Q: At the age of 54, I would like to retire. It is then when I will have 20 years as a federal civilian nurse. I will be retiring under the Federal Employees Retirement System. Once retired, I would like to work for the Forest Service part-time or seasonally. How will this affect my retirement? How will my retirement income be computed? Can I collect my FERS retirement while still working for the Forest Service?
A: As a FERS employee, you aren’t eligible to retire. The earliest point at which you could do that is when you reach your minimum retirement age. MRAs range between 55 and 57, depending on your year of birth. Even then, you’d be retiring under the MRA+10 provision (MRA + between 10 and 29 years of service), and your annuity would be reduced by five percent for every year you were under age 62. If you did retire and went back to work for the government, in all likelihood the salary of your new position would be offset by the amount of your annuity.
