If retirement was due to a layoff or firing, did you collect jobless benefits? (pension, social security)

[Curious Investor]

I enjoy reading the stories on this and other message boards for retired folks. Their stories are so interesting!

One thing that seems to be quite common is lots of retired people were kicked to the curb by their employer in their 50s or 60s and instead of getting another job, they decided to retire. What I wonder is how many people collected jobless benefits after their job loss in advance of collecting Social Security or at the same time.

A relative of mine was laid off in 2009 and he collected jobless benefits in Minnesota for almost two years and made over $450 a week. Offically he was told he should be applying for jobs to get jobless benefits but he just went through the motions and used jobless benefits to support his early retirement. One his jobless benefits ended, he went on Social Security.

Please reply to my poll!

[brava4]

[reed303]

After 33 year career, rising from Service Tech to District Sales Mgr for a Fortune 50 company, in 1998, our division was sold to a private equity outfit. (think Romney's Bain Capital). They promptly closed our district office of 9 people.

So at age 54, I tried for about 9 months to find a job in old career field. The jobs were there, but seems nobody wanted to hire an "old guy with no degree". Most interviewers were my children's age !

So I decided to, and was in a financial position to, take most any "small" job that paid more than UI, and had benefits. After a couple that did not work out, finally landed a job as a shipping/receiving/inventory clerk at a multi-line car dealership. Indoors, 8-5, M-F, 2 miles from home. Minimal customer contact. Perfect. Did that for 10 years, retired from there at 66. and went on SS.

BTW, I did not claim UI benefits for those 9 months. "Wasn't worth the hassle". Plus it would have been delayed due to severance pay.

[meo92953]

I, & others over 50, were laid off just as the recession began. I worked at temp jobs until a woman ran a red light & ruined my car & my back.

That was just as UI was ending. So, I was forced to quit working because, basically, I couldn't walk or lift anything.

I wish things would have been different but I do enjoy being retired.

[oldsoldier1976]

Funny you should ask this in a poll. I was forced into retirement and I am collecting a pension that covers about 2/3s of my pay. I was told by my HR that I should apply for UI and I would be eligible for 30 weeks (that is max in our state). I was also told to tell them my entire retirement pay amount because they were going to take back some. As it was I was given 50% of what I would have got if I got no pension. It is done now and I am not looking for work preferring to remain retired and travel and golf.

[sweetana3]

Depends on your State. There was a time you could and still get severance but the law was changed in our state, IN.

[engineman]

I was downsized by my employer of 24 years at age 59. I briefly collected unemployment, but it was not enough to pay my mortgage and bills. After applying to over 200 places I accepted a crap job that I kept until my mortgage was paid off. At that time I was 63 and retired. I worked 6 months seasonally for 3 years after that.

[don1945]

Company I worked for was bought out and I knew my days were numbered.........everyone above me was getting the axe. So I hung in there, let them let me go, and went on unemployment. When that ran out I retired for the first time.

We pay into unemployment insurance, and it is no sin to use it when warranted.

[StealthRabbit]

2 yrs FREE college + 2 yrs HC + severence + UI (24 months) .... was a sweet deal for a while! But cut the final 18 yrs of earnings off my SS collection piggy bank. (Age 67 FRA, 10+ yrs retired and still many yrs short of FRA...). @age 49, had equivalent of 99 yrs 40 hr/wks (farm kid, caregiver, dairy farm boarding school, worked 3 jobs at once since age 15)

Left @age 49 & with 32 yrs service, NO pension, NO HC. but... I squeaked out 2 months longer than the evil Ms. CEO (fired with $14m severence) (Medival History major) who laid off 100,000 + innovation engineers from a 60 yr old excellent company she was able to dismantle in <6 yrs (& bought a near bankrupt company for $26B ). Many retirees wealth and benefits were destroyed, some older couples got depressed and died.

She didn't make it thru the US primary in 2016, but she WILL return! (Watch out!). She destroyed a few companies, so has great credentials for politics!


But, due to FLEX hours and wonderful work assignments, founders, and co-workers, I was totally ruined for future employment,
it was a terriffic job (5 fully paid degrees + 5 yr apprenticeship, several USPatents, and LOTS of flexibility including every summer off, (without pay) if we could train a school teacher to do our job!. 3 international assignments including family!

[Jukesgrrl]

It's not a matter of you "not feeling it's right." Jobless benefits are for people who are between jobs, those who lost their original job through no fault of their own. Most states require those getting UEI to check in with the unemployment office (whether by computer, phone, or in person) on a regular basis and demonstrate how/where you've been job seeking. If you fail to find a job for a long period of time, they might require you to attend some kind of job training where you might learn how to write a better resume, do practice interviews, find out how and where to attend job fairs, etc.

I signed up for unemployment twice in my life. The first time I was in my twenties, I worked for a company in Pennsylvania that was downsizing and my position was cut. I got one check before I found another job, so that was the end of it. When I was 60, the company I worked for in Arizona went bankrupt and the bankruptcy court ordered all the company's outlets in my state to close. I signed up and collected for as long as I was allowed because at age 60 in the middle of the recession, I was unsuccessful in getting a new job, even though I wanted one and searched hard. In both cases my employers didn't fight my request for assistance.

If you are financially stable, ready to retire, and have no plans to seek another job, I doubt if you would be eligible for UEI. In both of the states I collected in it would be illegal to accept the checks if you aren't eligible to receive them. And if you tried, they would probably catch you.