Categories: Retirement Policy

Countdown to Retirement

At about one to two years from your projected retirement date, once again confirm with your personnel office whether you will be eligible for a benefit at that date and how much the benefit will be. At this point, since you are fairly close to the actual date and the numbers of remaining years of service and your future earnings are probably predictable with relatively high accuracy, the projection will be much more on target than preliminary estimates done previously.


Gather information about all benefits to which you may also be eligible, including federal retirement, the Thrift Savings Plan, Social Security, pensions from private industry, individual retirement accounts (IRA) and any other investments and entitlements. Once again, because the time frame is growing relatively short, you should be able to get fairly accurate projections of what they will produce for you. You should have a fairly comprehensive picture of all sources of your retirement income and when each is payable.


At this point, it’s advisable to attend a pre-retirement counseling seminar, even if you have attended one before. Remember, by attending such seminars, you are not committing to a specific retirement date or even to retiring any time in the near future.
Once again, make an appointment with your personnel officer to review your personnel folder to make sure all your records are complete and accurate, all service is verified, and your insurance coverage is documented.

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