Apparently Mary Kay’s national sales directors see the writing on the wall with this company. Their incomes have been falling for the last several years, as fewer women are joining MK and the purchases of inventory are dropping. The number of cars on the road are falling, and sales directors are buying their way into the pink Cadillac.

With numbers falling, this spells bad news for nsds. You see, their income depends on recruiting and ordering. And their retirement depends on the same thing. The retirement income of an nsd is based on her average commissions prior to retirement, so if commissions are dropping, that means the expected retirement payout is dropping too. Best to retire as soon as possible!

Upon retirement, Mary Kay purchases an annuity that pays out the benefit to the nsd. So the retirement money is very, very safe. If you’re an nsd and you’re scared that Mary Kay is a sinking ship, then retiring now is a good choice. The retirement payout is calculated like this:

• You must have at least 5 year of service as an nsd to qualify
• You are eligible to retire on the January 1 after your 65th birthday OR any January 1 after you have been an nsd for 15 years
• Retirement benefits are paid monthly for 15 years, for a total of 180 payment
• The amount is 60% of the nsd’s “final average commissions”
• Final average commissions is the average of the nsd commissions for the best 3 out of the last 5 calendar years of nsd service
• Included in nsd commissions are all U.S. commissions paid while an nsd, including personal team and unit production commissions
• Retirement age is 65, but if you want to retire before that and you don’t have your 15 years in, you can do so with a reduced percentage of average final commissions (ex. If you retire at age 59, you will receive 48% of average commissions.)
• There are lots of other picky details, but this is the general idea

You can see that the last 5 years of commissions are EVERYTHING to this retirement payout calculation. If your commissions are dropping, then your retirement payout is dropping, and you need to get out fast before it goes any lower.

Therefore, TONS of Mary Kay nsds are retiring at “Leadership Conference” (the sales director and above conference) in early 2025. Check out this Facebook thread for some of the names. The rumor is that 34 national sales directors will be retiring at the conference. Wow! I was also interested to see old timers Dawn Dunn and Pamela Waldrop Shaw retiring. They are lifers!!!!