You expect to retire when? Facing business realities today
Posted by Diana Needham on Sunday, June 7th, 2009
So you plan to retire when? Here is some concerning news about current business realities, taken from a recent article from the Motley Fool.
You probably won’t be retiring when you expect to retire.
Your first thought when reading this may be: “So what? I’ll just end up working longer than I now plan. I had already figured that would likely be the case”.
A recent survey provides some key insights to take in around this: the opposite may be true and it could leave you totally unprepared, from both a financial as well as life style standpoint.
And the Survey Said…
Check out these numbers from the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s 2009 Retirement Confidence Survey, showing the retirement ages planned by those currently working, along with when current retirees actually did retire:
| Ages | Planned (workers view) | Actual (retirees) |
| Before 55 | 3% | 18% |
| 55-59 | 6% | 17% |
| 60-64 | 17% | 37% |
| 65 | 23% | 12% |
| 66-69 | 10% | 5% |
| 70 and over | 21% | 5% |
| Never retire/never worked | 10% | 6% |
| Don’t know | 6% | 2% |
What Can We Learn from This?
What do you see from this information? What struck me is that, for each age, the difference between planned and actual was significant. Take the age 55 and under as an example. Only 3% planned to retire before age 55, yet 18% actually found themselves in this situation. For those 55-59, 6% planned to retire during this age span; 17% actually retired. Note that for those 60-64, the percentage difference between those planning to retire (23%) and those who actually did (37%) is a whopping 14%!
The key thing to note here is that many of us (including me) are finding ourselves retiring sooner than we expected…and the reasons are not always good. Job eliminations, downsizing, outsourcing of major work, business consolidations and mergers, changes in the financial position or strategic direction of the company, and a myriad of other situations are resulting in employers offering early retirement packages.
So Now What?
Know this: As much as we plan (or think we do), we can’t anticipate everything that could happen.
Start thinking now about what you would do if you are offered an early retirement package.
- What is the financial reality in terms of severance, assets, investments, etc.?
- How can you objectively assess your options and make a rational decision (after you’ve dealt with the emotions tied to losing your position, perhaps one you love)?
Contact Me Now!
Don’t wait until this happens to you.
Contact me for a complimentary Encore Tune Up. I will help you begin thinking about what to do if this should happen to you…
If you are already in this situation, let me be your mentor and partner to sort it out and define the next course of action. I have been where you are right now and am here to serve and help you move forward with confidence!
Filed in Career, Career Advice, Career Planning, Early retirement, Retirement planning | No responses yet
