Q. I will be 61 in November, and I have 27 years of service with the Veterans Affairs Department under FERS. I also have three years and seven months of military service that they say I can’t count unless I pay for it. When can I retire?
A. You can retire now because you are at least 60 years old and have at least 20 years of FERS service. P.S. They are right. You won’t get any credit for your active-duty service unless you make a deposit for that time. If you did, your annuity would be 3.7 percent higher.