Q. My wife is 50 and is covered by CSRS. She has 28 years of service and wants to retire early. Is she eligible and what is the penalty? A. She isn’t eligible for early retirement unless her agency offers her that opportunity. And it can’t do that unless OPM has authorized it under the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority. Even if VERA approval was granted, early retirement offers would only be available to units, occupations, grade levels and/or geographic locations where a reduction in staff is needed. If, by chance, she received such an offer and accepted it, her annuity would be reduced by…
Browsing: Early retirement
Q: I’m an employee under the Federal Employees Retirement System with a hire date of Jan. 19, 1999. I plan on retiring the day after my 60th birthday in 2015 under the minimum retirement age plus-10 provision with 16 years of service. Will I have to take the 10 percent penalty for being two years younger than age 62, or does being age 60 somehow eliminate it? A: The 5 percent-per-year penalty will apply for every year (5/12ths of a percent per month) that you are under age 62. If you had 20 years of service and retired at age…
Q: I work at Kirtland Air Force base, N.M. A Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay/Voluntary Early Retirement Authority survey was sent out in May with a suspense date of May 21 to show interest. I completed the survey and received confirmation that it was received. The VSIP/VERA is scheduled for fiscal year 2011/2012. It’s been more than a month and I haven’t heard anything. I’d like to know for planning purposes; I am a Civil Service Retirement System employee with 33 years’ experience. Are you aware of any details or rulings? A: We haven’t heard a thing.
Q: I am thinking about buying back my time on active duty (22 years) to make a deposit so that I can retire early from the Foreign Service. If I do, will I lose any of my military retirement privileges? A: If you make a deposit for your active duty service, just before you retire from your civilian job, you will also have to waive your military retired pay. Doing so will have no affect on any other entitlements you have based on your active duty service.
Q: Civilians working for Air Force Materiel Command could be getting buyout and early retirement offers. Some may be eligible for packages of up to $25,000. Is this offer going to be provided to all the Air Force Commands? If so, when? A: We haven’t heard anything. But as a guess, the likelihood is close to zero.
Q: What is the status of VERA/VSIP being offered in September and December 2011? Has it been approved? When will we know if we are eligible to receive the incentive and retire? A: We haven’t heard a thing. Nor are we likely to hear anything before you do.
Q: I am contemplating retiring under a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA)/Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment (VSIP) authorization that expires Sep. 30, 2011. I realize I will take a two year, one month penalty. My question is, as a CSRS retiree, if I return to employment outside of the federal government, what is the maximum percentage of earnings I can make without affecting my annuity? A: Whether you get a job in or out of the federal government, there wouldn’t be any limit on the amount of money you can earn after you retire. However, if you returned to work for…
Q: I retired at the end of August 2010 and my agency is now offering a buyout for early retirement. Am I eligible for the buyout bonus? I meet the age and service requirements for voluntary early retirement. A: No. The sole purpose of a buyout is to entice employees to leave or retire. No incentive other than an offer of early retirement was needed to get you to retire. You can hardly expect an after-the-fact reward for having done so. Besides, the law wouldn’t permit it.
Q: I will be 52 years old in June and will have 20 years of service in September 2011. Five years of that was as a temporary employee. Could I be eligible to take an early out on the offer of adding five years to my age and five to my service? I do not participate in medical insurance here so that would not be a consideration for me. A: Because your non-deduction service was performed after December 31, 1988, that time isn’t creditable for any retirement purpose. As for having five years added to your service time and age…
Q: Is there a FERS early out penalty (five per year under MRA or 60, etc?)? If I took an early-out with 25 years of service at 53 years old would my retirement (not TSP) be reduced a percentage for each year under MRA or 60? A: Under FERS, the age penalty is waived for any employee who accepts an early retirement offer.