Q. I’m 53 with 27 years and 10 months. I could get six months of military service for Army Reserve full-time training credit. I’m in a term position. If I’m given a reduction in force, what are my options? Can I defer my retirement until my minimum retirement age of 56? If so, would I lose my health and insurance benefits? If I’m RIF’ed and do not defer, does that means I lost health benefits?
A. If you receive a RIF notice, you have two choices. You can either sit tight and see if you are going to be separated, or you can take early retirement. If you are going to be involuntarily separated, you can still retire. Whether your retirement was voluntary or involuntary, the age penalty would be waived. Therefore, there wouldn’t be any point in retiring and postponing the receipt of your annuity to a later date. As for your Federal Employees Health Benefits coverage, as long as you were enrolled in the program before the RIF was announced, you could carry it into retirement.
