“Retroactive retirement”

So now, Ed Gillespie, Romney senior campaign adviser, argues that Romney retired “retroactively” from Bain in 2002.

[Romney] took a leave of absence and in fact he ended up not going back at all, and retired retroactively to 1999 as a result. He left a life he loved to go to Salt Lake City and help a country he loves more, and somehow Chicago… is trying to make it something sinister.

I guess Romney is different from you and me. I have never figured out how I could possibly “retire” after I already provided input and services, and disregarding the fact that I have never been a CEO, Chairman and President of a company from which I claimed retroactive retirement.