you and your situation and agree to a plan that suit you. If they don't, remember you're still in the driving seat.

Aretnap

It will depend on your goals and workplace culture to a large extent, but personally I would be wary of dropping down to 4 days a week. My experience of people who have done it at my work (especially in senior/demanding positions) is that they still end up doing 5 days worth of work - and if you're going to do that, you might as well get paid for 5 days. Will there be a genuine reduction in the expectations on you, and are you assertive enough to say "it's 5 O'clock, I'm going home and I'm not switching my laptop back on when I get there" every Thursday afternoon?

If your tempted to stay but at a slower pace you could suggest 3 days a week - as others have suggested that's more of a sea change in the amount of work that you're doing, and it's also a clear statement that they will need to cut their expectations of what you will do.

But if you're tired out, don't need the money and you're ready for that round the world cruise then go now and don't look back. You don't owe it to a company to work beyond what you need to do to meet your own goals in life.