Lucrative post-retirement careers

4/30/2005

For many people, the thought of retirement conjures up Social Security, perhaps a pension, and maybe even a condo in Florida.

But for some sought-after corporate directors, retirement is a whole new career, including jetting across the country and attending dozens of board and committee meetings in cities like Chicago, Atlanta, San Diego, and, yes, Toledo.

Among them are W. Ann Reynolds, 67, a board member of Toledo's Owens Corning for the last 14 years, and James Kelly, 61, a director of Dana Corp. of Toledo since 2002.

Between them, they hold seats on boards of nine companies with publicly traded stock and receive total compensation of over $1.1 million a year.

They also are an indication of the attractiveness of qualified directors in a business environment shaken by scandals of recent years.

Corporations are eager to recruit and keep experienced board members who are both independent and finance-savvy.

Ms. Reynolds, a former president of the University of Alabama, Birmingham, also is on the boards of Humana Inc., of Louisville; Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, Ill.; Maytag Corp., Newton, Iowa, and Invitrogen Corp., Carlsbad, Calif.

She receives about $124,000 in fees annually from Owens Corning; $81,000 from Humana, plus $100,000 worth of stock and $425,000 in life insurance; $85,000 from Maytag, plus options on 4,000 shares annually and a pension of at least $35,000 at age 70; $92,000 from Abbott Labs, plus $90,000 in stock; and $75,000 from Invitrogen.

Mr. Kelly, who rose from delivery driver to chairman and chief executive of United Parcel Service Inc., of Atlanta, retired at the end of 2001 and now is serves on the boards not only of UPS and Dana but also those of BellSouth Corp., Atlanta, and Hewitt Associates Inc., Lincolnshire, Ill.

His annual compensation includes $58,000 in director fees from Dana, plus $75,000 worth of stock; $91,250 and up in fees from BellSouth, plus $35,000 in stock and options on 5,800 shares; $75,000 in fees from UPS, plus $85,000 in stock; and $40,000 from Hewitt, plus $60,000 in stock.