In an effort to reduce costs, companies in a range of industries are dangling early-retirement packages in front of older employees, said Janice Revell in Money. “If you’re offered such a buyout, you’ll face one of the most important financial decisions of your working life.” You could “take the money and run,” walking away with less than you’d earn by sticking around. Or you could stay on the job and risk a forced layoff. You could also, of course, accept the package and just get another job. “But bear in mind: Only 60 percent of workers age 55 who lose their jobs are re-employed full time within two years.”
Don’t feel pressure to accept the offer as is, said Toddi Gutner in The Wall Street Journal. By law, you are entitled to time to review the package and to study whether it’s enough to retire on—or to tide you over until you get another job. Moreover, you should have “some leverage in the negotiation process,” says Paul Gavejian, managing director of Total Compensation Solutions. Besides working out a specific dollar amount, look carefully at the other terms. If retirement isn’t in your immediate future, for example, try to “hammer out the least-restrictive noncompete agreement you can get.”
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