Q. My wife, who left federal employment in 1999 after 13 years of service, will turn 62 on July 29. We thought her FERS deferred annuity should commence on or after her 62nd birthday as she wants to avoid any age reduction of the annuity amount. Instructions for completing Schedule C of her deferred annuity application, Form RI 92-19, state, “You can avoid the age reduction entirely if you choose the first day of the month that you reach age 62 as your annuity commencing date.” Seems like following the instructions and selecting July 1 (28 days before reaching age…
Browsing: age reduction penalty
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 a 49-year-old FERS employee with 27 years of service and am currently eligible for a VERA & VSIP. I am considering resigning or retiring for another non-federal position to remain in my current location. I would like to lock in my retirement and benefits eligibility, yet avoid all the reduction of purchase power the early retirement with no COLA until age 62 will result in. What is my best option to accomplish this? Am I eligible for a postponed retirement through VERA, and will that enable my eligibility for my health care, LTC, and life insurance? A: Because you…
Q: RE: Your article of Nov. 5 titled, “Re-entering Federal Service.” In this message you state that under the MRA+10 provision the annuity will be reduced by 5 percent for every year you are under age 60. I thought the age reduction penalty was 5 percent for every year under age 62? This is regardless if one has at least 20 years of service at their MRA (FERS Section 42A3.1-1A, Annuity Reduction For Age). I understand that if you postpone receiving the annuity until age 60, you can avoid the age reduction penalty altogether, but I’m referring to taking an…