Q. I am doing long-range retirement planning, and the answer I need is not addressed by the OPM website, as the end of leave year page is only shown through 2020. Could you give an estimate of the best days for a FERS covered employee to retire at the end of leave year in 2021 and 2022? My research shows that I need to work until Dec. 31, 2022, to get full credit for the entire leave year.
A. I don’t know when the leave year will end in 2021 or 2022. And I’m not going to waste my time finding out, because it really doesn’t make any difference. That’s because you need to obey only two rules when retiring at the end of a year. First, retire at the close of a pay period so you’ll get credit for any annual and sick leave you earned during that pay period and be able to get a lump-sum payment for any annual leave that exceeds the annual carry-over limit. Second, retire at the close of a pay period closest to the end of a month so you’ll be on the annuity roll in the following month.
4 Comments
Leave years always coincide with the end of a pay period. If the end of the pay period is 31 December then that is also the end of the leave year.
True.
A leave year begins on the first day of the first full biweekly pay period in a calendar year.
True.