Retail environment is really toxic, so it's becoming clear it's time to go. Who can shed some light on retirement process? Can I just keep my mouth shut until a couple of weeks ahead and chose the date? Don't want to start process too early for fear of being a target. Don't want to start process too late for fear of missing goal date. What does the timeline look like?
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HR.
"Approval for Medicare and Social Security takes about a Month and half. No big deal"
It can take longer. I applied in Jan and didn't get approved until April. My case was straightforward, except that I had delayed retirement credits (didn't start collecting until age 68). My husband had suspended Medicare Part B while I was still employed. It took him 3 months to get approved. One determinant is how backed up the offices are. So better to plan ahead.
Approval for Medicare and Social Security takes about a Month and half. No big deal
Wait? People can retire from retail stores. I didn’t know this since I have heard crazy stories about retail. Usually it’s the call centers that have lazy reps who work past 25 years. For some 44.
I was also in retail. When I was ready to retire I first worked with Fidelity to run different scenarios (retirement dates/lump sum vs monthly draw/etc). Then I had an honest discussion with my manager about upcoming lay offs. I asked to put me on the list to be laid off. I received 6 months medical at the current rate and coverage, 6 months severance and then unemployment. If I wasn’t laid off I still would have retired.
A lot of variables go into it. One of the major ones is health care. If you are Medicare eligible, and you haven't applied for Medicare yet, you should do that ASAP because it can take months to get approved. CEC (Comany extended coverage) will not be available to you if you are Medicare eligible, and Cobra is only good as a stop gap measure (and is not considered "credible" coverage, so if you do get Cobra, you still must be active on Medicare within a certain time frame- I think that is 7 or 8 months). Also, if Medicare eligible, Medicare Part A has a 6 month look back period during which you cannot be enrolled in an HSA- so if that's the case, you would have to back out any HSA contributions (by the company or yourself) that were made in the look back period. Fidelity can assist. If you meet the modified rule of 75 and therefore would "officially" qualify as an AT&T retiree, you would be eligible for AT&T's Medicare Advantage plan but that also requires you to be active in Medicare Parts A and B.
If you are not Medicare eligible, you should look into CEC and Cobra until you can find something else.
There are many different types of pensions and the steps for activating your pension benefit and what you are eligible to take as an activation choice will vary according to the plan. Fidelity can help there. It can take a few months to get that ball rolling as well, so I'd look into it as soon as possible. There are some critical timing deadlines with some pensions. For example, if eligible for a lump sum and you are married, and want the lump sum, you may be required to get your spouse to fill out a notarized form which states that the spouse is understanding that spousal benefits will be forfeited. Timing can be tricky on that and if you don't get that done in time, you may default to an option that you don't want, and it is impossible to change it later. Fidelity can help.
You will also need to make decisions about your 401K. You could leave it as is, but then you are stuck with a limited choice of investment options. If you roll it over into either a traditional IRA or a ROTH IRA if that is applicable, you can avoid having to pay income tax on the money.
If you plan to get Social Security, it can take up to 5 months or so to be approved, so plan for any gaps in paychecks.
You can take care of these logistics ahead of time, or at least plan for them. Personally, I would actually submit my resignation and/or retirement notification with 2 weeks notice and no more than that. Two weeks is a professional "tradition" (not required!). But I'd plan to give it at such a time that if they wanted to immediately walk you out the door, you'd be prepared.
Best of luck!
Bargained, told the manager I wanted to retire as soon as the new year arrived, along with 5 weeks vacation. Told the manager that instead of immediately leaving the payroll, I wanted to take those 5 weeks, along with floating holidays and excused paid workdays prior to leaving the payroll, in order to preserve that 6% that AT&T contributed to the 401K.
Everything worked out, and I got every thin dime of company match that my participation in the 401K could get me. Everything worked out fine. Me and my management were on speaking terms - I didn't have to hold back on my thinking when I discussed things with management. I had some Bellheads, and I was a Bellhead as well.
lucky.
Just contact fidelity - they will give you all the info. No need to tell your manager , until you have the date picked and ready to go -
Manager or rep?
You can "retire" if you have enough years to be retirement eligible on any day you want. Otherwise, it's just like quitting. You should be strategic with which day of the month and which month you select so you maximize your paid vacation time, or take all your vacation time. There is an online guide I believe called "As you retire" and it will tell you all the steps to take and cover things like paid vacation. Again if you are retirement eligible and not quitting, it will impact your health care enrollment and other benefits, so if you can stomach it till the end of the year, maybe you should plan around that as well so you don't end up with deductibles resetting as you switch plans. If you give any indication you want to retire, they will drop you like a hot potato, so tell no one and make the terms of your departure, your terms. Don't forget the interest rate at the end of the year can also impact your pension if you have one, so that's another date with potential financial consequences.