How to Write a Retirement Letter

Retirement letter is a formal document written by the person who is taking final leave from work.  It is most likely written to the human resource department or the head of the concerned department. It clearly informs the exact date of leaving with an emotional message regarding the farewell. There are several examples of goodbye letters available on the internet but all retirement situations are different. Hence, it has to be drafted with a personal touch.

It provides you the best opportunity to express your gratitude, appreciation and all your sincere emotions for your organization and coworkers. It covers all your feelings and emotions related to your farewell in a sincere manner. It covers all the pertinent information like your proposed last date of employment, employee id code and so on. Most of the people feel confused on how to write it or what should be written at the commencement and how to conclude it.

We have provided some effective writing tips to help you draft a flawless retirement letter.

• Write it on your official letterhead to make this correspondence authentic and professional.

• Compose it in the standard format of business letter writing.

• Mention your name, title, organization, address and contact number.

• Write the name, title, organization and address of the concerned manger.

• Enter the current date on which you send it to the recipient.

• Create a crisp and factual subject line to deliver the gist of the letter in first glance.

• Start it with a formal and appropriate salutation such as “Dear Mr., Mrs., Ms, or Dr……”

• State in the opening lines that you are writing this to officially inform the organization that you are retiring. Mention your tenure of service with enthusiasm. Write your exact years of service, employee id and designation. Spell out the definite date of your retirement.

• Appreciate your co worker for their support and cooperation. You can add some lines about an individual or a set of colleagues for their special concern.

• Keep the tone of the letter pleasant and professional. Do not write any negative comment as farewell letter is not the mode to express your frustration.

• Write down some of your good experience or memorable joy moments of work place.

• If you are retiring from teaching or nursing, add some motivation lines or a short anecdote about some unique experience. This will make your letter extraordinary.

• If you are going to change your location, provide your new contact number and address. Request them to contact you as you really want to stay in touch with your organization.

• Thank the entire organization for all their love and support in the last paragraph. Wrap up your writing with some lines of best wishes to express your attachment and concern for your current institution, clients and colleagues. You can also add a congratulatory note for some recent achievement of the company.

• Close it with a formal closure notation such as “Sincerely”, “Truly” or something similar to it.

• Proofread it carefully before sending it. Correct all the grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors. A letter free from mistakes and errors reflects your credibility and professionalism.

• Put your signature to make it valid.

• Make two copies of it. Send one to the concerned person and keep other to your record. This will help you in further communication.