Pass on your skills. A recent Society for Human Resource Management and AARP survey of employers found that 72 percent consider the retirement of talented older workers to be a potential problem for their organizations. "Older workers have a lot of skills that these companies are in need of and are having a hard time recruiting for," says Mark Schmit, vice president for research at the Society for Human Resource Management. "The knowledge drain that could happen when these people retire could be very dangerous."
Job perks. Many human resources managers say they are taking steps to retain valuable older workers, including offering flexible work arrangements (27 percent) and designing part-time positions to attract older workers (24 percent), SHRM found. Some companies are also hiring back retired employees as consultants or temporary workers (30 percent). "They are doing phased retirement, where people don't retire on the spot, but phase out on a time schedule that works with their schedule," says Schmit. "They might do flex start and finish times or flexible break and allowance time for people who need more frequent medical visits or to care for a spouse who needs them or just to take care of the grandkids."
You like your job. The last time you met someone new, one of the first things you probably told them about yourself is the type of work you do. For many people, a big part of your identity is your career. Hitting retirement age is no reason to give up a job you love.
Twitter: @aiming2retire






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