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Phased Retirement is a Win-Win for the Employee and the Organization

There are a number of critical elements to discuss with your employer as you introduce this idea and ask for a new working arrangement: If you are part of a defined benefit program (traditional pension plan) through your employer, talk to HR or legal counsel about how a reduced workload will affect your ultimate retirement benefits. Some companies have found creative (and legal!) ways of working around the issue of determining “final average pay” calculations, so you may want to do some research beforehand, but you should definitely explore this.

  • Find out how a reduced workload will affect your medical (and other) benefits
  • Ask about arrangements made for other older workers that you might leverage in your situation
  • If you are part of a union, you may want to discuss this with your union rep prior to talking to your manager, supervisor, or company HR rep

In addition, as you negotiate this new arrangement with your employer, you may want to make some of the following points:

  • Avoid the Brain Drain as baby boomers leave.
  • Better workforce planning If the organization knows when someone will be reducing their hours or changing responsibilities, HR will be better able to fill the skill gap in a timely way.
  • Smoother Knowledge Transfer Key knowledge can be transferred to those who will need it in a planned and structured way.
  • Help employees plan early and it will keep them more engaged and committed.
  • Fewer high earners on full time payroll lowers costs for the company

The way I see it, this should be part of the retirement picture in the years to come for many more organizations. We need to help them wake up to the benefits of phased retirement – for everyone.

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Dr. Sara Zeff Geber

Dr. Sara Zeff Geber is a speaker, writer, workshop leader and certified retirement & transition coach. She is the founder of LifeEncore, a coaching and consulting business, and is an expert in the retirement transition for baby boomers. She is on the National Board of the Life Planning Network (LPN) and is the program chair for the Northern California Chapter. Sara is also a sponsor and partner of the Silicon Valley chapter of the Financial Planning Association. Sara conducts retirement transition workshops for industry and government and is a sought after speaker in the San Francisco Bay Area with her talks “Eight Keys to a Successful Retirement,” “The Boomer Retirement Dilemma,” and “Fifty Plus, Minus Kids.” Sara’s niche specialty within the life planning arena is working with couples and singles without children. Sara envisions this group having unique needs in later life that warrant additional consideration and planning. She has been researching, speaking and writing about this topic for over two years. Sara has a Ph.D. in Counseling and Organizational Behavior, a M.A. in Guidance and Counseling, and a B.A. in Psychology. She is a co-author of Live Smart After 50, a 2013 LPN publication, the author of How to Manage Stress for Success, an AMACOM WorkSmart Series book, and chapter author of “Choices,” in GPS for Success. In connection with her previous work as an organizational consultant and leadership coach, Sara has spoken at a variety of conferences and symposia, including “Aging in America” (the annual American Society for Aging conference and expo (2013), the “Positive Aging Conference” (2010 & 2011), the “Vital Aging Conference” (2011). She has also spoken at the Academy of Management, and American Society for Training and Development. Most recently, she was a featured speaker at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation’s highly acclaimed “Successful Aging” symposium and expo. Sara is married and makes her home in Los Gatos, California. Check out Sara's LifeEncore website. You can also reach her via email.

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  • Nice post. One of the big problems with Boomers, however, is that many of them form their identity based on their job. So, retiring means losing their identity as well as their job. I'm at the tail end of the Boomer generation, and when my time comes, I'm jumping into retirement with both feet. No phase-in for me, even if my employer offers such a program. When I got my first job at 16, I knew working was not for me. I've been looking forward to, and saving for, retirement ever since.

  • My company offered a phased retirement and I jumped at the chance. I wasn't ready to fully retire but I was feeling a little burned out after 30 years. The company offered a phased retirement over the next few years working 2-3 days a week continuing with the work I was performing and also training a few new people. It worked well for me.

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Dr. Sara Zeff Geber
10 years ago

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