The average retirement age for federal employees is continuing to rise, hitting an average of 61.8 in the 2017 fiscal year, up by a half-year over 2015, a recent OPM report shows.
At two of the largest agencies, the VA and the Army, the increase was nearly a full year, to 63.3 and 62.3, respectively. Agencies with notably high average ages–excluding very small agencies where a few retirements can skew the numbers–included the Civil Rights Commission, 68.4; CFTC, 67.5; and Federal Maritime Commission, 67.1.
Agencies on the lower end include Justice, 56.2; and Transportation, 59.7. Both have large numbers of employees eligible for earlier retirement under special provisions–for law enforcement officers in the former case and for air traffic controllers in the latter.
Previous OPM reports have documented a similar gradual rise in each of the last 10 years, up by a total of more than two years over that time from an average of 59.6 in 2008.
There is little difference by gender, with the average age 61.7 for women and 61.9 for men. Nor was there much difference by race and ethnicity, although there was a substantial difference by occupational grouping. The latest retirees were among clerical workers, 63.4, followed by those in professional occupations, 63.1; the earliest were in the “other” category, which includes those under the special retirement provisions, 55.4.
The report did not delve into why the average age is continuing to increase, but commonly voiced explanations include desire to continue salary earnings longer while simultaneously building up later retirement benefits, and the less physically demanding nature of many jobs and improvements in health that enable longer careers.
