Mar 3, 2025
Mildred has worked as a manufacturing engineer at an auto parts company for the past 19 years.
Over time, Mildred has become indispensable to her company. She possesses in-depth knowledge of several of the company’s manufacturing processes that few others have. She loves her job, her coworkers and her manager, but she’s worried about remaining healthy enough to travel in her golden years.
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So, at age 68, she’s decided to retire. And while she has a solid nest egg and a budget for retirement, she’s discovered there’s one thing she didn’t plan for: she’s not sure how much notice to give her employer.
Mildred is concerned that if she announces her retirement too early, she’ll be given last-minute "grunt work" to take it off the plates of staff members adapting to new responsibilities while keeping her tied to the company for training purposes.
Deciding when to let your employer know about your retirement plans can be a difficult decision, so let’s get into Mildred’s options.
The pros and cons of giving advance notice
According to several online resources, three-to-six months' notice ahead of your retirement is still considered the standard, but your workplace and your position should be considered when making this decision.
The good thing about giving advance notice is that it can benefit you just as much as it can your employer. For your employer, advance notice gives your company time to hire a replacement and manage the transition. It also gives you plenty of time to help with training the new hire and passing on any valuable knowledge you may have, which is another win for your employer.
As for yourself, giving advance notice gives you plenty of time to get your personal finances in order while you mentally prepare for leaving the workforce. It also increases the chances of leaving your job on good terms, which could be important if you ever decide to go back to work after you retire.
At the end of 2023, one in eight retirees said they planned to return to work the following year. With this in mind, leaving a good impression with your employer is something worth considering.
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But there are drawbacks to giving advance notice ahead of your retirement. For example, you can find plenty of stories online where people describe the backlash they received at work when announcing their retirement, and no one wants to be harassed by their boss or their coworkers for three-to-six months before bowing out of the work force.
There’s also the potential for the grunt work that Mildred was worried about. While most people who are ready to retire are happy to help train their replacement, no one wants to watch a disgruntled boss drop an influx of repetitious, boring assignments on their desk in retaliation.
You could also potentially find yourself in a situation where your employer is pushing you out the door ahead of your planned retirement date, which could impact late contributions to your retirement savings.
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The case for giving less notice
One thing Mildred is also worried about is that announcing her retirement could highlight her age and subject her to increased ageism during her remaining time at the company — and these concerns are justified.
In a survey conducted by MyPerfectResume.com, 99% of workers over 40 reported at least some ageism in their workplace. In another survey from Women of Influence, 80% of women reported facing ageism at work.
The more time that Mildred gives to that period between announcing her retirement and actually retiring, the greater the chances that she could be subjected to unfair treatment in the workplace.
It’s also worth considering the potential for Mildred to be pushed into retirement sooner than she had planned. A study from ProPublica found that more than half of workers over 50 are pushed out of their jobs before they plan to retire.
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So, let’s say Mildred were to give three months' notice and she’s relying on that income for her retirement savings. Meanwhile, her employer is less than thrilled with Mildred's announcement and decides to show her the door two months early. That means Mildred has just lost two months of income that she was depending on for her retirement.
What should Mildred do?
The type of position that you have will be an important factor in deciding how much notice to give. In Mildred’s case, she possesses sophisticated knowledge that will need to be passed on, so she likely needs to give a longer notice period in order to leave a good impression with her employer.
However, if your role consists of rote, repetitive work that a new hire could quickly learn, four-to-six weeks’ notice may be adequate. If your retirement planning includes the income from your notice period, you may want to give shorter notice. As we discussed earlier, some employers may decide to let you go early once they’ve been informed of your retirement plans, and that could impact your retirement finances.
It’s also worth considering your relationship with your boss. If you and your boss get along well, you may feel more comfortable giving more notice with the expectation that you won’t be prematurely let go.
In Mildred’s case, she may want to give a slightly longer notice period than four-to-six weeks — given her importance to the company, her appreciation for her coworkers and a presumed intention to leave the company on good terms.
A notice period of two-to-three months might be just right, as this gives her employer ample time to find a replacement while giving Mildred sufficient time to help with training the new hire. And since she loves her manager, she likely doesn't need to worry about getting let go ahead of her retirement date, allowing her to collect two-to-three months' of income before calling it a career.
In this scenario, her employer has time to take advantage of Mildred's extensive knowledge and training capabilities, while Mildred gets two-to-three months' of income and ample time to mentally prepare for her retirement. Everybody wins!
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Vawn Himmelsbach is a veteran journalist who has been covering tech, business, finance and travel for the past three decades. Her work has been featured in publications such as The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, National Post, Metro News, Canadian Geographic, Zoomer, CAA Magazine, Travelweek, Explore Magazine, Flare and Consumer Reports, to name a few.
