These dates are key for feds considering retirement

In this column, I’ll point out key dates that affect your entitlement to retirement benefits.
Two dates determine if you can retire. The first is your birthday. It controls whether you have reached the right age to retire. For most Civil Service Retirement System employees, that’s 55. For most Federal Employees Retirement System employees, it ranges between 55 and 57, depending on your year of birth.
The second key date is your service computation date. For many employees, this is the day you were first employed by the federal government. For others, it’s an earlier date based on credit for active-duty military service. And it’s a later date for those who had one or more breaks in service.
For most CSRS employees, the magic combination to retire is 55 years of age and 30 years of service. But it can also be age 60 with 20 years of service or age 62 with five years of service. For most FERS employees, it’s your minimum retirement age, which ranges from 55 to 57, with 30 years of service; however, like CSRS, it can also be age 60 with 20 years of service or age 62 with five years of service.
For FERS employees, retirement can be at your minimum retirement age with at least 10 but fewer than 30 years of service. However, there’s a 5 percent per year penalty, unless you postpone receipt of your annuity to a later date to reduce or eliminate the penalty.
While unused sick leave can’t be added to your years of service to determine your eligibility to retire, it will be added after you’ve met the eligibility requirement and increase the amount of your annuity. CSRS employees get full credit for unused sick leave. FERS employees retiring on or after Oct. 28, 2009, through Dec. 31, 2013, get credit for half of their unused sick leave. Beginning in calendar year 2014, they’ll get full credit.
Military service
In setting service computation dates, I said you could get credit for active-duty military service. If you served in the military before Dec. 31, 1956, you won’t have to make a deposit to the retirement fund to receive credit for that time in determining your eligibility to retire or in your annuity computation.
However, if you served on or after Jan. 1, 1957, how that time is treated will depend on when you were first employed as a fed. If it was on or after Oct. 1, 1982, you’ll only receive credit if you make a deposit before you retire. If you were first employed before that date, you have a choice: You can make a deposit or choose not to.
If you don’t make a deposit and will be eligible for a Social Security benefit, your annuity will be computed without your military time. If you won’t be eligible for a Social Security benefit, you’ll get full credit for military service in your annuity.
If you are receiving military retired pay, in most cases you’ll have to waive that pay in addition to making a deposit to the retirement system. If you are receiving reserve retired pay, you’ll still have to make a deposit but you won’t have to waive reserve retired pay.
Nondeduction service
If you worked in a federal job from which no retirement deductions were taken, Oct. 1, 1982, is a key date. If you are a CSRS employee and you worked in such a position before Oct. 1, 1982, you’ll receive credit for the time in determining your eligibility to retire; however, if you don’t make a deposit for that period, your annuity will be reduced by 10 percent of the unpaid amount plus accrued interest. If the nondeduction service was performed on or after that date, you’ll have to make a deposit to get any credit.
For FERS employees, if the service was before Jan. 1, 1989, you can get credit for that time if you make a deposit plus accrued interest. If it was on or after Jan. 1, 1989, it won’t be creditable for any purpose. Ë