Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

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ut2sua
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Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by ut2sua »

I read somewhere in this forum that retiring means different thing from resigning from MC. Someone mentioned one needs to be 55 years old to officially retire (per MC policy).
Is it true that MC gives more benefit to folks who retire such as future RSU vesting and other things???
Thanks for sharing...
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by Jack FFR1846 »

MC? I read it Master Card, but figure that's not it.
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ut2sua
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by ut2sua »

Jack FFR1846 wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 6:09 pm MC? I read it Master Card, but figure that's not it.
MC = Mega Corporation
sailaway
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by sailaway »

It all depends on *your* megacorp (assuming that is what MC refers to). Have a good snoop through your HR handbook!
Mike Scott
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by Mike Scott »

It will depend on what your specific company policies are for any potential differences.
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by Jack FFR1846 »

Where I work (whatever $16B tech brings me), if I leave the company in any way, all unvested RSUs go to zero. Doesn't matter if I retire, quit or just stop showing up for work.
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runner3081
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by runner3081 »

Where I am at, it really isn't a choice. You have either been there long enough to qualify as a retiree, or you haven't and it is a resignation.
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Stinky
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by Stinky »

sailaway wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 6:11 pm It all depends on *your* megacorp (assuming that is what MC refers to). Have a good snoop through your HR handbook!
This is exactly right.

At my former employer, there was a big difference between “resigning” and “retiring”. But I expect that there is considerable variation amongst employers.
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Normchad
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by Normchad »

At my company, there are no retiree benefits; so it really doesn’t matter. I think if you’re over 55, and say you aren’t going to get another another job, you get a wrist watch.
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by NYC_Guy »

Jack FFR1846 wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 6:13 pm Where I work (whatever $16B tech brings me), if I leave the company in any way, all unvested RSUs go to zero. Doesn't matter if I retire, quit or just stop showing up for work.
For 409A reasons, most companies have a retirement concept.
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anon_investor
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by anon_investor »

At my megacorp 55 is the magic number, since you can then immediately withdraw penalty free from the 401k.
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gwe67
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by gwe67 »

All retirements are resignations. Not all resignations are retirements.
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chw
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by chw »

I “retired” from MC at age 58. For me, the only tangible difference was being able to vest my remaining RSUs over the following 3 years. If I had resigned, it would’ve been assumed I would be working with a competitor, and the RSUs would have evaporated.

I strongly encourage you to look through your HR benefits guide and review the section “as you leave” if there is one. This greatly helped me in my planning to exit my company and retire. The vesting guidelines were explicitly stated in the benefits, including the need to give a 90 day notice period, which I was not aware of at the time.
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JoeRetire
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by JoeRetire »

ut2sua wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 6:07 pm Is it true that MC gives more benefit to folks who retire such as future RSU vesting and other things???
Some do. Many don't.
When my friend retired from his megacorp, he got 2 years of healthcare and a gold watch.
When I retired from my megacorp, I got taken out to lunch.

The only way you'll know for your particular company is to ask.
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SnowBog
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by SnowBog »

Varies. There is no "retirement" difference at my employer, but previous employers had benefits.
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by David Jay »

sailaway wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 6:11 pmHave a good snoop through your HR handbook!
This isn’t just for mega-caps. Everyone needs to read through their employee handbook.

At my little company (125 employees) the qualified retirement age was 62. If you left before 62 you sacrificed vacation pay and sick bank. After age 62, you got paid all your vacation and sick bank.
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tim1999
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by tim1999 »

At my megacorp, it only means anything if you have been there long enough to be in the pension and retiree medical programs, which were cut off to new participants in the 1990s. Those folks have to schedule/plan/make notifications regarding their upcoming departure in a certain way as prescribed in the HR manual.

For a 65 year old who started with the company in, say, 2005, "retiring" vs "resigning" makes no difference. It's a voluntary termination here. For people in the 401k plan, the vesting schedule is the same whether you resign, retire, get fired for cause, or laid off.

We had a 36 year old leave my department last week, he submitted it as a "resignation" but as we are friendly I know he came into a very large inheritance recently and doesn't plan on working ever again. He told me he felt it would be very awkward/boastful if he announced it as a "retirement" given his age and relatively modest pay grade.
Cycle
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by Cycle »

My wife's megacorp has a pension and that is years of service and age dependent.

I used to work at a mc that was age+years of service and the majic number was 80 or 85

At my company people tend to hang around till there's a riff then hope to get a big severance package. We have a large riff every couple years.

Ideally you get let go in one of these riffs
Last edited by Cycle on Sat Mar 27, 2021 6:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by galawdawg »

It is completely dependent upon the particular employer's separation and retirement policies.
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by hi_there »

Jack FFR1846 wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 6:13 pm Where I work (whatever $16B tech brings me), if I leave the company in any way, all unvested RSUs go to zero. Doesn't matter if I retire, quit or just stop showing up for work.
Sounds a bit unreasonable. I can't imagine they don't have a way for 70 year old employees to leave with benefits as part of their circle of life...
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anon_investor
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by anon_investor »

Jack FFR1846 wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 6:13 pm Where I work (whatever $16B tech brings me), if I leave the company in any way, all unvested RSUs go to zero. Doesn't matter if I retire, quit or just stop showing up for work.
Do the vest if you get laidoff?
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gr7070
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by gr7070 »

It might matter greatly if your employer has a pension.

My government job has massively important differences between retiring and other separation. And in this case retiring does not mean not working elsewhere.

Of course, as others have said all of this will vary depending upon each employer.

Any odd state laws affect this for "MCs"???
Last edited by gr7070 on Sat Mar 27, 2021 6:57 pm, edited 3 times in total.
SQRT
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by SQRT »

Depends on a number of things. What kind of retirement benefits does MC give? Are there restrictions on when you can retire? It’s usually better if they ask you to retire, rather than the other way around. At some places it might just be a semantic difference. Ie no difference really. Depends on the terms of your employment. .

In my case, since I retired, my incentive comp continued to vest and I started my pension as planned.
Last edited by SQRT on Mon Mar 29, 2021 5:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
BeneIRA
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by BeneIRA »

ut2sua wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 6:07 pm I read somewhere in this forum that retiring means different thing from resigning from MC. Someone mentioned one needs to be 55 years old to officially retire (per MC policy).
Is it true that MC gives more benefit to folks who retire such as future RSU vesting and other things???
Thanks for sharing...
It's very employer specific. I have seen so many retirement eligibility rules that there is nothing close to a blanket rule. These days, unless you have been with the company for a while, the motion of the ocean is to offer retirees nothing except maybe unsubsidized retiree medical coverage, which is worthless for most people. In benefits terms, it doesn't matter what you tell your manager/HR. If you are retirement eligible, then you are considered retired, retiring and resigning and actually being terminated are all the same from a benefits perspective (not considering RSUs benefits).
Jags4186
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by Jags4186 »

Every company is different. Where I work, the only benefit of retirement over resignation is that you can get the year end bonus prorated for when you leave. I.E. if you retire effective June 30, when bonuses are awarded for Jan-Dec you’d get a check for 50%. You also might get a piece of junk clock or fountain pen.

We have a rule of 70: age + tenure have to equal 70 for you to retire. You also must be at least 50 years old and have 5 years of service to be able to “retire”.
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by quantAndHold »

hi_there wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 6:47 pm
Jack FFR1846 wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 6:13 pm Where I work (whatever $16B tech brings me), if I leave the company in any way, all unvested RSUs go to zero. Doesn't matter if I retire, quit or just stop showing up for work.
Sounds a bit unreasonable. I can't imagine they don't have a way for 70 year old employees to leave with benefits as part of their circle of life...
Very few tech companies, no matter how large, offer any kind of retirement benefits besides some token 401k matching. When I left, I dropped my laptop off at the IT help desk, dropped my badge on my boss’s desk, and my unvested RSU’s went poof. That is all.
London
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by London »

At my large investment bank, you can choose “full career retirement” and leave after a certain number of years of service. The difference versus just resigning is that you can keep your deferred compensation. This is only offered one time a year.
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by beyou »

London wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 7:38 pm At my large investment bank, you can choose “full career retirement” and leave after a certain number of years of service. The difference versus just resigning is that you can keep your deferred compensation. This is only offered one time a year.
Same here, deferred comp can be taken away if you defect to a “competitor”, or steal clients/employees. If you retire or change careers you do not lose deferred comp.

We used to have a pension but those days are long gone.
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by sherwink »

If you have enough, quit. If you've had enough of it, quit for your sanity.
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by toofache32 »

Jack FFR1846 wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 6:09 pm MC? I read it Master Card, but figure that's not it.
I think it's MediCare.
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by humblecoder »

ut2sua wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 6:07 pm I read somewhere in this forum that retiring means different thing from resigning from MC. Someone mentioned one needs to be 55 years old to officially retire (per MC policy).
Is it true that MC gives more benefit to folks who retire such as future RSU vesting and other things???
Thanks for sharing...
Why are you asking your question here? Ask your company's HR department. This is company specific.
tibbitts
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by tibbitts »

It's company-specific, but I believe at many jobs you can resign even if you're eligible to retire, including accidentally, simply by not following the correct procedure.
Nivek
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by Nivek »

As most people are saying, depends on the mega Corp. For me, you can retire at 55 which means stay on company’s health insurance (pay the full portion), RSUs and stock options still vest and my comp deferral gets paid over my selected time frame vs lump sum. Tough to pass some of this up. I have enough to stop working now but will still have one kid at home and plan to work until she goes to college in two and a half years. That will put me at 53. The health insurance and the tax avoidance of the deferred comp may keep around for 2 more years.
fortunefavored
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by fortunefavored »

quantAndHold wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 7:27 pm
hi_there wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 6:47 pm
Jack FFR1846 wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 6:13 pm Where I work (whatever $16B tech brings me), if I leave the company in any way, all unvested RSUs go to zero. Doesn't matter if I retire, quit or just stop showing up for work.
Sounds a bit unreasonable. I can't imagine they don't have a way for 70 year old employees to leave with benefits as part of their circle of life...
Very few tech companies, no matter how large, offer any kind of retirement benefits besides some token 401k matching. When I left, I dropped my laptop off at the IT help desk, dropped my badge on my boss’s desk, and my unvested RSU’s went poof. That is all.
Same for me, in fact they seem slightly embarrassed you're still alive. Instantly going from "our most valuable loved assets are our people!" to "uhh. yeah.. you're dead to us." - ha
Freefun
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by Freefun »

Where I worked :
- vested in 401k at 1 year
- pension anytime
- retirement benefits e.g. medical at 55 and 15 years of service
Remember when you wanted what you currently have?
wander
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by wander »

If it means benefits, then you have to look at your company benefits book. Otherwise, retire decision is more finance/age related while resign is more about work issue/capability/load. At my work place, there are retire parties but I haven't heard anything about a resign party. It's about leaving the company head high or quietly.
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by Flashes1 »

At my MC there's no difference between the two. A few years ago they changed the rules that RSU's vest when you hit 55 years old (and have at least 15 years service).

We all understood this was management's passive-aggressive way of helping the old folks out the door.
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by TomatoTomahto »

Flashes1 wrote: Sun Mar 28, 2021 8:24 am At my MC there's no difference between the two. A few years ago they changed the rules that RSU's vest when you hit 55 years old (and have at least 15 years service).

We all understood this was management's passive-aggressive way of helping the old folks out the door.
And yet, some MCs will offer a retention bonus in some cases to keep the old folks’ IP on board. Maybe some MCs vest RSUs for old folks because there should be some way to take off the handcuffs.
I get the FI part but not the RE part of FIRE.
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by sailaway »

wander wrote: Sun Mar 28, 2021 8:14 am If it means benefits, then you have to look at your company benefits book. Otherwise, retire decision is more finance/age related while resign is more about work issue/capability/load. At my work place, there are retire parties but I haven't heard anything about a resign party. It's about leaving the company head high or quietly.
DH's team has a party (well, extended lunch) for anyone who leaves voluntarily.
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by Fired2020 »

My position was eliminated in Sept, after 16 years with the company. They gave me advanced-notice & told me I'd get 6 months' severance.

They also gave me the opportunity to instead apply for newly created positions (similar to what I was doing, but as I've since learned a lot more work) and possibly stay on.

I decided to take the severance, never applied for the open positions. I'm 57 and have been FI for years, but didn't quit because I liked the job, the people, & to a lesser extent the $. I tell people I'm retired although it feels awkward. I'll get a modest pension with no COLA & of course my 401K. No medical. My friends that are still there ALL have more years in than me, and will get true COLA'd pensions & medical benefits when they go. I still declare myself "retired from" MEGACORP but I'm not sure if I'm speaking the truth to people. I guess it feels better than telling folks I'm unemployed, lol.
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by lstone19 »

Fired2020 wrote: Sun Mar 28, 2021 6:23 pm I still declare myself "retired from" MEGACORP but I'm not sure if I'm speaking the truth to people. I guess it feels better than telling folks I'm unemployed, lol.
There’s a difference between being retired and retired from some company. Just say you are retired. How you got there is less important.
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by bluegill »

What is RSU ??
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by stan1 »

At some it may be the difference between giving a few months notice (retire) vs. being walked out by security immediately (resign).
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by sailaway »

bluegill wrote: Sun Mar 28, 2021 7:38 pm What is RSU ??
Restricted Stock Units, sometimes given in lieu of cash as part of a compensation package. An employee usually receives a grant as part of their bonus or compensation package, but it vests over time, so they only get the money if they stick around, often in chunks over a several year period. Layoffs and retirement packages sometimes allow an employee to either get all of this compensation immediately or over the previously agreed period. Although it isn't talked about much, death may also have the RSUs vest immediately to the estate or designated beneficiary, if so prescribed by company policy.
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ut2sua
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by ut2sua »

bluegill wrote: Sun Mar 28, 2021 7:38 pm What is RSU ??
RSU = Restricted Stock Unit
It was a way to mostly replace stock options.
At my MC, RSUs are given for free at vest date. The $ is counted as part of your W2 income.
Teague
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by Teague »

For me it was important that I noted that I was "resigning for the purpose of retirement." If that wasn't made clear the HR wheels got all gummed up and, worst case, important benefits might be forfeited, eventually.
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by retiringwhen »

hi_there wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 6:47 pm
Jack FFR1846 wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 6:13 pm Where I work (whatever $16B tech brings me), if I leave the company in any way, all unvested RSUs go to zero. Doesn't matter if I retire, quit or just stop showing up for work.
Sounds a bit unreasonable. I can't imagine they don't have a way for 70 year old employees to leave with benefits as part of their circle of life...
What are these benefits you speak of? My megacorp has absolutely zero "benefits" for former employees of any shape or form. All that stuff disappeared decades ago. If it ain't in your 401(K), ESPP, RSU's or Deferred Comp account, you get nothing and the rules for all of those are essentially fixed based upon vesting schedules without regard to age. I would offer that my situation is more the norm these days outside of education and government service.
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by spammagnet »

At DW's MC, the only retirement benefit (at her level) is 401k match. It's now granted only once per calendar year in February and only if you're employed for the entire preceding calendar year. If you resign before 12/31, you get nothing; if you retire, you get the previous year's match, if not already granted, plus you get the match from your retirement year. So, "retirement" matters.
diabelli
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by diabelli »

I think you get the farewell party if you retire
:beer
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Re: Retire vs resign - Is there a difference?

Post by retiringwhen »

diabelli wrote: Sun Mar 28, 2021 8:57 pm I think you get the farewell party if you retire
:beer
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