Return to Article: Best Dates to Retire 2007
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83442
I'm a CSRS type and on my third extension to the mandatory retirement law. My extension expires in April/2010 and will not seek any more. If I don't use any annual leave the rest of this year I could accrue approximately 365 hours of annual leave. If I carry over 240 to 2010 my retirement date would be end of April/2010. I may have 320 hours then. Is it worth the differential? My hourly wage is currently bogged down at $73.17 since air traffic controllers have not been raised in three years(but supervisors and staff have been). Thanks for all this hard work.
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44249
I am a FERS employee with 15 years total civil service, 1.5 yrs of which was temporary non-contributory service. I am military retired and receiving retired military pay with no intent to convert to one retirement pay. I am presently 60 years old(61 in Jul 08). I do have some medical issues that might make it beneficial for me too seek disability retirement; I don't know that for sure though. I want to retire at the latest end of Feb 09. I am now considering requesting immediate retirement for earliest possible. I do have a TSP account but I am paying back a loan--which I might have to count as a distribution that I will have to pay income tax on. Based on these facts, when would be best for me to retire if I must before Feb 09? Thank you.
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41472
I have work to Ferdial Serice for at least 34, age 61,my question is will I be able to retire at the age of 62,how much will I get a month,will I still be paying on the Med-care?
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41045
Please do a Best Dates to Retire in 2008 and 2009
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38359
I am planning to retire after March 17, 2008. I would have 40 years of service by then and be 60 years. What would be the best retirement date after March 17, 2008?
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33777
I am planning to retire 1/3/2008,I am under the CSRS system, GS 11 step 10, 38 and a half years, I have not used any annual leave as of this time this year. Could you advise me the best time to retire that would benifit me financially the most. Thank You
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33502
Can you retire on January 1st of 2008 and still get paid for that day? Jim
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31185
I plan on taking advantage of the early out authority we have been offered. What day of the month in December 2007 would be the best date to retire?
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28071
I will be 60 in October 2007. My plans are to retire effective Jan 2, 2008. I just read this article and am now confused. Which would be a better date for me to retire?
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26501
This is an excellent guide and works wonderfully with the other articles provided on retirement - I am planning to retire June '08, and would like my 55th birthday present (June 4) to be my first day of retirement. My service computation date is 6/2/78. Can I retire the day before my birthday? And can I receive the first retirement check in July?
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26499
Tammy,
Your article was excellent, as usual. I have a financial plannner but she doesn't have all the knowledge regarding federal service that you do. I would like to get info from you on the best time for me to retire. I am under FERS retirement system. My SCD Leave is 07/27/87. I turned 47 in April 2007 and if possible I would like to retire with 30 years of service when I'm 57 in 2017. I would appreciate any advice that would be helpful for me in planning my retirement date. THANKS for any help you can give me.
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26042
I am CSRS and had planned on retiring May 2, 2008. This is the middle of a pay period. Service Comp Date of 1/1/1975, turn 55 on April 27, 2008. Now I have questions: I can retire on April 26, 2008 but that is a Saturday (but a full pay period). Would not get 1st retirement check till June 1, 2008. Or stay with the May 2, 2008 date, still get check June 1. Please help. Thanks.
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24592
I would like to get info on the best time for me to retire. I am under FERS retirement system. My SCD Leave is 11/29/86. I will be turning 39 this month (June) and I would appreciate any advice that would be helpful for me in planning my retirement date.
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24521
Can I get a one on one help in retirement? I plan to retire in 2008 but don't know what date will work best in my case. I am CRSCS. Computation date Sep 19, 1977. GS13 step 10 in Jan 2007. I would prefer to retire before Oct 2008 but will work until Jan 3, 2009 if it is best. Also I see lots of comments lately about not taking AL lump sum but to stay on payroll and collect paycheck + benefits, contribute to TSP, catch up contribution,FSA.
I just don't want to be one of the cases that forfeits money by not working a month longer etc. Its been a long 30 years and family time is a priority.
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24317
My info: I will be eligible for retirement at age 55 on March 20th, 2009 with 33 year 11 months. I am a GS-11 step 4 as of May 29th, 2007. My question is, What is the best date for retirement to get the best bang for my buck. I will have my 240 annual leave and would like to collect on my 208 accrued leave the previous year. Also, what is the best date to retire to collect my first retirement check at the earliest date. Thanks
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23874
I am looking at Jan 3, 2008 as the best to retire date after 34 years of service. If I retire on that date, am I entitled to the 2008 pay raise adjustment applied to my pension? Is the pay raise effective on Jan 1, 2008 or on another date in January?
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23422
Because I am retiring in September of this 2007 I will not receive the increase that Fed employees will receive in January of 2008 (about 3%) and that I understand. However, what is not nice, is that in spite of the fact that I will lose the increase that I would have received as an employee, I will only receive a fraction of the increase due to annuitants because I was not receiving a pension for the entire year. My pension will start sometime in October of 2007; therefore the increase for cost of living will be divided by 12 months and I will get a small (tiny) increase for the 3 months I receive a pension. In other words, I am penalized twice by not getting a fair increase in 2008 - no COLA increase for the 9 months I was employed because I retired before the increase was awarded and no increase for those 9 months as an annuitant because I was employed. I believe that my COLA increase for 2008 will not be a fair increase. Why I am not given COLA credit for those 9 months as an employee or as an annuitant? Has someone done something to help annuitants with this unfair practice?
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23298
Tammy,
I am a FERS, GS=12 step 4 thinking of retiring on 31 Dec 07 to maximize my leave for sell back. I will only have been a GS-12 2 years in Nov 07. I am wondering if I would be better off retiring on 30 Sept 07 at the end of a leave period. Also will I really lose that much by not doing the whole 3 years as a GS-12? Thanks, Steve -
22492
I had planned to retire early in 2008, at age 58 as a GS-15, Step 10, with 33 yrs. federal service. Due to illness, I expect to retire with a signficant negative sick leave balance. Rather than wait for the 2008 comparability/locality wage increase, should I retire very late in 2007 or very early in 2008 (if so, which January date?) to avoid paying the sick leave back at 2008 wage rates? Or am I better off in the long run to take the 2008 wage increase to boost my high-three?
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22263
I am in the Fers Retirement system with 22 years of service. I am going to be 70 this December, 2007 and plan on retiring 12/31/2007. Should I retire at the end of the new pay period end of 01/18/2008 to get credit for new pay increase or is 12/31/2007 the correct date? I am a little confused on that point. Thank you.
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21126
I'm a uniformed service retiree who, as a FERS civil service employee, will have seven years' service by the end of 2007. Considering my relatively short CS career, and the fact that I plan to retire at the end of the year and collect payment for maximum unused leave time, would it really be better for me to retire on Dec. 31 or at the end of the leave year to maximize payment for unused annual leave? If I retire at the end of the leave year to maximize payment for unused leave time, will that negatively impact the retirement benefit payments, since I'm only looking at 7 percent of my high-three average?
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20602
I will be retiring soon and have a question regarding my lump sum annual leave. What deductions will they take from this lump sum, such as TSP, retirement, etc. I know they deduct federal and state taxes along with Medicare, but was not sure what else would be deducted. Thanks.
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20189
Question for Tammy (or anyone who has the answer),
If I retire on Jan. 3, 2008, can I put some, or all, of my lump sum annual leave payment directly into my TSP account for 2008?
JP
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20183
Taking Helen's case in your article, what will happen to her if she, a FERS, chooses to retire on 1/5/2008 instead of 12/31/07? Will she receive 448-hour lump sum annual leave pay in addition to a full pay check in the 26th pay period? What are the disadvantages by doing so? Thanks and happy holidays!
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19805
You will also need to consider the impact of the new NSPS. As I understand it, with NSPS the years' rating period ends on Sept. 30. Based upon your rating, the payout (bonus or continuing increase) for that rating period, however, will not be paid until the first full pay period in January of the next year. So if you consider retiring at the end of a year you must take into account how the NSPS salary (or bonus) payout may impact you. It doesn't seem to be an easy decision. Also, if the impact is small then who cares what rating is received -- why try to succeed? Is this reasoning correct?
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19766
To Otis,
You are essentially correct. Retiring on Jan. 3 gives you the COLA for active employees for 2007, and not the COLA for retirees. Your unpaid annual leave will be paid in one lump sum; however, it will be computed as if you were paid during the entire time the leave was taken. In other words, pretend you actually took the hours as annual leave. You will be paid at the 2006 rate until the day the pay raise takes effect. You will be paid at the 2007 rate for the period after the rate takes effect. I received one lump sum on Feb. 1 2004 (I retired Jan. 2 2004) for all the leave at the 2003 rate, then in May received another check for the difference in the 2004 and 2003 rates for the period after the 2004 rate took effect). Since the raise (and it hasn't been approved yet, nor its effective date, but likely will be) takes effect at the start of the first pay period in January, most of the leave will be at the higher rate.
As far as the annuity is concerned, retiring on Jan. 3, 2007, you will not get the 2007 COLA on it. The first COLA will be paid on Jan. 1 2008. And it will not be the entire COLA. The COLA year is from Dec. 1 through Nov. 30, payable on Jan. 1 (unlike Social Security your January payment is for December, in arrears, rather than for January, in advance). You will actually get only 11/12th of the COLA. In order to get the entire COLA you must be retired by Nov. 30.
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19749
I've been shooting toward May 3 as my retirement date. Your article lists April 30 as a better day. I still feel May 3 would be better since it is within the three-day grace period so I would receive my retirement for May as well as three days of full pay. All I would lose is three days of leave accumulation. Am I wrong in my thinking? Would my May retirement check be prorated from May 4 - May 31?
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19701
Tammy,
I enjoyed your article. I am a CSRS employee, retiring Jan. 3, 2007. Besides my rolling over the 240 hours of A/L plus the 208 hours (total accrual of 448 hours) that I'm going to be paid, I understand the concept that my retirement benefits began the day after retirement.
Another important factor that I didn't see in your piece was the fact that by retiring in January 2007, I collect the COLA for active federal employees for fiscal 2007 and not the retired COLA for fiscal 2007; or was I given erroneous information about this issue?
Otis
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19663
In response to: Why take the lump sum? If I take all my annual leave when I retire, it adds to service time and I accumulate more leave while I'm on leave. I get the money either way -- lump sum or by pay periods. It seems to me that going on terminal annual leave is almost always the better choice. First of all, civilian employees are not allowed to take terminal leave because of a very old comptroller general decision. For more about this see: http://redbook.gao.gov/8/fl0039715.php
Even if an employee could take terminal leave, I would not recommend it for most long service career feds. This is because giving up the lump sum payment is only one thing you lose by staying on the payroll longer. You also would give up retirement benefits for those months you are extending your service. You would only be working for the difference between the full salary and the retirement pay. For many employees (especially those under CSRS) this difference is less than minimum wage. Gaining an extra month in the computation of a retirement check is not worth as much as you might think... 1/12 of 2 percent of $100,000 is only $167 per year or $14 per month. 176 hours of annual leave for this same employee is worth $8,433!
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19646
This is all fine and dandy, but when you work for an agency that is too cheap to even send an employee to a retirement seminar on government time, the argument becomes mute. Despite the fact that I'm retiring Jan. 3, 2007 (CSRS) with more than 25 years of government service, my agency would not even consider springing for the cost to attend a retirement planning seminar.
Their excuse was that there was no money available to pay for it. Our Dallas DHS/CBP/ACD unit told me that many other similar employees are bailing out without the benefit of this crucial, necessary information that if implemented wrongly, could impact an annuitant negatively for the rest of their retirement. Our Dallas ACD office was very concerned and dismayed by our agency's inability to pay for these seminars. Everything I did to prepare myself for my pending retirement, I researched or implemented on my own.
At least with our respective legacy agencies -- USCS or INS -- retirement seminars were offered. The position that myself and other potential retirees have been put through is shameful and disgraceful. This is their thanks for an employee's many years of service to their government; I don't think so!
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19620
Tammy,
I would be very grateful for a computer program that, once all the necessary personal variables were entered (quite a few would be necessary), would produce a personalized list of possible scenarios, with the pros and cons and projected cost or savings of each ... just as you describe in your article.
You and a good programmer could do great things together -- either as an OPM initiative, or a private, profitable enterprise.
Sincerely,
A forward looking fed -
19534
Tammy,
Is it true that if a CSRS employee utilizes the three-day grace period and retires by the third day of the month he/she will have their first annuity payment prorated based on 27 days of retirement? If so one should be careful not to lose more than he or she gains from the grace period. In some cases this can mean one day of salary versus three days of annuity.
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19531
I plan to retire on Jan. 3, 2007. I am a CSRS employee. I work a 4/10 schedule (I usually work four 10-hours days per week, although I have worked five 10-hour days one week and three 10-hour days the next week). Pay Period 26 begins on Dec. 24, 2006, and ends on Jan. 6, 2007. I plan to work the following schedule: Monday, Dec. 25 - holiday; Tuesday, Dec. 26 -- 10 hours; Wednesday, Dec. 27 -- 10 hours; Thursday, Dec. 28 -- 10 hours; Friday, Dec. 29 -- 10 hours; Monday, Jan. 1 - holiday; Tuesday, Jan. 2 -- 10 hours; Wednesday, Jan. 3 -- 10 hours. This schedule results in 80 hours by COB on Jan. 3, 2007. I assume I am entitled to my leave accrual for Pay Period 26. Am I correct?
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19497
In your first example about John forfeiting $1,744 in salary for retiring earlier (July 20) than Joan who retired July 31: While this is true, will John collect retirement pay from July 21 through the end of that month? Is it correct to say that if John's anniversary of employment is July 21 under the CSRS retirement system and he retired on July 20 with 2075 hours of accumulated sick leave, only 11 months will be added to his total years of service (for retirement benefit computation only) instead of 12 months because he is short 6 hours to make it 12 months. If he retires July 21, 12 months will be added to his service to determine his retirement benefit.
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19495
Why take the lump sum? If I take all my annual leave when I retire, it adds to service time and I accumulate more leave while I'm on leave. I get the money either way, lump sum or by pay periods. It seems to me that going on terminal annual leave is almost always the better choice.
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19490
Tammy,
Your retirement articles are a great help, and the links to other online resources are always on the mark. May I suggest that you include the URLs of the online resources-- so we can easily get to them in the future if we print your articles for later use. Thanks.
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19484
Excellent article as usual Tammy. This particular one has a wealth of information that is of interest to all of us civil servants. Super job, keep em coming. Thank you.
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