Once a person is eligible, when is the best day of the month to retire?
Giselle S. Dear Giselle: Good question. It is not uncommon for employees to “cheat” themselves by selecting the wrong day of the month to retire. For FERS employees, their first monthly annuity check will be for the month following the month in which they retire, while for CSRS their first check can be for the same month, as long as they retire no later than the 3rd of the month. Simple, isn’t it? But wait. The percent applied to your high-three is based on your service time, which is not just years but months of service. So, if you have an anniversary shortly after your date of retirement, you just missed out on a slightly higher annuity. Example: Henry, a CSRS employee, retires on the third of the month, thinking this way he ensures he will receive a check for the month. But his anniversary is, say, the 10th. This means if he had waited one week to retire, his annuity check would have been more, at a “cost” of one month of annuity. And the cost would be offset by the salary for conti
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