Retire too early? (states, relative, retired, years)

[MadManofBethesda]

Originally Posted by rubytue

Ahh, but the FERS retiree must wait until 62 (or 65 or 67) for their social security benefit. So unlike CSRS, who gets full retirement at 55, FERS must supplement with something between 55 and 60-something. Or else must have enough to make it on their own and consider any SS to be a bonus.

Ah, but you're wrong.

I don't understand how you quoted my explanation showing how FERS employees receive their "Social Security" Supplement from OPM between the ages of 55 and 62 and still came away with your erroneous conclusion.

[MadManofBethesda]

Originally Posted by rubytue

Ahh, but the FERS retiree must wait until 62 (or 65 or 67) for their social security benefit. So unlike CSRS, who gets full retirement at 55, FERS must supplement with something between 55 and 60-something. Or else must have enough to make it on their own and consider any SS to be a bonus.

Originally Posted by LauraC

Yes, that is what I meant. Not being able to get SS until they're older.

Except that rubytue is wrong. They DO get their Social Security benefit early. It is just that it is from OPM rather than SSA. I explained the process in an earlier post.

At age 62, OPM discontinues the FERS Social Security supplement and the annuitant has to apply to SSA to receive SS benefits.

[TuborgP]

Originally Posted by insertusernamehere

Has anyone had second thoughts of retiring too early?

I retired at 55. Some of my co-workers thought that was a bad decision saying that was too early to retire, but I could afford to getting a full pension after 34 years of service. That was two years ago and I find I don't miss work at all. I enjoy my free time golfing and travelling. I have a casual position driving cars for a dealership and do that when I am not busy for something to do and it gives me some extra cash.

That is what you call Jealousy with a capital J. What they were saying is stay and work so I don't feel like I did something wrong and can't retire like you did.

[TuborgP]

Originally Posted by jim9251

I retired last week at 57 after 34 years. Some of my coworkers thought I was nuts too. I got a lot of "Now what are you going to do?" and a few "but work is my life" comments. Work is my life? Are you kidding me? Anyway, I figured if I worked until 62 I would only take home a few extra hundred dollars a month. Not worth another 4 years for that. As it happened I fit into an early retirement plan, so I'm able to get monthly benefits plus a six figure payout in October. To me the time now is MY OWN, I'm not tied down to a schedule, an alarm clock and my cell phone isn't ringing 24 hours a day. I've slept better than I have in years and am very relaxed. I'm looking forward to doing what I want when I want, and the taxpayers are paying me not to go to work. I'm moving, downsizing, and if I want to do something part time I will. A young friend told me last night, "you earned this, enjoy it!"

I found it easier for younger people to accept my retiring at 59. That was their goal to retire in their 50's some day also. I remember colleagues my age who when we were younger planned to retire in their 50's but the chips didn't fall that way for them. I kept hearing but what will you do. When you tell them they just get upset. My responses were:
1. Not go to work
2. Wake up when I want
3. Go to bed when I want
4. Watch my favorite sports teams when I want
5. Travel when I want
6. Grill during the day when I want
7. Shop when I want
8. Garden when I should and not when work permits
9. Mow my lawn and keep it looking perfect with timely care.
10. Grow roses since I now have the time to take care of them properly
11. Not listen to people whine if I don't want.

Lot of freedom of choice in those statements and it is that freedom you gain in retirement that those who are your age and still working might not appreciate your having and them not.

[Kootr]

I retired when I was in my mid-50s and wish I had retired much earlier, which is something [financially] I could have easily done but just thought I was too young. I have not regretted retiring early for even one tiny little second.

Like others have said, the freedom one has in retirement is fabulous - I can do whatever I wish, whenever I wish.

[insertusernamehere]

Originally Posted by TuborgP

That is what you call Jealousy with a capital J. What they were saying is stay and work so I don't feel like I did something wrong and can't retire like you did.

You hit the nail on the head! They either were not ready financially or mentally even though the had the "numbers" to retire. I just bug them once awhile about how nice it is to be out golfing!!

This talk about FERS is confusing to me I have no idea what you are talking about. I retired at 55 from a job in Municipal Government in Canada. You can retire at 55 as long as your "number" is minimum 85 (age plus service). 55 is the minimum age to retire, so as long as you have 30 years of service you can retire. I retired with full pension which equals approx. 65% of best 5 years of salary (averaged). I can also apply for the Canada Pension at age 60 which will be about $600/mo. and at age 65 get the Old Age Pension which is about $500/mo.

Funny.... not long after I started this thread I got a call from my employer asking if I wanted to come back on a temporary contract. They need help for a 6-8 week period while someone is on extended leave. So I am going back to help them out and earn some good money while I also collect my pension. The extra cash will come in handy for Christmas! Plus, I can spend some time with my old workmates who haven't retired yet and tell them how good retirement is.

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by insertusernamehere

... This talk about FERS is confusing to me I have no idea what you are talking about. I retired at 55 from a job in Municipal Government in Canada. You can retire at 55 as long as your "number" is minimum 85 (age plus service). 55 is the minimum age to retire, so as long as you have 30 years of service you can retire. I retired with full pension which equals approx. 65% of best 5 years of salary (averaged). I can also apply for the Canada Pension at age 60 which will be about $600/mo. and at age 65 get the Old Age Pension which is about $500/mo.

Funny.... not long after I started this thread I got a call from my employer asking if I wanted to come back on a temporary contract. They need help for a 6-8 week period while someone is on extended leave. So I am going back to help them out and earn some good money while I also collect my pension. The extra cash will come in handy for Christmas! Plus, I can spend some time with my old workmates who haven't retired yet and tell them how good retirement is.

I know nothing about FERS either.

Here in the US of A our Federal government requires that you work 20 years before you qualify for your pension.

So we have many career fields which have 20-year pensions.

I did mine via the US military.

My brother did his via a municipal Police Department.

There is no age requirement to these pensions. Only a minimum number of years of service.

If you began your career at 17 [which is possible, I have known men who enlisted at 17] then you could retire at 37.

[MadManofBethesda]

Originally Posted by insertusernamehere

This talk about FERS is confusing to me I have no idea what you are talking about. I retired at 55 from a job in Municipal Government in Canada.

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

I know nothing about FERS either.

Here in the US of A our Federal government requires that you work 20 years before you qualify for your pension.

So we have many career fields which have 20-year pensions.

I did mine via the US military.

FERS is an acronym for the Federal Employees Retirement System and covers civilian employees employed by the federal government since the mid 1980s. It is a three-tiered retirement system that consists of a basic annuity, a 401(k) style plan in which the government contributes up to 5% of salary depending upon the employee's contribution, and Social Security. Since FERS employees can retire in their 50s, they receive a special supplement until they are eligible for Social Security at age 62. The formula for the annuity is roughly 1% of an employee's highest three years averaged earnings for each year worked.

With regard to the other statement about the federal government requiring 20 years of service for a pension, that only applies to military retirees. Civilian employees can retire with as little as 5 years of employment if they are at least 62. They can also retire at their minimum retirement age (55-57 depending upon their DOB) with as little as 10 years of service. This is referred to as MRA +10, but there is a reduction in the annuity formula for people who retire under this provision. People in hazardous duty positions (law enforcement, fire fighters, etc.) can retire with 20 years service, but they have to be at least 50 years old. They can retire at any age with 25 years of service. For most civilian employees, full retirement constitutes 30 years of service with retirement eligibility at their MRA.

That is a brief explanation of the current federal retirement system without getting into all of the nuances. I hope that explanation has been beneficial.

[Tesaje]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

I know nothing about FERS either.

Here in the US of A our Federal government requires that you work 20 years before you qualify for your pension.

So we have many career fields which have 20-year pensions.

I did mine via the US military.

My brother did his via a municipal Police Department.

There is no age requirement to these pensions. Only a minimum number of years of service.

If you began your career at 17 [which is possible, I have known men who enlisted at 17] then you could retire at 37.

This is a highly misleading statement. You obviously have a military retirement which has much different rules than the civil service. The two are not comparable and are not the same thing. The military can do things that the Fed govt cannot do to any civilian. In the parlance, it is more accurate to reserve the term federal govt retirement to civil service retirements and call the military retirement a military retirement. Madman gave a good run down on the difference.

Also, any municipal retirement has its own rules that have nothing to do with the Fed. retirement rules. Different jurisdictions may have entirely different rules. You cannot make a blanket statement about what the rules are for them.

[forest beekeeper]

In the civilian LEO community it is common for officers to have a pension available to them after 20 years. I was not aware of an age requirement.

It is also common, for any prior military service to be 'counted' into your 20 year career in LEO. They simply want you to contribute into the pension fund to make up for those years.

So if a LEO had served in the military for 6 years, and then went to work in a civilian PD; he could pay into their pension fund 6-years worth [automatic allotments from his paycheck], and after 14 years in that PD he would become eligible for their 20-year pension.

It seems odd to me to say that branches of the US Federal government are not 'federal', whatever.

As for SSA I should receive it when I get to that age. The amount that I receive from SSA gets subtracted from my DOD pension. Once receiving SS my DOD pension drops by that exact amount. So the total amount that I get each month remains the same.