Author: MJT
Voluntary Early Retirement: Jumpstart the Second Half of
Your Career
If you’ve recently discovered that your employer is
downsizing and is offering voluntary early retirement programs, there are some
good reasons why you might want to consider taking this course of action. To
some voluntary early retirement might seem like an underhanded way to force out
older, wiser members of an organization, but to others it could be an easy
ticket into another career, doing something new and exciting you’ve always wanted
to try. If you’re sick of your job and have been counting down the days until
you’re eligible to retire as it is, voluntary early retirement could be for
you.
Accessing Your Experience
Before you consider voluntary early retirement ask yourself
one very important question: Where do I want to go from here? Maybe your spouse is retired and you want to
make up for all those years you both spend working, so you see some traveling
and leisure time on your horizon. Or maybe you want to apply your skills in a
new way, not give up working entirely, and just do something new that you find
pleasure in doing. Sit down and write an
informal resume. Catalog your skills/responsibilities, making a list of the
things you enjoyed doing, and the things you really didn’t enjoying doing. If you have management experience you might
want to consider trying yourself out as a freelance business consultant.
Companies will pay top dollar for good consultants, and you still get to set
your own schedule.
Accessing Your Finances
The biggest factor in your decision to take voluntary early
retirement is most likely your financial situation. If you want to retire, but don’t think you
would be financially comfort doing so; you would be wise to hold out for a few
more years. You want your retirement to
be comfortable in every aspect, and knowing that you are financially set for
years to come will help make that happen for you. If you decide that you are
unable to take a voluntary early retirement offer, sit down and write out a financial
plan for yourself to help you reach retirement when you want to. Set a budget
for yourself so that you’re pinching pennies now and not later. On the other
hand, if you’re not prepared for full retirement now, but are planning to seek
other revenue-generating opportunities, than you can still make voluntary early
retirement work for you. Once you’ve decided what kind of opportunity you would
like to pursue make a business plan for yourself. Figure out how much income
you would like, or need, to generate, and start researching your second career.
Tags:
| 
Print this page
