Q. I am 50 years old with 25 years of service (FERS). There is talk of an early retirement being offered later this year. If I were to take an early retirement would I receive the Social Security supplement? A. You wouldn’t be eligible to receive the special retirement supplement until you reach your minimum retirement age. Since you were born between 1953 and 1964, your MRA is 56.
Browsing: Early retirement
Q. I am a Defense Department employee with close to 32 years of service. I am 51 ½ years old. I fall under CSRS. They are talking about offering voluntary early retirement with a $25,000 bonus. If I had a firm offer, I would love to negotiate a trade of the $25,000 for some or all of the 2 percent per year reduction I will need to take if I accept the VERA. Have you ever heard of this being done? A. No, because it can’t be done. The law doesn’t permit it.
Q. I am under the FERS program. I’m 45 years old with 25 years of federal service. If I quit now to take care of my mother, will I receive a pension, how much, and when will it begin? A. You would be eligible for a deferred annuity at age 60. It would be based on your creditable service and high-3 on the day you left. Here’s the formula: 0.01 x your high-3 x your years and full months of service.
Q. I am under the FERS retirement system. I am 49 with 21 years of service. I am being told there will be a VERA/VISP offered this fall and next spring. I will turn 50 during the VERA/VISP timeline. If I take the VERA, will my government annuity be reduced by the 5 percent per year? A. If you accept an offer of early retirement, you will be exempt from the 5 percent-per-year age penalty.
Q: The Army has announced it may offer VERA/VSIP to many civilian employees in 2012. I had planned to retire Sept. 30 and have submitted my paperwork to retire. If VSIPs are offered, I could delay or cancel my retirement if I thought I could get a VSIP in 2012. Would I be able to do this? How should I handle it? A: I’ve answered this question several times. And the answer hasn’t changed. The purpose of the Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment program is to get selected employees who had not intended to resign or retire to do so. If…
Q: Which is better and what are the advantages of taking a FERS disability retirement or a VERA. I am eligible for both but want to take the one most advantageous to me. I am a 26-year employee suffering from Parkinson’s disease and am going to retire either way. A: I’ll give you the formulas, you can do the math. However, I’ll include a couple of facts along the way that may help you to decide which is better. If you accept an offer of early retirement, your FERS annuity will be calculated as follows: 0.01 x your high-3 x…
Q: I am contemplating retiring on the 2011 VERA/VSIP offer. If I took a VSIP in 1995 and returned to federal employment in 2002, am I eligible to receive a VERA in 2011? A: There isn’t any bar to your accepting another offer of early retirement. However, you are barred for life from accepting another Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment.
Q: I will be 55 in September and I’m trying to retire when I’m 56. I have worked for the federal government for 26 years and I am under FERS retirement. My agency is offering the voluntary retirement until September and it has been offering this for the past five years. I hope this early voluntary retirement will be offered next year when I reach 56. It is my understanding that if my agency is offering the voluntary retirement, I don’t have to reduce my FERS retirement at the 5 percent rate for each year. Is this correct? My other …
Q: I have 24 years combined service with the postal service and the military. If I retire next year, I will be 58 with 25 years of service. If I retire, would I be charged the 5 percent reduction in retirement for two years because I will be 60 in two years, or would I be penalized the 5 percent for 4 years, since I would not be 62. A: You’d be penalized 5 percent for every year (5/12 percent per month) that you are under age 62.
Q. In light of the recent announcement about getting rid of 220,000 postal employees by 2015, do you still see a new round of early retirement offers any time soon, similar to what was offered on the West Coast and to managers earlier this year? Or will the Postal Service just try to get authorization to lay off all of the 220,000? I am a 25-year rural carrier who would be glad to accept early retirement at this point. A. I’ve sent your question to our Office of Currently Unanswerable Questions. What you read was a proposal. Whether anything will come of…