Dennis O'Keefe’s Post

🫡 Transition Tip Tuesday 🫡 Make a timeline. Seems simple, right? 🤔 We’ve made lots of timelines in our military careers, backwards planning with the knows, pondering the known and unknown unknowns (yes you read that right). There is no perfect answer, but I will say that if you are planning on going into Corporate America and/or encountering major changes in life (i.e. buying/selling homes and moving to a different state) 18-24 months is a good minimum. Remember you need to build a network, plan, prepare, and ideally execute in phases (instead of all at once). Want a good piece of advice, if you are planning to move somewhere you’ve never lived before, take a week-long vacation there 2-3 years out to get the lay of the land (RECON). Again, there is no cookie cutter solution but here’s mine for reference. My retirement timeline- 1APR21 Request retirement 1-30JUN21 JRTC 30SEP21 Family Services Rep ONG 1-5NOV21 TAP 9NOV21 USO Pathfinder 17NOV21 First informational interview 30NOV21 ViableEdu 30NOV21 Veterati appointment 15DEC21 Pre-Retirement Brief 12JAN22 ACP 9FEB22 FourBlock 10FEB22 Portraits for Patriots 18FEB22 VPAC (local transition program) 7MAR22 Retirement Physical 28APR22 Informal w/Robyn 13MAY22 Informal w/Jonikka 16-20MAY22 O2O PMP Boot Camp 25MAY Informal w/Cathy, Marshal 2JUN22 File BDD 3JUN22 Informal w/Scotty 6JUN22 Informal w/Tiffany 10JUN22 Final Out 16JUN22 Informal w/Scott 22JUL22 First Offer 29JUL22 Retirement Ceremony 29JUL22 Accept 2nd Verbal Offer 30JUL22 Retirement Party 2AUG22 Accept written offer 22AUG22 First Day new career 1SEP22 First day of retirement 1OCT22 First retired payment 1NOV22 First VA payment Thoughts? Things to add? #militarytransition #transitioningmilitary #plan #military #militaryfamilies #transition #veteran

An excellent article by our very own Mike Lawson. Wherever you are in your career, or even if you've already retired, this article offers some great insight in what to expect and how to be fully prepared for the transition. https://lnkd.in/dZt6uMmT

First consider ALL your opions...

In recent mentorship calls to assist with military leaders navigating their retirement transition, I am seeing a trend. The calendar countdown to retirement is not well understood. The number of days required for final clearing, the additional 20 days of permissive TDY (30 days for members returning from overseas) for job/house hunting prior to separation, starting a SkillBridge program or Hiring our Heroes fellowship within 180 days of an approved retirement date, and the actual start of terminal leave with the decision to sell back leave and not lose leave are seldom figured into the calculus correctly and sometimes too late to make changes. Those last 180 days might need to stretch out longer and your last day at the office might surprise you (and your command) if you don’t have a solid plan. Start planning early so as to not attempt to cram everything into those last 180 days…you will be busy enough and somewhat stressed. Sadly, some commands still fail to recognize the time and prep required for a successful military retirement transition (for you and your family) since they themselves have yet to go through that same process. Seek those that retired before you to better understand and maximize your opportunities, success will follow.

Something to think about as a Police Officer closing in on retirement.... 1. Once you execute the paperwork on your DROP pension, start networking. You have 3 years (give or take) to lay the groundwork for your next move. Network with the business owners in your community. 2. Polish up your LinkedIn profile and Post, Comment or Like EVERY DAY. No more lurking, get active. 3. Connect with people in the fields that interests you. Interview them (your good at that) to see what your next move could be. Once retired, you have plenty of work life left. Leverage your skills as an Officer into another great career...there are a ton of options and tons of great resources/people right here on LinkedIn. Good luck!! #thinblueline #police #sales #careerchange #retirement

Always great to read a feel good story! Staying happy at work later in life is about more than just financial stability; it's about finding purpose, pursuing passion, and being adaptable to change. Here’s how these Aussies stayed happy at work later in life, and in retirement — it’s honestly such a refreshing read. What strategies have you found effective for staying happy at work as you approach retirement? How do you maintain purpose and passion in your professional life? #retirement #happiness #retirement

In my next weekly essay, I share a few examples of the #retirement and #financialplanning projects I've been working on lately with my clients

Exactly 1 year ago today I retired after 38 years with Mobil and then ExxonMobil. Top ten observations and thoughts during the last year. 1. 60 isn't old, but it's not young. 2. I'm still figuring out retirement. We finished building a home, moved from TX to TN, and welcomed two more grandchildren into this world. We've been too busy to plan too far ahead. 3. I'm not very good at taking selfies, although I do enjoy the interactions that come with a social media post. 4. One job, one wife, good life. I use "wife" since it applies to me and rhymes, feel free to substitute a different noun if preferred. 5. Bad news travels via media, good news travels through personal interaction. 6. It's not all Saturdays in retirement. I remember weekends as two days to do all the stuff you didn't do with your family and friends during the other five days. Retirement is much better than that. 7. Self care is important, but like many things, can reach a point of diminishing returns. Helping others delivers a bigger bang for my buck after some baseline self care. 8. You don't have to see people every day/week/month to remain friends. In fact, much more to talk about when you do catch up. Don't hesitate to reach out to someone because "it's been too long", much more often than not they're glad to hear from you. 9. Consistently good golf is really hard. 10. It can be so hard to see the forest for the trees. We tend to over complicate things, or allow things to become complicated because we take our eye off the main goal. Be kind, gracious, thoughtful, and look for ways to help others. The rest will take care of itself.

With people living longer and healthier, the idea of ‘retirement’ as quitting work and hitting the golf course is giving way to the concept of the ‘multi-stage’ life. This is one where work is something you dip into and out of. But it requires first asking yourself what’s important to you in later years. Professor Lynda Gratton of the London Business School explains here. https://shorturl.at/ioLRX

People are at the top of their game at 67 ! Seems a bit young to be pushing people out of the workforce…especially in Defence industries where they have developed a lifetime of skills. (Mind you, by the age of 70 most people are probably ready to pass the torch and do some other things). I would like to see an industry sponsored (that’s right - the government can’t do everything) program for Defence industry workers that do 2 things. One, establish a skills reserve register - we need to know who we can reach out to and what they can contribute when our Defence industry needs to scale up fast. Two, establish a mentoring and training program where professionals and tradespeople spend 2 days out of their working week imparting their skills and knowledge to the next generation of Defence industry personnel. Increasingly, our Defence industry workforce is the single point of failure in our modest capability aspirations. Government apparently isn’t going to fix it. We have to fix it.