Q. I am a CSRS employee and was offered an early retirement by July 31 by Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments. I will be 53 in November. If I take this offer to leave two years and four months early, am I losing — as opposed to waiting the two years and four months until age 55. They are giving $20,000 in two lumps — $10,000 in December 2012 and the other $10,000 in December 2013.
A. If you retire before reaching age 55, your annuity will be permanently reduced by 2 percent for every year you are under age 55 (1/6 percent per month). In your case, that would mean a reduction of 4.67 percent. Whether the VSIP would make up for that is something you’ll have to consider, perhaps with the help of a financial adviser.
