Q. I am a FERS employee offered a voluntary early retirement date of Jan. 31, 2014 (annuity effective date Feb. 1) I am eligible for optional retirement on Feb. 3, 2014, at age 56 with more than 31 years (annuity effective date March 1). Would taking the VERA a few days earlier affect my annuity amount? Which would be more beneficial?
A. You’d be better off taking the Jan. 31 retirement date than Feb. 3. In the first instance, you’d be on the annuity roll in February; in the second, you’d lose a month and not be on the annuity roll until March. The few extra days of salary and service used in the computation of your annuity would be unlikely to offset that.
