Q. I would like to retire in July 2013. I had 17 years, eight months in CSRS, then a break in service of 34 months. I was rehired under FERS (not the CSRS offset) and by the time I retire I’ll have 12 years, nine months in FERS (and will be 62 1/3 years old). I am a WG-11 step 5 and don’t expect to be promoted before I retire.
Is there anything I should be aware of or cautious about, given this (from what I’m told is) unusual setup of both CSRS and FERS?
A. Because you left your CSRS retirement contributions in the retirement fund, when you retire your annuity will be made up of a CSRS component and a FERS component, each calculated under its own rules. Your eligibility to retire will be governed by FERS. Since you could retire at age age 62 with as few as five years of service, that really doesn’t matter. Also, by being age 62, you’ll be eligible to receive future cost-of-living adjustments on both components, once again governed by the rules for CSRS and FERS.
