Government Retirees

[teej1985]

My retirement age without penalty was 55...long enough but still early enough for me. I actually left 15 months prior to 55 and held off collecting my pension until the non-penalty phase was reached. I never would have made it to 60, I would have left and taken the penalty.

You're lucky. If I work 20 years, I can defer and take unreduced at 60 but I won't get the retiree health insurance. If I work less than 20 years, it gets deferred to 62 for unreduced.

I have to work until 57 if I want the retiree health insurance and it would have a steep 25% penalty.

 

[jr6035]

It's what kept us cops on the job for 25+ years. Why else would we stay.

 

[Calico]

It's what kept us cops on the job for 25+ years. Why else would we stay.

Yup.

The pension is what kept me at my mini-corp job for 25 years, through good bosses, bad bosses, and one truly nasty boss.

Now, on the first of the month when that pension check hits the bank, I smile and kick back. Putting up with the occasional craziness was worth it in the end.

 

[Golden sunsets]

I was a federal employee for about 6 years but left and cashed out my pension. DH stayed and was in CSRS from 1972 til 1990 when he left for the private sector for 10 years. He then returned to the same agency at his same GS level as CSRS Offset for an additional 8 years until full retirement in 2008 with all the bennies. So with his first service period, military time and second period of service, he logged over 28 years and retired at age 61 with, as I recall over 60% of his high 3, after the reduction for survivor benefit. Also because he paid into SS from 1990 through 2008(plus a few years before starting federal service), at the max rate, he has SS, with a small WEP penalty. BTW, there are 2 bills in Congress with bipartisan support aimed at removing or drastically reducing WEP which would also increase federal retirees checks. Anyone affected by WEP should contact their Congressmen/Senators and lobby them to support the legislation.

 

[martyp]

I retired at 55 when my pension benefit = the portion of my paycheck that I was already living on. I was in the last 2 years of my mortgage. To compensate for the lack of mortgage interest deduction I was saving a hefty portion of my paycheck into my retirement account. When I retired I stopped saving that money and of course no longer had to pay into social security. I knew that two years later I would no longer be paying a mortgage and at 62 I would start taking Social Security. On top of that my pension has cost of living adjustments. Ten years into retirement it has all worked of just fine.

 

[Bigdawg]

There is nothing to be gained by waiting until 63. She would defer to 62 for her full pension.

Thanks. I couldn't remember if it was 63 or 62. Apparently it is 62. At 49 she isn't even thinking about it yet. But, like I mentioned, she will punch out sometime in the next few years. 55 at the absolute latest.

 

[RAE]

This was awhile back, but at the end of 2012, we had a lady retire, who was under the old CSRS plan, and had one year under the max in. I always used to think you had to have 40 years,

but I think it's actually 42, to get the full 80% of your best three years?

Yeah, a former co-worker from our agency also worked there for about 42 years before he retired. He did get the max. pension, as I recall, but there is no way I would have worked there that long. I put in 31 1/2 years, and got a much lower pension than he did, but the value of those extra 10 years of freedom was worth a whole lot more to me than the extra $$ would have been. But everybody is different..........this guy did not have a lot of hobbies or interest outside of work, so for him, I guess working all those years is the way he wanted to spend his time.

 

[Music Lover]

I also had another benefit from my govt employment...compressed work hours. We had a 37.5 hour week but were allowed to work 9 hour days. I'd work Mon - Thur 9 x 4 = 36 for 3 weeks and the 4th week would work 6 hours on Friday to balance to 150 hours.

So for most of my entire career I only worked 1 Friday a month and had 3 day weekends 3 times times a month, 4 days weekends when Monday was a holiday. I was also able to combine my extra days off and long weekends to maximize my time off. For example, end work on a Thursday, Friday off, weekend, Monday holiday, Tue - Thur vacation time (27 hours), Friday day off, weekend. Back to work Monday. I'd get 10 consecutive days off using just 27 hours of vacation.

Even if not taking vacation time, end work on Thursday, off Friday, weekend, Monday holiday, work Tues - Thur, Friday off, weekend, back to work Monday. That's a 10 day stretch working only 3 days.

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

Planning 47 this year with 23 years Fed. Figure the deferred pension will be worth about 7-12K in today's dollars depending how the next 13 years play out - not enough to make much difference but a bit of a cushion if 2021 turns out to be a new historical worse time to retire. Hard to walk away from the golden handcuffs but 10 more years suffering the bureaucracy and incompetence to die rich seems like a bad deal. Back of envelope, I'd have 2-4X what I have now (savings and pension value) if I waited till 57 at which time FERS would cover all/nearly all of my projected expenses. Maybe my 57 year old self will wish for that money but I'm hoping he'll be happier that he got a decade of freedom and better mental and physical health before he turned 57.


Seems like most GovFIRE folks retire "early" at 57 or have benefits from prior military service (also seems everyone where I work is counting down to that magic birthday even though many have the military pension/Tricare). How many other career civilians broke the Golden Handcuffs walking away without an immediate annuity or FEHB?

 

[old medic]

Another good thing about being a govt retiree...when the topic of "how much is enough" comes up, most of us have an entirely different answer.

The other side of that coin is as a Local Gov Employee... We have learned to manage on less money

 

[Music Lover]

The other side of that coin is as a Local Gov Employee... We have learned to manage on less money

Yup, I earned very little for the first half of my career...and just enough the last half. However, that did force me to develop DIY skills.

 

[gayl]

Planning 47 this year with 23 years Fed. ... Seems like most GovFIRE folks retire "early" at 57 .... How many other career civilians broke the Golden Handcuffs walking away without an immediate annuity or FEHB?

Left county at just over 50, sister left on her 50th bd. But we did work PT for a few years (1 day a week & she did max 20 hrs). Fully retired in 2017 and she does today. I walked out on a substantial amount by not leaving at 55 but don't regret it at all. Let me do my play job without breaking up arguments all day long and she worked in JV with the big boys [aka: felonies charges waiting for trail] which was basically the same thing but mine were verbal --- hers were physical

 

[Amethyst]

Most government employees I knew (and that was most people I knew) are quite frugal. Even those who move up the ladder, and marry others who end up on high rungs, retain many frugal habits, although they spend more on home, vacations, and kids' education and lessons (things seen as "added value.")

The other side of that coin is as a Local Gov Employee... We have learned to manage on less money

 

[yakers]

Most government employees I knew (and that was most people I knew) are quite frugal. Even those who move up the ladder, and marry others who end up on high rungs, retain many frugal habits, although they spend more on home, vacations, and kids' education and lessons (things seen as "added value.")

Definitely how I understood the proposition. Having a limited and fixed (but somewhat secure) income works well with LBYM. There was no social drive to upscale residence, car, vacations etc. Advancing strategies include diligent work, advanced degree, relocation, second job/teaching/RE investments and marrying well.

 

[troutnut1]

Our state’s retirement is lousy and after 19 years I got about a third of what I made monthly. But my fabulous boss retired and I didn’t think I wanted to spend my last several years training another one. I worked more for entertainment and insurance than for money anyway. And my really weird cow-orkers provided loads of great entertainment. Way better than TV.

 

[teej1985]

Planning 47 this year with 23 years Fed. Figure the deferred pension will be worth about 7-12K in today's dollars depending how the next 13 years play out - not enough to make much difference but a bit of a cushion if 2021 turns out to be a new historical worse time to retire. Hard to walk away from the golden handcuffs but 10 more years suffering the bureaucracy and incompetence to die rich seems like a bad deal. Back of envelope, I'd have 2-4X what I have now (savings and pension value) if I waited till 57 at which time FERS would cover all/nearly all of my projected expenses. Maybe my 57 year old self will wish for that money but I'm hoping he'll be happier that he got a decade of freedom and better mental and physical health before he turned 57.


Seems like most GovFIRE folks retire "early" at 57 or have benefits from prior military service (also seems everyone where I work is counting down to that magic birthday even though many have the military pension/Tricare). How many other career civilians broke the Golden Handcuffs walking away without an immediate annuity or FEHB?

I very well could be one of those people in the future. I have to work until age 43 just to get 10 years in in the government. Is the FEHB *THAT* Much better than ACA, and subsequently Medigap? it probably is, but is it worth working the extra decade or two to avoid the alternatives? Probably not.

The longer I work, the bigger my FERS and SS gets. i could work 20 years at GS-12 and I still probably not be above the 2nd SS bend point.

I'm not financially in a place where I can comfortably retire, so, I figure i might as well work for the government. Private sector isn't going to pay me more. Having teleworked for the past year, if I can find something that is 100% remote in the government, I probably would gut it out for a couple decades. Or take a permanent seasonal position so that I have lots of time off every year.

If it is somehow easier to find remote work in the private sector, I would definitely consider that, I'm only 2 years into FERS service so them handcuffs are practically paperweights at this point.

The good news is if you or I were to go back at 57, we could retire pretty quickly and restart that lifelong FEHB with an immediate annuity even with a 10-15 year gap.

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

I’ve been a local government employee for 35 years. I’ve worked for 3 different counties in California in CalPERs.

I am planning on retiring at age 63-this September -as my pension is maximized at 63.
Not much of a return on my investment of time after that.
I will get 85% of my current pay.

SSA will be reduced due to WEP as one county did not participate in SSA. That gets me to 94.5% of current pay so I will be bringing home more than I am right now.
I’m looking forward to that!

These last 2 years have been a slog but I had to get some things taken care of and I have one issue left that really needs to get resolved because I can’t take much more.

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

I very well could be one of those people in the future. I have to work until age 43 just to get 10 years in in the government. Is the FEHB *THAT* Much better than ACA, and subsequently Medigap? it probably is, but is it worth working the extra decade or two to avoid the alternatives? Probably not.

For me, I don't think so.. as long as ACA and my local market hold steady. The plan I intend to purchase I priced with my current age and my age up to medicare and it is affordable based on my projections. It has a more limited network (both my current doctors participate and have for years!) but is similar to my current plan with a slightly higher deductible and max OOP and is HSA eligible so as long as it is managed well and I don't have administrative headaches I think I'll be just as happy with it. The cost is less than the full cost of my FEHB plan before gov't subsidy. I budgeted for the full cost but expect a decent subsidy when I RE that will reduce my cost =< what I currently pay.



At 47 years old I have a long horizon and expect some single payer scheme to be passed eventually so I'd have some baseline coverage regardless.

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

Most government employees I knew (and that was most people I knew) are quite frugal. Even those who move up the ladder, and marry others who end up on high rungs, retain many frugal habits, although they spend more on home, vacations, and kids' education and lessons (things seen as "added value.")

My reference group is different. There is a lot of grade inflation where I am so people are paid well above what their productivity would suggest... Including me, I feel as if I am being compensated for my capacity but not my productivity... why I can't last another 10 years with my brain turning to mush. Most people are not particularly happy and are counting the days to MRA yet they continually buy boats, bigger/waterfront houses, higher-end luxury cars, dine out constantly, etc. Many openly talk and almost all of this is debt spending. I could "coast fire" now and spend my entire paycheck but the only thing I am missing is time to enjoy what I already have and I can't earn more time by working till I have "too much."

 

[Amethyst]

That's interesting - maybe they are influenced by a local culture of spending and showing off?

I would be curious as to what type of government employee you are (state?), although I realize you may not want to put that out there.

. Most people are not particularly happy and are counting the days to MRA yet they continually buy boats, bigger/waterfront houses, higher-end luxury cars, dine out constantly, etc. Many openly talk and almost all of this is debt spending.

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

That's interesting - maybe they are influenced by a local culture of spending and showing off?

I would be curious as to what type of government employee you are (state?), although I realize you may not want to put that out there.

Federal Government. I know some feel trapped, others I think just like spending money but even then few stay past MRA.

 

[zinger1457]

I very well could be one of those people in the future. I have to work until age 43 just to get 10 years in in the government. Is the FEHB *THAT* Much better than ACA, and subsequently Medigap? it probably is, but is it worth working the extra decade or two to avoid the alternatives? Probably not.

I left federal service at 53 and ACA was passed a few months later so have been on ACA almost the entire time I've been retired. The first year after retirement I purchased private insurance and the premium cost ($160/mo) was more than FEHB but reasonable. Today a similar HDHP HSA plan through ACA cost $1023/mo unsubsidized. After the first year of being retired I switched to ACA and premiums quickly increased for the first few years but the subsidy kept my cost low, most years lower than what I would have paid for a similar plan through FEHB. Overall I paid less for insurance with ACA compared to FEHB but that was with a decent subsidy, without it I hate to think about what it would have cost me. No question luck and good timing played a big part of it.

 

[Kalm]

Govt Retirees

I retired after 30 years of service and when I became fully eligible for my pension. My pension is less than 1/2 of my take home pay so I supplement with investment dividends. I was too young to draw from my IRA’s without incurring a %10 penalty.

 

[gooddog]

When did you decide to retire? I retired/ left govt service when my pension = my take home. Another poster has me wondering if this scenario is common.

I'll be a dbl dipper in a few years. Not bc I want to. Bc the IRS says so

Retired on the first day I was qualified to retire. My wife, who is older than me waited six months to retire after she was qualified - we wanted to retire together. If you got enough $, why stick around - unless you like the job. We were in extremely stressful jobs, so it wasn't worth sticking around for a higher percentage. Been retired almost nine years now, and wouldn't have done it any different.


You only have so much time. Be happy.

 

[FIREarly]

When did you decide to retire? I retired/ left govt service when my pension = my take home. Another poster has me wondering if this scenario is common.

I'll be a dbl dipper in a few years. Not bc I want to. Bc the IRS says so

Your title about Gov Retirees got my attention as a possible future gov employee. Will you provide a tiny bit of help with the gov retirement plan that I am currently learning about via OPM?

As a serious hypothetical: If a 38 year old joins feds as GS-11 Step 1 on 1/1 and takes advantage of TSA and other benefits and has enough to FIRE at 50 years old on 12/31 (possible GS-13 or GS-14 Step 8 or 9; think by time that is where it would get) how much would I (this person) be able to get in retirement once hitting the Minimum Retirement Age (MRA)?

Eligibility URL: https://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/fers-information/eligibility
Time-in each grade URL: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-ove...nistration/fact-sheets/within-grade-increases

If this is not-in-line for this post please let me know and I'll kindly remove it and start a new forum post.