Phased Retirement – Jennifer Barnes

The Retirement Wisdom Podcast

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Have you considered phased retirement? Most working people dream about that day when they’ll ride off into the sunset and into retirement. But a full stop retirement isn’t for everyone. It can make the transition to retirement quite challenging. Many people are choosing insread to glide into retirement. Phased retirement is trending as a way to gradually retire, on your own terms. It’s essential a flexible work arrangement. Our guest today is Jennifer Barnes, a CEO, who shares her experiences with phased retirement in her company.

Jennifer Barnes joins us from San Diego.

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Bio

Jennifer Barnes, CEO of Optima Office, graduated with a Finance and Marketing degree from the University of Arizona, earned an MBA from San Diego State University, and completed the Becker CPA coursework. She spent 15 years as a Controller for numerous companies and non-profits throughout San Diego before starting her first company in 2012, which was the 5th fastest-growing company in San Diego in 2016 and made the Inc 5000 in 2017 and 2018. Jennifer has won numerous awards as the CEO of the two companies she founded. Her favorite is the best place to work because having high retention and happy staff is what drives her.

Both of her companies have made it into the Inc 5000 and SDBJ’s fastest-growing companies list. Between 2021-2023, Jennifer was named Woman of the Year by SDBJ, received the top corporate citizen award, made it in SD’s top 500 most influential leaders, and the top 50 Women of Influence in Accounting and Finance for two years in a row. She was also recognized as a finalist for the Entrepreneur of The Year 2024 Pacific Southwest program.

Jennifer has sat on many boards in her career and currently sits on the board of The Better Business Bureau, NuFund Venture Group (formerly Tech Coast Angels), Junior Achievement, and a publicly traded company, Presidio Property Trust (SQFT). She volunteers her time at SDSU and the REC at Miramar College by participating in mentor programs and as a judge in various student competitions. She is currently a member of Rotary 33, Vistage International, Entrepreneurs Organization (EO), Young Executives Council, and Social Venture Partners.

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For More on Jennifer Barnes

Company Website

Fortune Article: I’m a CEO and 12 of my employees are in ‘flextirement.’ With boomers opting not to retire, the arrangement will become more common

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Mentioned in This Episode

Poem – The Summer Day by Mary Oliver

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Wise Quotes

On Why Phased Retirement Works

“What’s interesting, Joe, is that at Optima, we’ve always had a flexible work environment and we didn’t really think about it as flex retirement because we’ve always allowed employees to work whatever hours made sense for them. But as we looked at our workforce, we realized that many of our employees are over 50, some over 60 and some are even 70 and over. And what we find with these employees is they have a wealth of knowledge. They are so experienced, they’ve worked in so many different industries, and they can really add a ton of value to our clients. And so if we can capture these people’s attention and get them to work with us on hours that make sense for them, whether it’s 16 hours a week or 30 hours a week or somewhere in between, it is incredibly efficient. It is such a huge value add to our clients. The employees themselves really get a chance to work for different companies and not fully retire but still be engaged and many of them say, keeps them young.”

On Leading a Team with Flexible Retirement

“When we’re on, we’re on. And so when you’re billing clients and you’re working on an hourly basis to help people, you got to have 100% of your time focused. It’s a constant work in progress, learning and engaging with your team. But I find that when you take good care of people, and they will then take good care of your clients, and they’ll do a great job. …Higher retention is paramount, and especially in a services business, like Optima Office.”

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About Retirement Wisdom

I help people who are retiring, but aren’t quite done yet, discover what’s next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call to discuss how The Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one – on your own terms.

About Your Podcast Host

Joe Casey is an executive coach who also helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a twenty-six-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Today, in addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, which thanks to his guests and loyal listeners, ranks in the top 1 % globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 1.2 million downloads. Business Insider has recognized Joe as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference. He’s the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy.