It doesn’t happen to everyone, giving notice and being asked to delay retirement by your boss. What was once something limited to only those performing critical functions can now happen to anyone in today’s low unemployment environment. Then comes a big decision, should you accept an offer to stay longer? It isn’t always an easy question to answer. There’s a whole lot of financial and mental efforts to get to this celebrated moment of life called retirement. Only to find yourself on the spot questioning the right move to make. Here’s what I experienced and some of the things to consider before giving your answer.

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Asked to Delay Retirement? What To Consider Before Accepting An Offer To Stay

My employer request to delay retirement moment came after my second early retirement.

I had always intended to retire early and often. Focusing on opportunities during retirement of interest using the skills I love using while shedding the skills and tasks I don’t. I was in early retirement number two for several months when the client mega-corp of my encore career specifically recruited me for a sweet 2 month project. It was the best working experience of my life. As my project was ending at the end of the year the manager asked that I delay returning to retirement. I was asked if I would accept a contract extension for some more project work. 

I was ready to return to retirement life. 

It was a great experience and I had a great time. The bonus was banking some good money to go towards other early retirement interests. The two months flew by painlessly and I had some things I was looking forward to doing in retirement freedom-mode again. But I enjoyed the short gig so much and I was treated well so I decided to accept a contract extension with conditions. I would stay for only a few months, only technical project work with a deliverable aligned with my departure date, no operational babysitting, and absolutely no project management responsibilities herding their cats. The deal was made for 4.5 months. I was happy to live with delaying my return to retirement under the negotiated terms and conditions until spring time.

Then it all went to hell with shifts in corporate management and funding. 

I returned to my desk January 2 to find all management in meetings and no project assignment. After a week of busywork I was notified that the manager I signed with was no longer calling the shots. The new manager called a staff meeting and spelled out her expectations, of which some critically crossed my set boundaries. I met with her and explained the agreement to my accepting the contract extension. She didn’t like it so I agreed to terminate immediately and return to retirement. She then said sit tight for a couple of days. Lets just say my conditions held but it was a hostile working relationship and an unpleasant working experience. I finished my project early and was happily back in retirement four months later, two weeks before the planned contract end. 

Things To Consider When The Boss Asks That You Delay Retirement And Stick Around 

Think hard and honestly about what percent of a decision to stay is about the money.

If the biggest reason to stay is money, then maybe you aren’t really ready to retire. Retirement means leaving paychecks behind. We should have figured out how we are going to pay for our retirement lifestyle before we retire. Extra money to spice up a retirement goal is one thing, but needing it to meet retirement financial needs is another. If that’s the case then there really isn’t a choice but to accept the offer to stay until financial confidence is reached, both literally and mentally. Otherwise, turning down the offer and leaving money on the table could result in retirement regret during times of financial worry. But you should still weigh in on the terms, even though you’re probably going to be more agreeable under this condition of financial need.

Delaying not only retirement but also delaying the ability to pursue passions and interests.

We set goals for our retirement. Is accepting an offer to stay worth trading your time for money when your heart is set on doing other things? Retirement is a major life milestone. Putting it off to stay in the grind needs careful thought. Leverage your freedom to your benefit. While some offers to stay can be mutually beneficial to both business and employee, always consider that the terms they are offering are more to their benefit than yours. Your retirement time has great value.

Determine what it would take to make the experience better than just the same job you are retiring from. If you really loved it so much you probably wouldn’t be retiring in the first place. Set work requirement boundaries. Would flexibility in schedule, required tasks, or number of hours worked make it mutually rewarding? If so, then negotiate for it. Then set the length of time you are agreeing to stay. If things work really well then extending longer can possibly be renegotiated. This way you can easily calm any retirement voice in your head that may come by knowing your exit date.

Know your place, you are not in the same position or the superhero you were.

Think of yourself as a consultant to help the staff going forward with a possible exit at any time. In most cases we delay retirement only temporarily. The cat is out of the bag and any decent management team is working to sidestep our sticking around because we are a known flight risk. Don’t start to believe this is more than what it is. Check your ego and keep your eye on the prize of your delayed hard earned retirement. 

You should have a say about the working terms.

Consider that retirement delay is worth more than your standard salary and negotiate with that mindset. Just because money isn’t the primary motivation to delay retirement doesn’t mean we have to be a sucker. If money is non-negotiable then use that as a bargaining chip to get better working terms to make a deal you really want to make.  

Be mentally prepared for workplace blowback.

I know very well how this works. When it’s obvious you received premium working conditions and/or more salary to delay retirement, then others will have certain feelings about it. There can be issues that need worked through. Just be honest. You’re delaying your retirement to help out with XYZ and will eventually leave. I found being honest about why I had what I had, my negotiated exit date, and being the most pleasant person in the office to work with softened resistance. Why wouldn’t we be the happiest person in the office? We set the perfect work conditions to stay. 

Be prepared to end the arrangement at any time.

You have to be ready to accept that things won’t work out. You may find yourself leaving sooner than expected for any reason within and beyond your control. That is unless there are specific contractual issues about ending the working arrangement early. Normally as a delayed retiree, cutting the arrangement short shouldn’t be an issue. After all, if you’re retirement ready, money isn’t the primary reason for sticking it out longer. 

In my delayed retirement experience, my saying “since the terms of my extension are no longer acceptable to management, I will be happy to end our arrangement right now” was met with disbelief. The manager was dumbfounded that I would walk away from a high paying gig like that over their insistence that I herd cats. In hindsight, I should have just left because they’re having to keep that contract extension condition was obviously a sore spot with the new management. It heavily tarnished what was a great working experience to that point for both of us. 

Turning down an offer to stay.

It’s best not to burn any bridges. You never know what will happen in the future where paths will cross. There’s always a possibility for new opportunities that align with your interests and passions coming your way. Whether your initial reaction to an offer to stay is to immediately say no thanks or you come to that decision after negotiations, be gracious when you decline an offer to stay. 

“I appreciate the offer, however at this time, I have made the decision to retire as initially planned. While I’ve enjoyed my career, the role I’ve played in the many accomplishments, and the opportunities that working here provided, I have already set my focus on the next chapter of my life. Thank you for the proposed offer.”

A decision to delay retirement and accept an offer to stay on the job can either be an easy NO or something requiring careful consideration. The thing to remember is that once you’ve properly announced your retirement intentions to your manager, you’re now in the driver’s seat. Where all lanes point to a life on your terms.