Or is this like an offer you can’t refuse?
Since most jobs no longer offer retirement plans beyond 401Ks, what is the benefit of early retirement over you’re fired>? Semantics?
I would probably except,,,
.
Do they dangle a Tasty little cash incentive???
What are those folks going to do for health insurance?
“Does “offered” early retirement mean you’re free to decline the “offer”?”
Yes.
But then later they may simply be laid off. So it’s a gamble.
“Or is this like an offer you can’t refuse”?
Yes. I have a friend who is in his 50’s. Works for Marriot Hotels in their Cyber Security dept. He was notified 2 weeks ago that he will be “offered” early retirement.
12 years ago they didn’t call it early retirement, they basically gave me six months go away money.
And my health insurance expired at 5 pm that evening.
If I got the offer now, I’d ask for my pension to be bounced up to what it would be when I turn 65 and give them a hearty wave.
Some people at my work are waiting for the “golden handshake” to be offered. They are eligible to retire now, but the handshake will make their retirement better.
As if the pension funds are not toast.
‘Early retirement’ packages vary greatly from company to company and position to position. I went through several rounds of this. They are looking to RIF people so maybe they bump up your years of advice to qualify you for a plan. Maybe they offer some money for education. Maybe they offer continuing medical benefits for six months or a year. Regardless they want you off the books and OTP*.
*: Off The Premises .... or.... Out To Pasture..... and these options are generally offered to those whom the company perceived as Old Tired People.
Just carnage for senior workers...bring on the foreign workers!!!!
One of my sons is a pilot for a MAJOR airline. They’ve offered early retirement to 14,500 pilots. It is VERY generous and 2,300 of them accepted it. Most were due to retire within the next 2-3 years anyway. They almost couldn’t afford to turn it down.
Feeler already out for something new and interesting...
I was laid off from Time Warner Cable in 2010. It happened in November and I had until the end of December to declare if I would accept their severance offer. The offer was to pay me one month's salary for every year I had been with them. I had worked there for 19 years. After taxes, it came out to over $56,000.
Among the smartest things I ever did was to wait until Christmas to send back my agreement, knowing all the HR folks would be on vacation and they wouldn't cut me a check until 2011, thus avoiding a heavy bite in IRS taxes. I wound up working only about seven months of 2011 whereas I had already worked 10 moths of 2010.
In my mind, I saw that $56,000 check and thought "nest egg". God told me, "no, you'll need this". I was laid off again in 2011 and spent almost an entire year out of work during the Obama Depression. I got back into employment with about $2000 of that nest egg left but God spent a lot of time that year hammering home some important points about our relationship I won't soon forget. When God hands you a wad of cash, He already knows what He's going to use it for and that's probably not what you were planning.
Interesting. I accepted an early retirement offer last month. Sweet deal and I was going to retire in the next year or two anyway.
The ObamaCare employer mandate plays a much bigger role in this than these companies would ever admit.
I took a VERP a year ago due to the downturn in the oil industry. I got a year’s salary, medical for 5 years and my stock options vested.
The issue is Age Discrimination is real. I’ve applied for jobs I’m fully qualified for but getting an interview has been impossible.
I need to offer myself early retirement.
I wondered (when I heard an offer was being considered but no details were yet available) what they could offer since we only had a 401k plan, turns out it was 12 weeks of vacation plus 4 weeks for each 5 years of service beyond the first 5 years, so since I'm just now hitting 10 years I'm getting 16 weeks of PTO. Plus I already have a PTO bank of almost 60 days so that will be on top of the money.
Health Insurance? My company offered it to 63 and older (I'm 65) and they are offering to pay their portion of COBRA for up to 18 months so I'd only have to pay for my insurance that I pay now if I take COBRA (which I expect to do). Otherwise since I am 65 and my wife is on disability (severe Alzheimer's) so we both have Medicare part A I'd have to sign both of us up for part B, her for part D, then get either a supplemental plan or an advantage plan.
Didn't think I'd take the offer until I saw it. I was planning on retiring at 66 and 2 months (next March) for full SS but now I can go at the end of this year (2 months and a day early) and get 16 weeks of pay plus my unused PTO so I couldn't see a reason to not take it.