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What age do you aspire to retire at?
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I recently left one for another of the Big Four and was the lucky recipient of 6 months of garden leave; amazing, got paid and did whatever I felt like. Best possible way to get my head clear for the new job and I’ve since landed better than I would’ve had the old firm not been cross about it.
Things to keep an eye on: first, the firms are experts at poaching / landing each other’s partners, ask to speak to someone in the new firm’s partner affairs group and compare benefits and vested values line by line; I learned a LOT by doing this (not being an accountant) and was reassured in my choice.
Second, keep every scrap of paper your current firm sends you, and print hard copies of tax and income information. If, like me, you spent a chunk of your career at the place you’re leaving, it’s hard to remember how much you’re tied to the email and storage accounts that are about to go away.
Third, assume some tax turbulence as the firms calculate and compensate partner tax liabilities slightly differently; I chose to keep my signing bonus and most of my increase saved for the first year or so to let things equalize in case there was trouble (there hasn’t been, but there were lots of times where it seemed likely, and the peace of mind was worth the delayed gratification).
Finally, make a list of the people you care about — NOT people you’re trying to poach or other means of violating your partner agreement, but just the folks who matter to you — and load their cell numbers into a personal phone not associated to the firm. I haven’t gone after any non-compete clients or sought to recruit anyone from the old place, but definitely would’ve missed the opportunity to connect with the friends a long career had produced without the unfriendly intermediary of LinkedIn.
It’s been a while for me at the “new” firm and still there are days when I feel like it’s just another engagement that will come to an end before I go back “home.” Those are becoming less frequent — like the dreams of missing a final in your last year of school — but be prepared for a surprising amount of emotional baggage leaving a partnership can represent, especially if you grew up at your current firm.
Good luck!
Thanks, P1. Fabulous post
Always shudder at the thought of walking away from that pension, but imagine you managed around it.
At our firm, technically you have to give six months notice, and I’ve heard of situations where people have resigned and were made to stick around, believe it or not. But your competitor/future firm either needs be reminded or be told that.
The partner pension is lost, the capital is yours, and I wouldn’t expect a lot of help on the taxes, which will be a nightmare, I would think between yours and the partnerships taxes.
I’m sure there are others who can get more weedy.
Yes, we had the same case. The partner was heading to the competitor and they made him sit idle during the notice period. It was strange seeing him be around without doing any work. The tone of the discussion changes gradually from what can we do to retain you to we will be tough on you as you are betraying the firm. Expect the CEO and head of consulting to have a chat with you to see if they can resolve your issues and retain you.
Suspect you’ll lose the pension, friend
I’ll lose the partner pension but not the employee pension. Not a ton of money.