Q: I am 53 and work for the U.S. Postal Service under CSRS with 33.5 years service. Our facility is undergoing an AMP study to determine whether it will shut our plant down and merge operations with a facility 50 miles away. If they do shut us down, I would like to retire early at that time. I know that there is a 2 percent per year penalty for retiring early. This AMP study will probably not be finished until sometime in June. I know that the post office is about to offer voluntary early retirement sometime this spring or…
Browsing: Early retirement
Q: I am 54 with 28 years in the U.S. Postal Service with CSRS. What would my penalties be if I choose to retire this year? A: You aren’t eligible to retire, so the question is moot. Unless your agency offers you an opportunity to retire early, the earliest you can retire is age 55 with 30 years of service. If they did offer you that opportunity, your annuity would be reduced by 1/6 percent for every month you were under age 55.
Q: I recently requested the retirement package be sent to me and have a phone session scheduled for next week with a projected retirement date of June 3 (I am U.S. Postal Service letter carrier with 32 years of service). I am concerned that an incentive may be offered to get voluntary retirement due to budget problems. How would this affect someone who is in the process of retiring? Should I wait to send in the application until much closer to my retirement date to see if an incentive is offered? Or would I not be eligible for the incentive…
Q: I am 57 and a FERS employee with slightly more than 11 years federal civilian service. I am told that under certain conditions of discontinued service/VSIP, VERA, etc., it is possible for early retirement under MRA +10 without penalties for an immediate annuity. Is that correct? A: The age penalty of 5 percent per year applies to all retirements under the MRA+10 provision. However, you can reduce the penalty by postponing the receipt of your annuity to a later date. Because you have fewer than 20 years of service, you’d have to wait until age 62 to eliminate it.…
Q: I am a Postal employee with 25+ years under FERS. Can I take the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority if I am excessed? A: The VERA applies only when OPM has granted an agency permission to offer early retirement. However, if no such authority has been granted to your agency, but you receive an official notice that you will be separated from your position, and there is no other job at the same grade or pay in your commuting area, you would be eligible for a discontinued service retirement.
Q: I am 50 years old and have been working for the last five years in a civil service position for a county sheriff. I served eight years and three months in the Coast Guard and have an opportunity to move to a federal job. If I stay in my current position, I will have to wait until I am 65 to retire. Is there a retirement benefit to moving to the federal job? Can I combine the periods that I have worked in the military, civil service and in a federal job for a total of 20 years and…
Q: If someone is going into his eighth year under the Federal Employees Retirement System and is eligible to retire in two years, is there any way he could buy two years of service so he could retire with benefits? A: No, there isn’t.
Q: I am 53 years old and have 36 years of federal service. One catch: I don’t have the five years of coverage under a Federal Employees Health Benefit plan (I’m still four years short). If my office offers early out through downsizing or restructuring, approved by the Office of Personnel Management, can I retire and carry my health benefits into retirement, even though I don’t have five years of coverage? A: Yes, you would be eligible to carry your coverage into retirement because you would have been enrolled in the program at the time your agency received approval from…
Q: I was injured on the job in September and was denied workers’ compensation. I have submitted additional information from my physician and am now considering early retirement. Can I retire early while waiting for a decision on the compensation claim? A: Yes, you can.
Q: If a 56-year-old Federal Employees Retirement System employee with 22 years of creditable service is involuntarily separated under a discontinued service retirement and takes the immediate annuity, does the annuity reduction of 2 percent per year for every year under age 62 apply? Does the employee also immediately qualify for the FERS annuity supplement? A: If you take a discontinued service retirement, you won’t be penalized 5 percent (not 2 percent) for every year you are under age 62. Further, because you have reached your minimum retirement age, you will be eligible to receive the special retirement supplement.