Negotiated layoff?

[Half Stached]

Has anyone negotiated a layoff?

Here's my situation... I am planning on retiring in April, 2019. This past April I informed my boss that I was looking at early retirement in a few years. He's been very supportive and curious about it. There has been a fair bit of strategic change in the company over the past year, and the team I run is no longer optimized for the direction the company is headed. It looks like it makes the most sense for my team and another team to combine. Given that I'm planning on leaving soon-ish, it makes sense from a company perspective for the other lead to take on the combined team. I was discussing this with my boss, and he wanted to know if I'd want to be laid off in the first half of 2019 instead of retiring. I'd stay on until then to help with the team transition and handle a few special projects.

Pros (for me):
A layoff would net me 6 months of severance, and then a possibility of collecting unemployment.
I maintain the most positive relationship with the company, which would open possibilities of part time consulting in the future, should I want some additional money.

Pros (for the company):
They can better plan around my availability and the team transition can be seamless. They keep the team lead who will likely be there long term rather than short term.

Cons (for me):
Once I start down this path, it doesn't unwind. Paperwork for this would start in early 2018. I wouldn't be able to audible to a later retirement date if I wanted to do so.

Has anyone handled this kind of situation before? What questions do I need to ask/answer? I've already planned a detailed physical from my doctor in early January to make sure that there are no potential medical issues. What else?

Overall, the happy path here looks like it would net me 6 months of free pay... what am I missing?

[frugaliknowit]

Do you get a defined benefit pension?  If so, how would a layoff impact it?

[Half Stached]

The company has no pension plan, though I do have some long term incentives. Each one pays out 1/3 each year for each of the next three years (in March, hence the April planned retirement date). Given how previous layoffs have worked, I would expect to still receive this, even if I negotiated a layoff as early as January 2019.

[frugaliknowit]

Given that what we are really talking about is quitting (or more precisely quitting, then not moving to a competitor), I personally would not "show my cards".  I don't see what you gain by letting your company know your plans.  All you need to do is leave a courtesy notice.  Yes, you might get a severance, but then again, maybe not.  You also might get booted sooner than you want to.  I would do it whenever it is best for you financially (like after collecting a bonus).

I don't trust corporate America.

[Half Stached]

Well, I've already shown my cards: I told my boss 8 months ago about my intent to retire in 2019. What I gain by working with them on this is 6 months of pay without working. That seems like quite a lot.

[Imma]

I think this sounds like a mutually beneficial sitation for both of you. Do inform yourself about the legal side of things / get things in writing just to be sure. Make sure they can't get back on their promises once you've agreed to this.