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Update 48: Retirement
What do you mean you're leaving!?
It's exactly what it sounds like. I'm sick of all this Labyrinth stuff. So, I'm retiring!
This is gonna be a short update, as I'm just covering a mechanic here. Retirement is something you can do at a guild once one of your characters reaches level 30.
I'll demonstrate this with Faye, as she's level 41.
But I just arrived here!
Are you seriously abandoning your guild!? This whole Labyrinth exploration thing was your idea in the first place!
Eh, I got sick of it. And don't worry, I won't leave you guys helpless. I brought in a replacement!
...You what?
Now what retirement does is that it deletes your character and any equipment they're wearing, so be sure to take your equipment off of them! And no, you aren't warned about that for some reason, even though the 2nd game did that.
The game will ask you if you're sure about this. Once you say yes again, there's no going back.
So what retirement is in story terms is that your characters were training an apprentice to take their place for when they retired.
And you can name your apprentice whatever they want. (Or give them the same name to pretend that you're using the same character.)
And give them whatever class and portrait you want. The stats of the apprentice will be shown on the top screen.
Say hi... to Faye Jr.!
What the-!? Hey! Let me go!
Now the apprentice's level will be at half of the retiree's level (Unlike most formulas in EO3, this is actually rounded up.) Their level can be at a minimum of 15 or a maximum of 30. If your character is level 59 or above when they retire, the apprentice will always come in at level 30.
What's going on here!?
Okay, have fun with your new leader! I'm off to new places! Hmm, maybe Tharsis would be a good vacation spot.
I don't understand what just happened.
I don't either.
Now the apprentice will come with boosted stats. As you can see, Faye Jr.'s stats, including HP and TP, are higher than Faye's stats by 2 points at level 21. So there is a point to this. The higher the retiree's level is, the bigger the stat boosts the apprentice has. Oh, and if you used up any books on the retiree, they'll carry over to the apprentice, so don't worry about that.
Um... You know that my name's not actually Faye Jr., right?
Yeah, we kinda figured.
Oh and the apprentice also has more skill points to work with. Like with stats, the higher the retiree's level is, the more skill points the apprentice gains.
So uh, can I just leave? I... don't really know how to lead a guild, or fight or all that stuff. I was just trying to get a quick meal at the Butterfly Bistro for crying out loud!
Yes, you may leave.
Okay, thanks. Geez. What a crazy morning.
Sooo... Now what?
Keep exploring? Or disband, I guess?
Oh, Faye. Why did you have to leave us? Of all the stupid, irresponsible things you could have done, this has to be one of the worst ones!
What the heck are you yelling about!? I'm right here!
Huh!?
Geez, you woke up the whole inn with your sleep yelling. What were you dreaming about? 
Oh, well...
Of course I probably won't actually make use of retirement in this game. I find it to be not that worth it. In fact I don't recommend retiring as soon as possible. Simply because this game is not that grind friendly, and the bonuses it gives isn't that much. The stat and skill point bonuses for retiring at certain levels are as follows.
Level 30-39: +1 to all stats, +4 skill points
Level 40-49: +2 to all stats, +5 skill points
Level 50-59: +3 to all stats, +6 skill points
Level 60-69: +4 to all stats, +7 skill points
Level 70-98: +5 to all stats, +8 skill points
Level 99: +10 to all stats, +10 skill points
Yeah, retiring as early as possible only gets you a 1 point boost to every stat. Yay. 
While you do get a skill point bonus, the difficulty of grinding in this game makes it kind of not worth it. Now I would say it's worth it if you just unlocked a new class and want to put them on your team. Just throw out one of the party members you don't intend to use anymore, and then bring in an apprentice from one of the new classes you unlocked so they won't start at level 1. Oh and retiring at 99 is when I would also consider retiring to be worth it because the post-game final boss is a steaming pile of bull- whoops, getting ahead of myself there. But retiring at 99 does give you more significant bonuses than if you retired at an earlier level. However, it's not necessary at all to complete the game, so don't worry about it if you don't want to. Besides, the stat boosts from retirement are kind of pointless thanks to books. The only reason to retire is if you want the skill point bonus it gives you. However, retirement bonuses do not stack. They take into account the last time you retired. If you retire at level 70, and then retire again at level 50, your character would only get the bonuses from when they retired at level 50, so there's no reason to retire a character more than once.
Geez, that's what you were having a nightmare about? Ha, I didn't think you cared about me that much. Relax, Cassie. I ain't leaving the guild anytime soon. Get some sleep, it's like 3 in the morning. Sheesh.