Q. I resigned from federal service in July 2011. I have 15 years of service and am 53. I was a FERS employee. I’m trying to figure out what my retirement will be. My understanding is that I can start drawing my pension when I’m 56. I also understand there is a 5 percent penalty for each year under 62, meaning if I started taking my pension at 56, it would be reduced by 30 percent.
It is also my understanding that the way to figure out what my pension would be is to use .01 x high-3 x years and months of service. Am I right?
A. You are mistaken about when you’d be eligible for a deferred annuity.
The earliest that you would be eligible is age 62. That annuity would be calculated using the formula you cited.
