Retiring Early For Corporate Employees

Want to retire from Coca-Cola early—that is, before “normal” retirement age? The big challenge—a problem most of us are glad to have— is that we’re living longer. Retire from Coca-Cola in your mid-fifties and you could live 40 years or more in retirement.

For a longer retirement period, you’ll need a larger nest egg than if you retired from Coca-Cola at a later time, yet you’ll have fewer years to build that nest egg. Early retirement from Coca-Cola means smaller monthly Social Security benefits. The same applies to traditional pension plan benefit amounts.

'For a longer retirement period, you’ll need a larger nest egg than if you retired later.'

If you retire from Coca-Cola early, you may need to replace corporate benefits you lose, such as life insurance and, if you work part-time or on your own during retirement, disability insurance. You also may need to come up with health insurance to cover the gap until you qualify for Medicare at your normal retirement age. Retiring from Coca-Cola before age 59-1/2 also can present a tax problem, since taking money out of your retirement plans may trigger a 10% tax penalty. And you could still have major expenses to fund, such as a mortgage and college.

The challenges of early retirement from Coca-Cola are not just financial, however. What are you going to do all those years? Many financial planners find their retired clients returning to work, often part-time, out of boredom. So although early retirement from Coca-Cola may sound appealing, be sure you’ve thought through the financial and non-financial issues before taking the plunge.