Q: I am covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System’s law enforcement retirement plan. I have 11 years in as a law enforcement officer plus three years of federal service as a non-LEO. I am 48 and am considering retirement to go back to school. I may return to federal service at some point, but not as an LEO. I would be retiring without having 20 years of service or reaching my mandatory retirement age of 57. I know there are benefits to retiring as opposed to resigning (especially as an LEO), but what are the major pension pros and…
Browsing: Early retirement
Q: I am a Federal Employees Retirement System employee with the U.S. Postal Service. I have been with the USPS for 26 years and want to retire now at age 58 (Minimum Retirement Age +10). I know that my annuity would be reduced by 5 percent per year for each year under 62 (20 percent overall) if I collect it now. I know if I delayed retirement until age 60, I’d get an unreduced annuity. But if I delayed my annuity until age 60 (while still retiring at age 58), would I get a full annuity, or would it be…
Q: I have been working at the U.S. Postal Service for 26 years. I am 58 years old, and I will retire very shortly. I know that I cannot collect the special retirement supplement under these conditions, but will I start to receive the supplement when I turn 60? Or does retiring under the Minimum Retirement Age +10 provision require me to forfeit the SRS totally? A: No one who retires under the MRA+10 provision is eligible to receive the special retirement supplement. That’s the law.
Q: I work for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. In November, I will have 20 years’ service in law enforcement and will be 49 years old. If I decide to retire right there and then, do I have to wait an extra year to collect benefits? Can I retire at age 49 with 20 years of law enforcement plus 4 years of active-duty military service? A: No, you can’t retire on an immediate annuity at age 49. You’ll have to wait until age 50 to retire under the special provision for law enforcement officers. You could, of course, resign from…
Q: At the age of 54, I would like to retire. It is then when I will have 20 years as a federal civilian nurse. I will be retiring under the Federal Employees Retirement System. Once retired, I would like to work for the Forest Service part-time or seasonally. How will this affect my retirement? How will my retirement income be computed? Can I collect my FERS retirement while still working for the Forest Service? A: As a FERS employee, you aren’t eligible to retire. The earliest point at which you could do that is when you reach your minimum…
Q: I am a federal firefighter (GS-081 series) covered by the Civil Service Retirement System. I work for the National Park Service. My department is being abolished this year, with a local city department taking responsibility of fire supression. RIF notices are coming out next month. I am under CSRS retirement. I have 27.5 years in, I am 48.5 years old. I can retire at age 50. The Park Service has said that they can’t place me anywhere else because they have no GS-081 positions anywhere. They want to give me an early retirement. Will I face any penalties for…
Q: I read your Q&As and found the answer I was looking for, but with one variable missing. I see that active-duty years cannot count toward the 25-year retirement from federal firefighting without being called to active duty while in a covered position. What if all of your active-duty years were as a firefighter — does that make a difference? My question comes from the fact that my Total Workforce Management System early retirement date would only be possible if my active years counted. I have bought back my years. A: No, it doesn’t make a difference. Your active-duty time…
Q. If they offer the early retirement this year to postmasters I will have close to 26 years, but I will be just 48 years old in August. Will I be able to retire and get the Social Security Supplement also? A. If you accept an early retirement offer, you would be eligible for the special retirement when you reach your minimum retirement age. Since you were born between 1953 and 1964, your MRA would be 56.
Q. I have often thought about leaving the federal government, but I don’t want to leave the possibility of an early retirement on the table. I was hired by the federal government in May 1999 and I bought my prior military service (eight years of active duty). My minimum retirement age is 56 and my service computation date is in January 1991. By January 2011, I will have 20 years of federal employment and will be about two years shy of my 50th birthday. In prior years, the agency that I work for has offered OPM-sanctioned voluntary early retirements (VERA).…
Q. Thank you so much for your article entitled “Making sense of 2 types of annuities.” It was very informative to the fifty-something people in my office. Assuming FERS, two questions. When you refer to annuity, are you referring to 1) the person’s pension or 2) the person getting the equivalent of some of type of early Social Security benefits? And if the answer to the above is the person’s pension, is it possible for one to start collecting Social Security benefits (or the equivalent of) once they do early retirement (for example, age 57)? Obviously, if this was so,…