Q. I have completed 20 years in the Navy Reserve. I have been working as a GS for five years now and am 48. I am crediting my active-duty time to my GS service. It should total around seven years.
1) At age 56 (I was born in 1964), I will have 20 years of service (including the seven years of active duty I purchased). Can I begin my annuity then for the FERS retirement with no penalties?
2) At age 59, I can begin drawing my Navy Reserve retirement due to time served in a war zone. Are there any problems drawing the FERS retirement and my Navy Reserve retirement at the same time? Is that authorized?
A. 1) No. Because you’d be retiring under the MRA+10 provision, your annuity would be reduced by 5 percent for every year you were under age 60. You could, of course, retire and delay the receipt of your annuity to reduce or eliminate the age penalty. Regardless of when you began receiving your annuity, you wouldn’t be entitled to the special retirement supplement. No one who retires under the MRA+10 provision is.
2) Yes, you could receive both your reserve retired pay and your FERS annuity.
