Q. I am 52 years old and have 22 years of federal employment. Can I retire? If so, how soon can I receive monthly payments, and how much would they be reduced by? How would this affect my Social Security benefits later? Also, how would this affect my medical insurance?
A. Unless you are a special category employee, such as a law enforcement officer or a firefighter, you don’t meet the age and service requirements to retire.
For FERS employees, these are: age 62 with five years of service, 60 with 20, at your minimum retirement age (MRA) with 30, and at your MRA+10, but with a 5 percent-per-year age penalty for every year you are under age 62. Your MRA is 56.
There is an option. Because you have at least 20 years of service, you could resign and apply for a deferred annuity at age 60. After 31 days of free health benefits coverage, you’d be able to continue it for up to 18 months under the temporary continuation of coverage provision of law. However, you’d have to pay the entire premium plus 2 percent.
