Q. If my agency offers an early out I will be age 53 with 28 years of service. My question is in regards to the FERS supplement. Will I still be entitled to this at my MRA which is age 56 or is it lost forever? Some in HR have said it will be lost because I retired early out and therefore I will never receive it. This is a major factor in deciding if I wish to go out early.
A. The people in HR who told you that the FERS supplement would be lost are wrong, wrong, wrong. You will be entitled to the SRS when you reach your MRA. Go to your personnel office, ask them to boot up their computers and go to https://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/publications-forms/csrsfers-handbook/c043.pdf. Then tell them to scroll to Section 43B2.1-1B. Once they’ve read that, they’ll never misinform anyone again.