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I am counting down to retirement and watching my retirement investment accounts closely. Once they hit a magic number, I plan on retiring. How soon do I need to tell my employer?

Elaine Varelas guides on best practices on announcing your retirement.

Q.  I’m in my early 60’s and work in a managerial role. I am planning on retiring once my husband and I hit a certain figure in our retirement accounts. I haven’t informed my employer that I will be retiring soon after I hit that milestone. Do I have an  obligation to share my plans with them, along with the clients I serve? I’d rather not tell them as I fear it may impact any promotions, raises or bonuses.
 
A. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, many people retired earlier than planned. Many organizations found themselves surprised at the expertise they were losing and did not have succession plans in place to transition leadership, retain knowledge or sustain external relationships. As a result, companies are trying to open up the line of retirement communications far earlier, looking at succession plans at all levels of the organization, and identifying where they may be at risk of losing people. 
 
Planning for retirement is more than just financial, so I applaud that part of your plan.  Have you and your husband discussed what the rest of your life will look like with all this free time?  Will you volunteer, travel, take classes, become more physically active, spiritual, take care of your grandchildren?  There is a long list of what comes next and having these conversations in advance will make for a much easier and more joyful transition. 
 
But, about the organization you are leaving. Most organizations would appreciate an alert that given them time to make plans too, and this would involve more than a two or three week notice period. If you have external clients, it can take up to six months to ensure a strong transition is made. 
 
If you believe that announcing your retirement will negatively impact you and your longevity with the company, then do not feel obligated to share your plans. Have you seen your company respond well or poorly to other who have chosen to retire? What a company needs to do is often based on the seniority of your position, the amount of time it will take to replace you and make a successful transition.  You might decide that you want to give several months’ notice and design a transition plan with your leadership and executives to transition your work responsibilities, accounts, etc. in a timeframe that works for both of you.

For those people who have good relationships with their customers or clients, they often draft a plan for who on their team would be the right person to take over that relationship. And that's something that you might want to do in terms of getting a step ahead in the conversation you have with your manager. Your goal is to maintain a good relationship with your employer so ask and offer ideas on how you can help with the transition. Offer to help train and get your replacement up to speed. Some people are even involved in the recruitment and interviewing of their replacements. Remember also that many people go back to work after retiring, so it’s important to not burn any bridges with your employer.

These days, many people opt for a phased retirement to help them make the transition to retirement more gradually and also to help their organization. You may work for several months or even up to a year, which allows you to transfer your institutional knowledge while your replacement moves into the new role.

If this is something that you anticipate happening in the next three to five years, it's too early to make that kind of an announcement. None of us know what will be happening in the stock market or wherever your retirement accounts are held. You may have a plan and that plan may change. Hopefully, both you and your spouse will remain healthy. But announcing plans too soon can negatively impact you. And if you share your plans with close friends and family members, ask them to keep this information confidential.

Recognize that your employer can't ask you your plans. Within 12 months of retiring, you might find an opportunity to bring up your retirement plans or when someone else retires to talk about what a retirement plan would look like.  Until then, keep investing, stay healthy, and watch how others within your organization announce their own retirement.
  Boston.com

By Elaine Varelas

Less than a minute to read

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