Since the employee’s birthday is December 1, he will be eligible to retire on November 30. Image: tete_escape/Shutterstock.com
I recently received an email from an employee who will soon be eligible to retire. He will have the correct number of years to do that and will be reaching his minimum retirement age on his birthday, which is December 1.
He was lamenting the fact that his agency told him that if he retired on that day, his annuity wouldn’t begin until January 1. That’s because – they said – that FERS employees must retire no later than the last day of a month to be on the annuity roll on the first day of the following month.
When I read that, alarm bells went off in my head. His agency had made a mistake that I thought had been corrected years ago. So, I dug into my files and pulled out a Retirement Counselor Letter dated June 23, 1988 that proved it. Here it is.
Number: 88-304
Subject: Determining Age for Retirement Purposes
The purpose of this letter is to correct a common misunderstanding about the correct determination of age for retirement purposes. The belief that an employee who has met the service requirement for immediate retirement must not be separated before the date of his or her birthday is incorrect.
In fact, a person legally attains a given age on the day before his birthday. That rule is especially significant for a CSRS employee whose birthday falls on the 4th day of the month. Take, for example, an employee who has more than 20 years of service and whose date of birth was October 4, 1928. That employee can be separated for retirement as early as October 3, 1988, and begin accruing annuity on October 4, 1988. If the employee were not separated until his or birthday, benefits would not commence until November 1, 1988.
The rule that a CSRS retiree who serves 3 days or less in the month of retirement can begin receiving benefits on the day after separation does not apply to FERS retirees. For optional retirees under FERS, annuity cannot begin to accrue until the beginning of the month following separation from service. Therefore, a FERS retiree who meets the eligibility requirements for optional retirement, and whose birthday falls on the last day of the month, can separate as early as the day before that birthday, and begin to receive an annuity on the following day, If the same employee were separated on his or her birthday, or later, benefits could not begin until the 1st of the next month.
So, there you have it. Since the employee’s birthday is December 1, he will be eligible to retire on November 30. When he took the Retirement Counselor Letter I sent him to his personnel office, they agreed. Now he’s all set. So will you be if you are a FERS employee who has a first of the month birthday.
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See also,
Legal: How to Challenge a Federal Reduction in Force (RIF) in 2025
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Primer: Early out, buyout, reduction in force (RIF)
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