Q. Is the federal special retirement supplemental still effective in 2016 — the one that tides you over from 60 to 62 until Social Security starts?
A. Yes. While proposals have been made in Congress to eliminate that benefit, they have gone nowhere. Note: Entitlement to the SRS begins at a retiree’s minimum retirement age, which can be as early as age 55 for those who were born before 1948.
5 Comments
Reg – this is the first time I’ve heard of this supplement. Can I ask a follow-up? I will turn 60 in October 2016, my service comp date is 03/03/1993, and I am hoping to retire as soon as possible. I have been planning on retiring in October 2018 when I turn 62. Is this supplemental available to me and how much of a deduction would I take? Thank you for your help
The FERS supplement ends at age 62, when you are eligible for Social Security. So if you don’t retire until you are 62, you won’t get a supplement. You would have to file for Social Security then if you want anything more than your FERS retirement.
Forgot to add, you can retire when you are 60. Since you have over 20 years of service, you won’t be subject to the MRA+10 penalty. So you could collect the Supplement from age 60-62, if you wanted to do that.
Any movement afoot to tie the supplement to the last 12-months earnings instead of an annual filed tax return? Is there a mid tax year change of life short cut to getting the supplement reinstated after a lay-off, for example, or an unforeseen job loss? Assuming that many people — possibly most — eligible for the SS supplement have to continue to work after civil service retirement, this leg of the FERS three-legged retirement stool seems to be a little short.
There is no movement afoot to accomplish any of the changes in law that would do any of those things, nor have they even been considered by either the Administration or the Congress.