Transition to Retirement – Retirement Really? You are really going to RETIRE?

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July 13, 2012 by 4 Comments

In preparing for my presentation this week at Network in Austin, I reached out to my network with the goal of filling the room.  I reached out to former colleagues at IBM.  I soon learned about the “Transition to Retirement” program that was offered by IBM.

They work 60% of your normal hours. 

They receive 70% of their salary with full benefits.

The catch is they must retire by December 2013.

My Family

This brings up a host of emotions of me.  My father was in his late 50′s in 1978 when he was offered a generous retirement package to leave his company. He had worked there for more than 25 years.

The reality was he was terminated.  Financially, he was in excellent condition.  Up until that time he was very healthy.  He was not ready to retire. He was not prepared to make the transition emotionally.

The termination came as a complete surprise. He lived 15 more years, most of the them very unhappy.  He eventually ended up teaching at a small university in Pennsylvania, which he really enjoyed.  The road to get there was incredibly difficult emotionally. It took 15 years but the lose of identity and the rewards of work killed him. Retirement was a death sentence and it had nothing to do with money.

My Response

I left IBM after almost 22 years in January of 2000.  I did not get a package.  I did not want a package.  I left on my terms and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I have made multiple career changes since leaving IBM and I have to admit it has been scary from time to time. My joy comes from being in control of my future. No one needs to take care of me. I am not looking for a father like corporation to provide me with a safety net.

I have been talking with former colleagues at IBM, Merck, and other big companies where similar programs are going on. Those who have accepted the package I hear three emotions:

  • Relief – Relief that they were offered the package
  • Excitement – That they are headed off to the next stage of their life
  • Fear – That they are headed off to the next stage of their life

Is this you?

The difference is you have 18 months or more to prepare for your next stage.

How are you going to prepare?

Are you really going to retire and do nothing?

If you answer yes then ……… you will likely die earlier than planned.  Retirement as was sold to us is not healthy.

Download my whitepaper “Don’t Retire Even If you Can and What to do Instead – A Baby Boomer Manifesto”

___________________________

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Marc Miller Career Design Specialist

Filed Under: Baby Boomer, Retirement Tagged With: , ,

Comments

  1. Eric says:
    July 14, 2012 at 12:33 pm

    Marc is so right about not making a switch from work to inactivity.

    However, that doesn’t make it foolish to take a package if offered — just do it on your own terms.

    I left IBM at age 50 after 25 years, having watched the packages being downgraded and the”Watson” ethos being eroded. I became a magistrate (unpaid judge — there are 27,000 of us in England and Wales) and worked as a consultant and teacher, culminating is 12 years as a university lecturer (7 of them as head of department — don’t ignore what you learnt at IBM). During my time, we more than trebled the number of students in my subject, allowing the university to appoint a professor far more eminent than I. When his wife got the management job I’d been doing, and he started exploiting a loophole (since closed) that allow UK employers to force retirement on 65-year-olds, I sought another package — syllabus changes meant my first-semester lectures weren’t required, so technically I was redundant, only 7 months before I could be forced to retire. The pay-off wasn’t big, but it was very welcome!

    Because the retirement was planned (and moderated by part-time teaching), I could sign up for more voluntary work, and am now as busy as ever, albeit without pay. It’s good to put something back, and to have a new set of colleagues I like and respect — a real necessity when you’ve worked in a place like IBM or a university, both of which were full of delightful people.

    My only concern is that in 3 years, I’ll be forced to retire from the magistracy — only paid judges can go on until they’re 75.

    Reply
    • Marc Miller says:
      July 14, 2012 at 3:36 pm

      Eric I really like your comment where you said
      “However, that doesn’t make it foolish to take a package if offered — just do it on your own terms. ”

      I have seen so many of my friends wait for the package but being forced when it was not their time.

      I have always made career decisions that were on my terms. In my last corporate position, when I did not like the ethical behaviors of my management, I carefully planned my exit when it was financially beneficial for myself.

      Reply
  2. Richard Smith says:
    July 17, 2012 at 2:25 am

    I’ve got some time to go before retirement age (in my late 30s), but I’m of the attitude that I will never retire. I will simply keep transitioning from job to job, growing my career in whatever way I’m able that is satisfying and pays the bills well enough. Maybe I’ll have a different attitude in a few decades, but I just don’t think traditional retirement would be fulfilling for me, or even necessary. It’s good to read a post like this and see that even later in one’s career, it’s still possible to take control and stay energized. Good stuff.

    Reply
  3. Dean Goranson says:
    November 29, 2012 at 1:02 am

    There is another situational retirement which many of us have been faced with. to young
    to retire yet very experienced and because of the years on the job, to old to be considered
    for the same position at the same rate of pay. It’s called the board of directors calls in
    a bankruptcy specialist as CEO who immediately tears the company apart and sends it
    into bankruptcy. Sending all of those too young and to old’s into unexpected retirement.
    I had this happen to some very old dear friends of mine. You could not believe the change
    in the outlook on life that came over them. Lets just say it was not very positive.

    Reply
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