Negotiate well the last step before retirement

“It’s decided. Catherine plans to retire at age 60, precisely on 1^st January 2020. Entering the workforce at 18, she is eligible for early retirement for a long career. This commercial from the Lille suburbs took the lead – she has already checked with her fund that she was entitled to the device and has the errors in her career statement, consulted on the Internet, corrected.

Jean-Luc, an executive in a Parisian service company, has none of his business side. If he knows he could leave in May, at 62, he has no intention of doing so and it would take a nice incentive from his company to change his mind. Quite the opposite of Lys, 58, on the lookout for a possibility of early retirement or conventional termination in order to take off before the age. As for Marie-Paule, 61, it has been a year since she began her "gradual retirement" in her insurance company: she works 60%, from Wednesday to Friday, and receives 40% of her pensions. Roger, 66, is also part-time, but via a "cumulation of employment and retirement". At 60, he resigned from

his position as director in a small business to sign a new contract the next day in the same company. He receives his full pension, to which is added his salary. At 59, Eric is in early retirement and receives 75% of his gross while waiting for his retirement in 2018.

Six stories, six retirement situations

Six stories. A sample of the heterogeneity of situations when faced with the decision to retire. This diversity is not new but has increased with what sociologist Anne-Marie Guillemard calls the “destandardization” of life courses. "At the same age, people are generally in very different situations, with different aspirations, this was not so much the case when family and professional backgrounds were more standardized", analyzes this generation specialist.

Passionate about his profession, Jean-Luc leads a “pleasant professional life”. He certainly feels tired sometimes, but has "organized" himself and can now manage his working time as he sees fit. Evolving on a daily basis with thirty-somethings, he is also "not intellectually ready to enter the category of 'old people' and [to] end up in a university of free time surrounded by elderly people". But, above all, giving up 50% of your income and the lifestyle that goes with it seems inconceivable at the moment. “I want to keep going to restaurants without asking myself any questions,” he says. The idea of ​​losing his contacts does not please him either. And then his wife "still has a few years of activity"... Nevertheless, if his company offered him a big boost to leave, he would think about it.

“Why wait? »

Catherine sees things differently. “I want to make the most of life. Even if I have to lose 30% of my income faster. It's still a hell of a constraint, the job! Being blocked all week… There is an age when it is less easily accepted. An age, too, she continues, where it is more difficult to be passionate about your work. There are always computer developments, they change everything for us, constantly, and I have less desire to make efforts when I have a handful of terms left. Besides, it's not motivating to have a retired husband. And since leaving at 60 or 62 doesn't make a big difference to my pensions, why wait? What could encourage him to stay a while? “If I learn that the box is going to lay off: the redundancy bonus is more interesting than that of retirement. As for Roger, he enjoys his company, the atmosphere is good. But if he stayed, it was primarily for financial reasons. “Receiving salary plus pension allows me to put money aside. I am anxious by nature, I am always afraid of missing out. Not to mention that, when I made my decision, my wife, 21 years younger than me, had just started a business. »

"A departure date is a cocktail of affective and reasoned", summarizes Marc Darnault, partner at the consulting firm Optimaretraite. For seniors having a choice to make (this is far from being the case for all, many no longer having a job when they retire), the decision to leave, continue or slow down is the result arbitration between multiple considerations, of four types: personal aspirations, constraints, the impact on pensions and the attitude of the company.

Within the aspirations, the desire to leave or stay, the situation of the possible spouse is crucial. “Our clients reason as a couple,” notes Mr. Darnault. Just like the state of health. And the way the work is experienced. Having clear plans for retirement, or not, is also often central to the decision. Babysitting your grandchildren, perfecting your swing, chairing an association or traveling are all recurring projects. Being or not well surrounded is an accelerating factor or a brake; hard to imagine giving up your apron when your social life is played out at work.

Other personal motivations are almost unconscious but just as decisive. There are the psychological considerations. His relationship to money, to time. His representation of work, and the image that everyone has of retirement. “This perception of retirement, which weighs heavily in the decision, depends on how you see your loved ones living their own retirement,” explains sociologist Serge Guérin. The age of those around you also influences: “You don’t have the same relationship to retirement if you evolve with older people. »

Faced with desires, the unavoidable constraints. Constraints which current seniors may face more than their elders due to demographic, societal or economic changes, such as the increase in late remarriages, the difficulties of children finding a first job, the increase in life expectancy. There are the financial obligations that seniors have kept, a dependent child or parent, or even a loan. And family constraints, when you have to slow down or stop to take care of a sick spouse or parent.

The responsibility of the company

Similarly, the attitude of the company necessarily weighs heavily in the decision to retire. The way it treats its seniors and arranges their workstations. How they can land softly. “What also matters a lot is the phase in which the company is, adds Jean-François Foucard, national secretary CFE-CGC. During heavy technological transformations, seniors are less motivated, they struggle to invest, knowing that they will see little, if any, the fruit of their efforts. The possibilities of slowing down are favored by seniors, but companies are sometimes reluctant, part-timers complicating their organization. "In France, the employer is not obliged to grant part-time work to a senior, whereas in Belgium the 'time credit' is a right", points out Jacques Wels, teacher-researcher at the Université libre of Brussels and the University of Cambridge. “I asked for gradual retirement, my employer explained to me that if he said yes to me, he would have to do it for others,” recalls Monique, a former operations assistant. Marie-Paule was luckier: her employer accepted. “It was a real breath of fresh air. I felt bad about my job. Without this gradual retirement, it was burnout. »

Those who wish to leave before the full rate, even before the legal age, or just slow down, are faced with two types of situation: either a well-crafted agreement has been negotiated within the company and they can take advantage of the tools contained therein, in complete transparency, or they will have to negotiate individually to benefit from the existing systems. Some will play cards on the table, others cat and mouse for months. The result of the balance of power will depend on the employer's interest in separating from the senior. "A whole range of tools can be implemented, such as exemption from activity (also called 'pre-retirement home'), financing for the purchase of quarters, matching the time savings account (CET) for end of career, the increase in the retirement bonus, favorable conditions for progressive retirement and part-time seniors", lists Max Barbier, co-director of the Pensions and Investments activity of Mercer France. “The best for the employee remains early retirement, still offered by some large companies, believes Mr. Foucard. If you are given three years of your life paid 70% of your salary, apart from those who still have dependent children, only a few enthusiasts refuse. Especially since it allows you to leave with better self-esteem, which is more difficult if you have to go through Pôle Emploi. »

In companies that do not manage the end of careers, recourse to conventional termination remains frequent. "I've seen a lot of senior colleagues leave like this," says Salvador, a former technical manager in the industry. To those considered as burdens, sometimes monstrous checks have been offered. Some were thrilled, others still drag it around as a failure years later. “Salvador, he asked for his conventional break. “It was fed up, my job was no longer what it was. The idea of ​​having to spend my last years firing the guys I had worked with all my career and putting pressure on young people was unbearable. At first they refused. I stopped and was finally able to leave a year before the age. I had done my calculations, I knew that even if I only had the normal bonus - of course I couldn't negotiate - it would almost make up the difference between salary and unemployment. It was enough. You have to ask yourself how much a year of your life is estimated at… ”Before a conventional breakup, it is better to make sure of your financial future. Two main risks: leaving too early and finding yourself at the end of your unemployment rights before retirement or your full rate, and losing your possibility of early departure for a long career (only four quarters of unemployment count in this system).

When it comes to retirement, nothing is simple!

Whatever the company offers, and whatever your aspirations, it remains to know the impact of your choice on the amount of your pensions. Keeping in mind that when it comes to retirement, nothing is simple! The impact of phased retirement, combining employment and retirement or a period of unemployment varies depending on the case. Prolonging your activity can boost your pensions, like having only a minimal effect. Blame it on the complex rules for calculating pensions. You still need to be well informed.

Significant progress has been made and a wealth of details on his retirement file are now sent by mail or available online. “Nevertheless, the employees we meet are always lost, testifies Dominique Prévert, whose company, Optimaretraite, carries out individual pension assessments in companies. They will only retire once and are afraid of making a mistake. They are right, the issue is crucial and they do not necessarily have the means to interpret the information to which they have access to make the right decisions. The documents that you will be able to consult will not tell you, for example, whether you are entitled to early departure for a long career.

In 2013, Philippe, an architect, almost missed out on retirement at the age of 60. "Three months before leaving, I didn't know I could, I hadn't checked. I didn't know that my summer jobs had brought me quarters. It was my wife who thought of it at the last minute. Employees who can benefit from a personalized assessment through their company have a head start. The others will have to retire head-on to look for the option that best suits their aspirations, their constraints and their sacrosanct number of terms. Before making any irreversible decision.