Finding your magic retirement date

There are two basic ways to search for the perfect date. Fact or fib.

When looking for a companion online, some people have been known to shave a couple of years off their age. Or weight. Possibly post an out-of-date photo. Maybe exaggerate the importance of their job. Or even forget to list that they have a current husband or wife. That’s life!

But when it comes to picking the best date to retire, honesty is the best policy. Tammy Flanagan invented the best-date-to-retire concept for federal and postal workers. Part of picking the “best” date depends on your finances, your plans, how much you love or hate your job. Some people want to leave first day they are eligible. Others stretch it out for a variety or reasons, including money. Will they be comfortable in retirement on their monthly annuity from CSRS, FERS or CSRS Offset? Will hanging around another six months make that much difference?

Tammy, with the National Institute of Transition Planning, will be our guest today on Your Turn, at 10 a.m. EDT. You can listen at www.federalnewsradio.com (click LISTEN) or on the radio in the D.C. area at 1500 AM. We’ve already received a batch of email questions and we’ll deal with them today.

Earlier this year, Tammy’s column in Government Executive listed the best dates to retire for 2014. She says the overall best dates are at the end of the month and also the end of a leave period. Two examples are Oct. 31 and Nov. 30. She’ll explain why today.

For CSRS and CSRS Offset employees who want to retire at the end of the leave year, she says Jan. 2, 2015, is a date they might want to consider. For FERS employees who want to leave at the end of the leave year, Dec. 31 or Jan. 10, 2015, are definitely worth considering.

Retiring at the end of the year allows feds to carry over the maximum amount of unused annual leave. Most of it will be paid at the new higher (1 percentage point) 2015 pay rate. And it will save most people in taxes since the annual leave lump sum payout will be in the 2015 tax year.

We’ll also ask Tammy about best dates to retire in 2015. Lots of questions and fortunately, for both of us, she has all the answers.

Also, Federal Times senior writer Andy Medici will join us to talk about new problems at the VA, the high cost of worker’s comp and the charitable habits of federal and postal workers.

NEARLY USELESS FACTOID:

By Michael O’Connell

The adult human head weighs 10 to 11 pounds on average.

Source: Brain Stuff.

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