Q. I am 52 years old and have 22 years of federal employment. Can I retire? If so, how soon can I receive monthly payments, and how much would they be reduced by? How would this affect my Social Security benefits later? Also, how would this affect my medical insurance? A. Unless you are a special category employee, such as a law enforcement officer or a firefighter, you don’t meet the age and service requirements to retire. For FERS employees, these are: age 62 with five years of service, 60 with 20, at your minimum retirement age (MRA) with 30, and…
Browsing: minimum retirement age
Q. If I retire with 32 years at age 57 (minimum retirement age) and start receiving annuity payments at that time will I get a cost-of-living adjustment for the years from age 57 to 62 when I hit 62? Or do I merely start getting the COLA for the year I am 62 and each subsequent year? If I defer annuity payments until age 62, would I get a COLA for the years from age 57 to 62? A. You would only receive a COLA to your annuity when you are age 62.
Q. I am a 51-year-old FERS employee whose minimum retirement age is 56. I will have over 30 years of service when I reach the minimum retirement age. A couple of years ago, I went under my wife’s health plan. We incorrectly assumed that she needed five years to become vested and that we could just stay under her plan when we retired (as with FERS). However, she is a Non-Appropriated Funds Defense Department employee and would need 15 years. I am picking up my Federal Employees Health Benefits insurance again so that I will have five years under the…
Q. I plan on retiring in 1½ years. I will be 56 and have 23 years federal service. I bought back my three years of military time, but I understand that I will not be able to use that unless I do 30 years. I am FERS and was born in 1958, so my minimum retirement age is 56. Will I be able to retire at 56 with 23 years of federal service? A. You could retire under the MRA+10 provision. However, your annuity would be reduced by 5 percent for every year (5/12 percent per month) that you were…
Q. I am a 45-year-old letter carrier under CSRS with 25 years of service. If I accept an early retirement offer from the Postal Service, will I still be subject to the 2 percent-a-year penalty for being under my minimum retirement age? What other penalties will I face accepting a VERA at an early age? A. Yes, as a CSRS employee, you’d be subject to the 2 percent per year permanent reduction in your annuity. Another effect would be that your annuity would be based on fewer years of service than if you’d waited until you reached age 55 and…
Q. I will be age 59 in May with 21 years in. How does VERA/VSIP apply? Will I be able to get the special retirement supplement until age 62, and at what age would it start? A. The Voluntary Early Retirement Authority and the Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment are two different things. If an employee is offered a VERA, he can retire at age 50 with 20 years of service or at any age with 25. If he is offered a VSIP, he can accept the money and leave, regardless of whether he is eligible to retire. Because you meet…
Q. If I have met the requirements for a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority being offered in 2014 (over 25 years and any age — in my case, 27 years and age 46), would I get credit in my retirement benefit calculation for sick leave. I know after Dec. 31, 2013, the full amount can be used. However, I wasn’t sure if you have to retire under “normal” circumstances and whether it was still applicable in a VERA situation. After meeting the requirement for a VERA, I know you can collect your retirement annuity immediately. Does the same hold true for…
Q. I am 50-year-old FERS employee with 28 years of service. If I am offered an early-out and take it, what would happen to my 578 hours of sick leave? Would I still be entitled to get credit for my unused sick leave? Also, would I be eligible for special retirement supplement? A. If you retire before Jan. 1, 2014, you’ll only get half credit for your unused sick leave in the computation of your annuity. If you retire on or after Jan. 1, you’ll get full credit for it. As for the special retirement supplement, you’ll be entitled to…
Q. I retired in 1988 after 11 years of active service in the Air Force. Am I eligible for benefits; and for some form of retirement pay when I reach 62? I was thinking of getting a federal job to complete the active service to 20 years. A. Because this is a site for federal civilian employees and retirees, I don’t know if you are entitled to any military benefits. You’ll have to take that up with your former branch of service. If you did come to work for the government, you wouldn’t get credit for your active-duty service unless…
Q. I’m pretty certain if I retire with 30 years of service and at my minimum retirement age (which for me is almost 60 to have both), I will get the special retirement supplement until age 62. Is that correct? If I have reached my MRA (age 56) with 26 years of service and retire (I believe there is a 5 percent-per-year under-62 penalty; i.e., a lot). Under official early-out offers (Voluntary Early Retirement Authority; no penalty if at MRA, I believe), if at that time I were 57 (MRA is 56) and 27 years of service, might I get…