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Before retiring, understand and use a bridge career or career bridge.

Retirement is not an abyss. The word retire doesn't translate into many other languages or cultures outside the United States. Just as a bridge is a bond that connects 2 places, it also connects 2 environments. Allowing both the employee and the organization the ability to transition with ease. Here is an analogy. Imagine you are traveling across a very long stretch of highway and during the last few miles, you begin counting down the remaining distance or even calculating how much longer you can travel without running out of gasoline. You are traveling at a high rate of speed, say 70 miles per hour. Instead of traveling this speed until the end, imagine just as your car does, slowing down before getting off the exit, say 35 mile per hour.

The concept of a career bridge is the same but instead you knowingly decide to get off the highway a few exits early. Continuing the journey by taking a less direct route or to avoid the stress caused by reaching a traffic jam just before our exit. Deciding ourselves to get off the highway a few exits early, allows us to still enjoying the journey plus grants us the opportunity to see new sites or to have new experiences. We still reach the same preset destination and keep the hard earned pension and health insurance benefits of retirement, but use a less direct route. This is a career bridge.

Most employees have a fixed date in their mind on when to retire. Some of these fixed dates can be inaccurate but most of these fixed dates are the earliest they can separate from service and still keep hard earned pensions and health benefits. A career bridge focuses on how to keep the most amount of gasoline in your tank by supporting your vitality.

In addition, I have found this unlocks hidden skills and passions that permits long serving employees the ability to give back to employers. Bridge careers are not just a benefit for the employee. Employers take note because meddling hurts both the employee and the organization. In the 2004 book titled Leadership Is an Art by Max Depree, declares “Succession is one of the key responsibilities of leadership, yet the fewest skill leaders learn." Employees walking away with integrity needs to be a priority to the organization, because the true measure of success is succession.

I wasn't sure what to call a career downshift for many years, but intuitively knew it's strength. Then 2 things happened in my life at the same time... First, I came across an article in my financial literature that named this downshift as a career bridge. I find the name to be perfect, although I like prefer calling it a bridge career. 2nd, my friend and client decided to be a consultant at her school after being promoted from a teacher to principal. This downshift was her choice during her final few years. As we spent time together (both then and now) the one thing I cherish most, is her increasing vitality together with her increasing impact in the building with both staff and students. I was best able to see this while I tutoring students in basic algebra. I noticed she was one of the most respected staff members in her district and not running out of gasoline. Her strength and influence was increasing exponentially during her final few years!

Why? It was her growing vitality!! Now ask yourself. Is my career killing me? How much is this stress worth? To best illustrate this, look up the profile pictures of United States Presidents and compare them pre & post presidential service. Look how much faster they age! Even today, it has been reported by the Huffington Post that the United State's 44th president, President Barack Obama's hair started going grey just 44 days into his presidency. Yikes! If this is happening outside of their bodies, then imagine the unseen damage career stresses has within.

Aging and exiting with grace is a priority. At least to my clients and loved ones. Below are 2 last tips before using a career bridge:

Any unused vacation time + sick time accrued, usually can be rolled over (transferred) into their pension/annuity pretax. Ask their benefits department about rolling over (transferring) this v lump sum payout prior to their downshift. These tax benefits can be best explained by your own accountant. A technical link to reference is here: Update life insurance policy needs prior to the downshifted career bridge because questions on life insurance applications usually ask how long the applicant has worked in the current position.
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