At the time of this writing, I’m approaching a 20-year career milestone in sales and marketing management that provided me with the privilege to be the last manager for several people who chose to retire under my watch. It was quite the experience helping them put some of the pieces of the retirement planning puzzle together.
Over time, I learned the age of my direct reports but did not learn the importance of this information until a conversation with Edith. She was my inside “telesales” rep based at our U.S. headquarters. She was a fascinating and humble person that I got to know over the two years she reported to me. I learned that she won an Olympic silver medal in track & field during her athletic years.
During our team dinners at sales meetings, I sometimes ask the team what famous people they have seen on airplanes or at the airport. For me, I have seen or met a few such as Lou Ferrigno, Don Johnson, Danny Glover, John Boehner, Ed McMahon, Quest Love, and just recently, Melissa McCarthy. Edith saw Marilyn Monroe and completely blew all of our minds. No one could top that one, not even the person who met President Jimmy Carter on a commercial aircraft and took the time to shake hands with every passenger in coach before going back to his first-class seat. I also learned that this was a valuable technique that celebrities use not to be bothered during their flight. They proactively acknowledge everyone on the plane on their terms. Shaking hands with a former President replaces a selfie anytime, but I’m old school.
There’s another Edith story that had a similar impact. At a sales meeting in Las Vegas, a few of the reps went to one of those topless review shows. A few people in our group were sitting way in the back and brought in binoculars and were passing them between themselves. You know, to get a better look from the cheap seats. That in itself is funny enough! It gets better. Someone from the group spotted Edith sitting in the front row taking in the show quietly by herself.
During review time, I typically ask each one of my team what their plans are and how they are planning for retirement. I ask everyone, no matter what their age to start a complete career management discussion and timelines. My conversation with Edith started no differently than the script that I stick to for fairness, consistency, and more importantly to abide by company policies. My conversation with Edith would be no different, so I thought. Here was a person who was with the company for about 12 years and highly valued. She was technical, very customer-focused, and enjoyed the sales process. She was in this teleselling role for about two years and I saw that her call volume was slowing down. Not a performance alarm, just a change in her pattern.
I asked her what her work goals were for the upcoming year, and he mentioned that she would like to retire, but could not afford it. As her manager, I knew her salary history and compensation plans and an idea of her pension vesting for her 12 years with the company. Based on this information, I couldn’t make the connection with the statement that she just made. With permission, I had asked at what age she would be eligible for retirement benefits. Her answer was, “Two years ago!” Thankfully, she did the math for me, and said she was 67! I was completely taken aback by what was unfolding. I asked her if she had any conversations with HR about retiring and said that she was not comfortable discussing it with HR. I knew nothing about her personal finances or spending habits, so there had to be more to the story, but that’s none of my business as her manager. I learned later there was not. I learned she never looked into it in detail but started to think about it after the previous year’s discussion. She assumed it would never be enough.
I suggested she make an appointment with the HR benefits manager the next day to go over her current benefits, to at the very least, take a snapshot of what is available based on her twelve-year employment history. After I met with Edith, I talked to HR and asked them to be prepared with the inquiry that Edith would be making and go over in person her 401k and pension vesting statements. Also to point her in the right direction regarding how to obtain her social security benefit information.
The next afternoon, Edith called me and said she had her meeting with HR. She then started crying with tears of emotional gratitude. It turns out, that Edith hit the retirement jackpot. When they added up her pension and delayed social security compensation, she would be making more than her current monthly salary. What put her further over the finish line was her 401k balance which she had on autopilot. She had maxed it out for twelve years and invested well.
She asked me if it was OK if she could retire within three months! It’s the first time as a manager that anyone had made that request, let alone in the humble manner in which she asked it. I told her she could pick whatever day she wanted or she could stay for as long as she wanted.
Three months flew by and it was the best three months she had. She was engaged and re-energized because she realized all her achievements were condensed into a short timeline of an exit.
After Edith retired, she kept in touch with me for a couple of years. She was enjoying her retirement and fully engaged in her new life.
Like many people who leave a company, the common bonds of working toward company goals eventually weaken. Over time, people go their separate ways as they make new connections. Time and memories both erode at different paces, and the connections eventually get lost in the noise of living. I often wonder how we can work, share, and celebrate life’s milestones over a 20+ year relationship and then let these relationships slip away when a single bond of employment becomes severed. For me, it’s tragic when someone stops calling or the Christmas cards stop arriving. Perhaps social media is partly to blame.
Edith became my first direct report that I helped to enable me to take control of a major career decision. How different would our lives have been if we never explored this topic together? I was age 37 at the time and it dawned on me the gravity of responsibility that I had for the people that I managed, that I lead. Today, I still make it a point to ask the long-term career goal questions and retirement of all of my direct reports during performance review discussions. I consider this discussion a gift for one’s future self and let my team know that I have a long-term view.
What I learned from the Edith experience is this piece’s bottom line.
1. Know your numbers.
a. Do you know the value of your company benefits and 401k?
b. Know your monthly spending.
c. Know your net worth.
d. Set your own financal goals.
e. Have a plan for your retirement. No one will do it for you, and you can do it yourself to start.
f. Start your retirement countdown clock and see how it changes your perspective. It did for me. You can find one in the iTunes store.
Comments are appreciated.
