Early retirement and insurance

3

Q. My spouse is sick. I am 59 and have 19 years of service. Can I take early retirement and keep my health insurance and life insurance?

A. Yes, you could retire under the MRA+10 provision and continue your health and life insurance coverage, as long as you had been enrolled in them for the five consecutive years before you retire. However, your annuity would be reduced by 5 percent for every year you were under age 62. Alternatively, you could ask your employer to let you work part-time and retire on a penalty-free annuity at age 60.

Share.

About Author

Reg Jones was head of retirement and insurance policy at the Office of Personnel Management. Email your retirement-related questions to fedexperts@federaltimes.com.

3 Comments

  1. Tracy Biediger on

    Can you elaborate on why the annuity would be unreduced if the person worked part time? Thank you

    • I meant unreduced in the sense that there would be no penalty under the MRA+10 provision. I’ve since revised the answer to say “penalty-free”

  2. Age 60 with 20 years of service qualifies for an immediate, unreduced annuity. So if they can just work until age 60, they won’t be retiring under MRA+10, which subjects you to a penalty.

Leave A Reply