Q. I was active-duty military for 24 years, then went contractor for a few, and have been an Army civilian going on four years now. I was told that I could retire at my minimum retirement age (56) after 10 years of civilian service. Is that correct, and if so, what type of retirement would I be eligible for? Also, by looking at the FERS section on my leave and earnings statement, how can I figure out how much a month I would be getting at retirement?
A. You would be able to retire under the MRA+10 provision, which would be computed using this formula: 0.01 x your high-3 x 10 years of service. However, your annuity would be reduced by 5 percent for each year (5/12 percent per month) that you were under age 62. You could reduce or eliminate the age penalty by retiring and postponing the receipt of your annuity to a later date.
