LEO retirement eligibility

1

Q. What would my retirement benefit percentage be if I retire at 20 years as a law enforcement officer but I am only 43? Four years of military bought back. Started in the Federal Bureau of Prisons at age 22 in 1993. Will have 20 years on Sept. 19 and will turn 43 a few days later. Served in the Army from age 18 to 22, 1989-1993. Can I do this? Presumably with a decreased benefit.

A. You couldn’t retire because you don’t have the combination of age and service needed to do that. What you could do is resign after you have 20 years of covered service and apply for a deferred annuity at age 56. Those 20 years would be computed using the enhanced formula: .017 x your high-3 when you left x 20 years. The remaining years would be computed using the standard formula: .01 x your high-3 x all years over 20.

Share.

About Author

Reg Jones was head of retirement and insurance policy at the Office of Personnel Management. Email your retirement-related questions to fedexperts@federaltimes.com.

1 Comment

  1. Some one explain to me how this answer is correct? There was just a discussion on this almost same scenario on another thread. Where is the 1.7% computation coming from? Isn’t it 1% for all years?

Reply To Doug Cancel Reply