Q. I plan on retiring in November 2017 and am counting on the special retirement supplement since I will have 32 years of service and be 56 years old. I’m hoping Congress does not touch the special supplement; but if it does, do you think it will affect people like me who are really close to retirement? Or will this legislation only affect newly hired federal employees going forward?
A. Unfortunately, there’s no way to predict what action the current Congress will take, if any. And if there’s uncertainty about that, there’s even more uncertainty about what effect the results of November’s congressional elections will have on the subject.
2 Comments
I share your concerns. I plan on retiring in three years when I reach the MRA of 56, and my retirement plans (FERS) have always factored in the annuity supplement.
Over the course of my 30 years I have made a series of career and retirement planning decisions based on the assumption that the FERS annuity supplement would be available when I retired. However, had I known that a key part of my federal retirement package might be taken away, I would have made some very different choices along the way.
Don’t assume the worst. Most bills introduced in Congress don’t anywhere. This may be one of them.