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Return to Article: Setting a Date

• 86589
  

  I am retiring October 31st 2009 with 25 years of service, my greatest wish is to get a retirement letter signed by President Obama. I was told that I will not be able to get a letter signed by the President because letters are only given to retirees with 30 years. Is this true?

  LORNA B. ALLEN Posted September 10, 2009 10:45 AM
• 86425
  

  I will retire 3/3/2010 under CSRS. May I contribute all of my salary for January and February to my TSP? Also the article mentioned cashing in savings bonds. For TSP does it have to be earned salary or can any money be deposited? Thank you

  Cathy Johnson Posted September 8, 2009 10:20 AM
• 83948
  

  I will have to mandatorily retire in May of 2010. At that time I will have approximately 15 months of sick time built up in the bank and I'm under CSRS. I have been told that I can only get paid for 12 months of sick leave in the bank. Is that true, or can I get all 15 months of sick bank paid to me when I retire.

  Patrick Valentine Posted July 31, 2009 2:23 PM
• 83807
  

  When I turn 57 years old I will receive a letter from my agency telling me it is mandatory I retire in the month I turn 57 because of my Federal law enforcemnt status. I have heard different stories regarding collecting unemployment insurance. Because I am forced out of my job at 57 will I be elgible to collect state unemployment insurance benfits? Thanks.

  terry cossin Posted July 30, 2009 9:59 AM
• 83547
  

  I was in an agency where people happened to get sick soon after age 54 and 29+ years of service. Many of these people had 2,000 hours of sick leave (rarely used in their career). This was affectionately called the "Terminal Sick Leave" program. I raised this concern with Employee Relations citing a specific case of a GS-15 District Manager that had said he might consider using his sick leave (he did have a diagnosis, but eventually returned to duty), but it was clear he expressed interest in "going out" and using all his sick leave. So, I would like to know the agency that Scott works for so we can ship all these deadbeats over there where excessive leave use or abuse not tolerated.

  Fiscally Responsible Fed Posted July 27, 2009 3:56 PM
• 83365
  

  If a CSRS employee enters January 1, 2010 as the date of final separation on SF2801, doesn't this mean that they will receive New Years holiday pay and their first day of retirement will be January 2nd? I belive this to be the case but our experts are saying that she must retire on the second to receive the holiday pay.

  Bob Schoolar Posted July 23, 2009 2:14 PM
• 82708
  

  Tammy - I have a couple of questions for you regarding best time to retire and how it might effect other things. I plan on retiring at the end of 2010 (either December 31 or January 1, 2011).

  1. If I retire January 1, 2011, will I lose my accumulated annual leave if it is over 240 hours, since I am technically retiring in 2011, not 2010? When is the actual cutoff date for losing your leave above the 240 hours?

  2. If I can retire on January 1, 2011, will this qualify me for receiving the annual cost of living increase that we get each year when my lump sum annual leave check is paid out? In other words, will that increase be applied to that payout or will it be based on the 2010 COLA?

  3. Is there a "magical" new leave year date that we must retire by or before in order to keep my total accumulated leave, including the base 240 plus any additional leave accumulated past that?

  I would appreciate you shedding some light on these issues.

  Michael Gryson Posted July 16, 2009 3:21 PM
• 82469
  

  I am planning on retiring 01/04/2010 with 30 yrs of service will that be a good date for me? I will be 62 on 01/21/2010..

  Nursey O McNeal Posted July 14, 2009 9:16 AM
• 82277
  

  My eligible retirement date is Feb 25th 2010. Based on the GOV Exec article that shows what days are good to retire, I plan to go out on 30 April. Just checking to see if that is a good date to retire. Yes? Thanks

  Roy Van Slyke Posted July 10, 2009 11:35 AM
• 82274
  

  You state "Her first retirement check (under either CSRS or FERS) will be paid for the month of July. The July payment will be dated Aug. 1."

  My CSRS father died in late May. OPM took back all the money deposited at beginnng of month. If that money was really for April, why did my mom lose that money?

  Mike Posted July 10, 2009 11:26 AM
• 82231
  

  I turn 55 on Dec. 4 this year and plan on retiring in 2010 as soon as possible. I will have more than 37 years service. I was thinking about staying long enough to get my 2010 TSP contribution paid (and not receive a paycheck) and then retire t he first three days of the closest month. Does this make sense?

  Debi Horne Posted July 10, 2009 8:01 AM
• 81413
  

  A question please:

  Can a retiring federal employee who has accumulated award leave be paid for that along with their annual leave? Thanks!!

  Maria Salatti Posted June 26, 2009 11:36 AM
• 81388
  

  I am looking at retiring on Feb 27, 2010, which is the end of a pay period. Will I still get my first annuity March 1, or is March 1, 2 & 3, 2010 the dates I should be choosing to retire?

  Mary Posted June 26, 2009 10:26 AM
• 81056
  

  I have worked for 42 years under CSRS and have choosen July 31, 2009 at the last day of work as August 2 is the last day of the payperiod. Since it falls on the 1-2-3 day rule, do you see any problems with this date that I might no see? Thank you for your articles. They have answered many questions for me and I appreciate them very much.

  Dawn Reinhardt Posted June 23, 2009 3:55 PM
• 81021
  

  Susan:

  Please tell us what agency you worked for, so we can be forewarned!

  Hmmm Posted June 23, 2009 11:33 AM
• 80974
  

  I spent the last few years planning my retirement. I read everything I could find on the topic, checked all the numbers, requested an estimate from my agency, and I thought I had everything lined up to retire. My last day of work was Jan 2, 2008, and I still have not received my final retirement package from OPM. The middle of Feb, I had l not received my first check, and even though I wasn't out of money or anything, I was concerned... everyone who retired with me got checks on the first day of Feb. I called OPM, and because my agency hadn't sent all of my information at one time (and the reason for that is another story) they hadn't put the two packages together. The person I spoke with told me that I would receive a check in 3-5 days, and they apologized for the inconvenience. Two days later I received my first payment. I have called OPM every week for the two months, and my claim is STILL pending. OPM has provided me with a secure email site so that I can check with them. They even gave me the name and phone number of the person processing my claim. I received an email from this person in May telling me that my claim would be finalized no later than the end of May. At that point, I called this person several times a week, until last week, when I began calling 3 times daily. They did not answer their phone. I got the supervisors number, and left a voice mail. Itikd the supervisor that when I was working if I would refuse to answer voice mail, I would have no longer had a job. Today, I called the person handling my claim, and the phone was answered on the second ring. If I can believe what I was told (and I don't), my claim will be complete by the middle of July. I DO NOT know how much money I will have to live on. I do not know if the income tax situation is under control. I feel totally in the dark. I'm not starving, not broke, but am extremely frustrated by the lack of concern by OPM; the ineptitude of my agency and absolute stupidity of management in my local office for exiting me in the manner they did.

  Susan Posted June 22, 2009 11:40 PM
• 80802
  

  This was an extremely helpful article. Is the comment above about retiring on the last day of the month true? Also, I recently heard about a "Proposal to Reduce the Deficit and Achieve Savings for American Taxpayers" presented to President Obama by Republican leadership(John Boehner and Eric Cantor)which included raising the federal employee minimum retirement age to 62 and using a high-5 rather than a high-3 formula to calculate our pension. Could you comment on the likelyhood of that proposal being acted upon and if so, how long it might take to enact the legislation. Thank you.

  Rhonda Flynn Posted June 19, 2009 11:06 AM
• 80796
  

  In response to:"would it be wise to take a lump sum for Annual Leave or use all the accumulated leave as as extend "vacation" thereby getting a regular paycheck for up to 8 weeks and an additional two months of longevity credit?"

  There is no provision in Federal policy for "terminal leave." Annual leave is for use by those who plan to return to their duties. Annual leave must be approved by your supervisor and if you tell your supervisor you want to use your annual leave as "terminal leave" your agency may not allow it.

  Debra Drayton Posted June 19, 2009 10:43 AM
• 80791
  

  sheldon,

  That assumes your management is willing to sit on an essentially vacant position for 8 weeks before they could start to fill it. Mine would not agree to the idea.

  Scott Posted June 19, 2009 10:19 AM
• 80770
  

  Tammy, You forgot to mention the first of the month - last of the month scenario for July/August. I will retire on Friday, 31 July. If I retired on the 3rd of August, I would lose 3 days of retirement pay ($400) and gain no regular pay, because of sat/sun.

  Richard Snelling Posted June 19, 2009 8:39 AM
• 80759
  

  A question please:

  If I am planning to retire in the middle of the year, would it be wise to take a lump sum for Annual Leave or use all the accumulated leave as as extend "vacation" thereby getting a regular paycheck for up to 8 weeks and an additional two months of longevity credit?

  sheldon Posted June 19, 2009 7:24 AM
• 80739
  

  For a CSRS employee, why wouldn't retiring at the end of the month not be a good date also? For example you stated, "If you're under CSRS, you should always consider leaving on one of the first three days of the month." However, if you retired on the last day of the month, wouldn't your retirement start the first day of the next month, which is the following day? If that's true, CSRS employees could retire the last day of the month or the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd day of the month and draw an annuity the next day.

  Randy Quon Posted June 18, 2009 9:07 PM