During my tenure as an HR Business Partner, I helped lay off hundreds of employees and had many deep conversations with those impacted. I volunteered for every opportunity to help with the layoffs, as I felt it was important that the impacted employees and the managers making the difficult decision had a person helping who really cared.

I am not saying that my HR peers did not care. I think my experience with layoffs as a manager and an employee gave me a perspective that most in HR could not relate to.

In this video, I discuss Janet (not her real name) and my experience assisting her as she transitioned to retirement after her position was eliminated. It was evident in every conversation that she feared retirement. She had worked so many years that she could not picture life without a job. She also had done no planning for a life in retirement and lacked knowledge.

I loved my conversations with her and the help I could provide to direct her to resources. Most of all, I was glad to be there as a colleague and a work friend.

Don’t let retirement sneak up on you. Even a few small changes made now can make a big difference in your future.

Interestingly, as of the date I am writing, this video is one of my least watched although I consider it to be one of the most important messages.