The first big decision to make when planning retirement is the ‘when’ you’d like to hang it up.
But without knowing what benefits you can keep at different ages it becomes almost impossible to plan for the future.
This article will walk you exactly when you can retire and keep all your incredible benefits.
After all, the last thing anyone wants is to leave money on the table simply because they didn’t know the rules.
Types of Retirement
There are a number of different types of retirements with different eligibility requirements and benefits.
The first type (and most often used) is an Immediate Retirement.
What is a FERS Immediate Retirement
As a regular FERS employee (not special provisions), you have to meet one of the following to be eligible for an immediate retirement:
-Have at least 30 years of service at your MRA (minimum retirement age)
-Have at least 20 years of service at age 60
-Have at least 5 years of service at age 62
Note: You can technically qualify for an immediate retirement at your MRA with only 10 years of service but I’ll go over the details of that below.
The reason that an immediate retirement is so popular is because it allows you to get a pension right away as well as potentially keep other benefits like your Health Insurance and the FERS Supplement.
Here is an article on being eligible to keep your insurance (health, life, dental, vision, etc.) into retirement.
Immediate Retirement for Special Provision Employees (ATC, LEO, FF)
Most people that are under the special provision rules, already know it but the common ones are Air Traffic Controllers, Law Enforcement Officers, and Firefighters.
To be eligible for an immediate retirement under these special provisions you have to meet one of the following:
-Have at least 20 years at age 50
-Have at least 25 years at any age
If a special provisions employee does not have at least 20 years of special provision years of service then they often fall under the retirement rules for regular FERS employees.
MRA+10 Retirement
As I mentioned above, if you reach your minimum retirement age (MRA) and have at least 10 years of service then you are eligible for an immediate retirement but there are some downsides.
The biggest downside is the fact that your pension is reduced by 5% for every year you retire before the age of 62.
To learn more about MRA+10 retirement, this reduction, and how to avoid it check out this article.
Deferred Retirement
For those employees that don’t meet any of the criteria above there is often a chance to still receive a pension by taking a deferred retirement.
To be eligible for a deferred retirement you have to have at least 5 years of service.
But as the name suggests, a deferred retirement means that your pension won’t start right away. It would start as early as your MRA or as late as 62.
You can find more information on a deferred retirement here.
Early Out Retirement (VERA)
Whenever an agency is trying to decrease it’s payroll, it often offers a VERA or Early Out Retirement.
And because your agency would have to offer it, not everyone has a chance at this type of retirement.
But if your agency did offer it then you generally have to meet one of the following criteria to be eligible to take it:
-Have at least 20 years at age 50
-Have at least 25 years at any age
An early out retirement can be a great way to retire early while keeping your benefits.
Here is an article that goes deeper into the details of an early retirement (VERA).
