Q: I am a Title 38 Veterans Health Administration part-time registered nurse and will be going full time my final three years. I will be retiring with 31 years of service at age 58. Are my part-time years computed on a prorated basis for my retirement annuity?
A: Without getting into agonizing detail, your period of part-time service will be treated as if it were full-time service when determining your eligibility to retire; however, because you were less than full time, when computing your annuity, that period will be prorated. For example, if you had 30 years of service and you worked 20 hours a week during three of them, your annuity would be based on 28.5 years. It’s actually more complicated than that, but you get the idea.
