Q. I’ve been with the Postal Service for 22 years and am 49 years old. I’ve started a new career. Can I retire next year at age 50? Will I be eligible for any retirement money?
A. No, you cannot retire at age 50. In fact, the earliest you would be able to retire is when you reach your minimum retirement age, which is 56. Even then you would be retiring under the MRA+10 provision (minimum retirement age with at least 10 but fewer than 30 years of service). At retirement, your annuity would be reduced by 5 percent for every year (5/12 percent per month) you were under age 62. The only way to reduce or avoid the reduction would be to retire and postpone the receipt of your annuity until a later date.
