Q: My husband has been working for the U.S. Postal Service for 26 years. He is 53 years old. He is entitled to Federal Employees Retirement System benefits at age 56, but he wants to retire now due to health issues. Can he do that? A: The only way he could retire before reaching his minimum retirement age would be if he was approved for disability retirement. To find out if he is eligible, he’d have to file for disability retirement and, at the same time, file for Social Security disability benefits. His personnel office can help him do that.