The Benefits of Early Retirement for Both You and Your Employer
Whether we'd all like to acknowledge it or not, early retirement can benefit both and employee and an employer. Of course your personal retirement will be a time for celebration and reflection, a time to look back on your successes and the journey of your career. But realistically early retirement is also a benefit for your employer as well, especially if they are downsizing or are trying to stimulate turnover to bring in younger employers at lower salaries. If your employer is offering early retirement benefit packages, don't view it as an insult to seasoned employees; take it as an opportunity to start the next phase of your life.
Financial Benefits of Early Retirement Programs
Accepting an early retirement program from your employer allows you to retire before your legal age requirement without suffering any of the financial penalties otherwise associated with early retirement. Essentially your employer is agreeing to compensate you as if you were legally eligible for retirement, including a monthly check and paid health insurance. Another benefit of early retirement is that you may also be offered a higher pension. How does this benefit your employer? Paying you a slightly higher pension and bringing in someone with less experience at a lower salary means a lower cost for them in the long run. This may sound cold to you, after having put in so many years in your profession, but if you were already thinking about retiring, you might as well taking advantage of the financial benefits of early retirement.
Other Benefits of Early Retirement
Aside from allowing you a higher pension, and saving your employer money in staffing, there are many other benefits of early retirement. If you no longer enjoy your position as much as you once did, you are doing yourself a favor by considering other options a few years early, and you're doing your employer a favor by allowing them to put someone in your position that still has the desire to be there. Your early retirement could allow you to explore a second career. By the time those people who waited for legal eligibility retire, you'll be a few years into an exciting new opportunity. You're never too old to start something new, and you're never too young to start preparing for the next stage in your life. Take advantage of all those years of saving and planning, and reap the benefits of early retirement.
