Q. I had planned to retire Dec. 28, 2014, since, in the past, I read that was the best time to retire in 2014. If I retire on Jan. 3, 2015, will I still be able to cash in all of my use-or-lose leave since the leave year for 2015 does not start until Jan. 10, 2015? What date you recommend for the overall greatest financial benefit?
A. As you noted, the 2014 leave year ends Jan. 10, 2015. You can retire on any day up to that and receive full credit for your unused annual leave. It’s up to you to decide if you want to wait until the end of that pay period to retire. If you do, you’ll earn several more days of pay and eight more hours of annual leave. On the other hand, you won’t be on the annuity roll until February, with your first annuity payment arriving in March.
