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The Sunday Times
June 22 2014
Forum Page
Jonathan Kwok’s article in the June 15 2014 issue of The Sunday Times, “Windfall here today, gone tomorrow” is a timely reminder to your readers who have been outplaced from their jobs, and who are provided with a loss of office financial compensation. The ones whom I have coached are typically sent to us by their ex-employers, and many, if not all of them are paid a retrenchment package,amounting to a windfall to some of them. In one extreme case of a senior executive at the country management level, the payout was close to S$1.2 million. A payout, typically tax-free, such as this can sometimes give recipients a sense of false financial security. If not managed appropriately, the money can run out pretty quickly, just like a leaking tap that cannot be stopped.
For the retrenched, I would like to offer these three pieces of advice. Keep the money in your bank, and use it only for your usual monthly expenses. Do not be tempted to invest the money – consider doing so only after you have secured a new job and the monthly pay checks continue to come in. Secondly, if you wish to take a holiday break, do so. The action of “going away” and “coming back” can psychologically be akin to starting on a fresh footing. Leave the pain and anguish of losing your job involuntarily overseas, and come back mentally ready to begin writing a fresh chapter of your life. Last but not least, identifying and starting on a new job, or a new challenge, e.g. a portfolio career where you are self-employed, is important than ‘feeling rich’. Doing something purposeful allows you to regain your self-confidence and esteem.
Paul Heng
Life Coach
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