Need advise on retirement. 22 years active but, I heard you can do 5 as a post man and get 2 retirement checks?

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 20 Jun 2019 09:18:45 -0400

Is this true or is there more to this?

Response by COL Gary Gresh made Jun 20 at 2019 9:53 AM

COL Gary Gresh — Thu, 20 Jun 2019 09:53:23 -0400

“Never count chickens before their hatched”. The real question is “Do you enjoy what you are doing and who you are doing it with?” When you no longer enjoy your service then it’s time to do something else. Retirement, like everything else is not it’s all cracked up to be. I’m personally so very glad I stayed military as long as I did. I loved almost every minute and I have never found people that were more dedicated to what they do except in the service. There really is no one in charge out here in “civilian world” and many coworkers in the so called civilized world will drive you up the wall. Be careful what you wish for, as you just might get it.

Response by MSG Gary Eckert made Jun 20 at 2019 11:10 AM

MSG Gary Eckert — Thu, 20 Jun 2019 11:10:59 -0400

Short answer is yes if you are 50 years old because to get the 5 year retirement you must be at least 55. So let's put some numbers against what that retirement will look like. You get 3 percent a year times the high 3 average. You must reduce that amount by 1 percent for every year that you are under 62. So you retirement would be 8 percent (15-7) of your high three. For simplicity sake lets use a high three average of $50,000 or 4,000 year which works out to $333 month before taxes. There are some other options that involve buying in you military time and combining the two pensions which might be more advantageous if you are looking at only working for 5 years. Every installation offers their Civilians no cost FERS retirement seminars. Get with your local CPO and I am sure they would allow you attend and in that 2-3 hour seminar you can learn about the different retirement options available should you follow on your military career with Federal Government employment.

Response by SFC Quinn Chastant made Jun 20 at 2019 3:35 PM

SFC Quinn Chastant — Thu, 20 Jun 2019 15:35:21 -0400

I can not answer that based upon current law but from past experience. Many Civil Service Jobs count Military Service towards retirement. My 6 years active duty time before going into Federal Civil Service counted towards retirement provided I paid into the Civil Service towards that time on Active Duty. This also Included Time spent on Deployment as a Reservist later in my dual path as a DA Civilian Firefighter, and a Army Reservist. Police and Firefighter's retirement rules are different from other Retirement rules so you need to talk to some one with knowledge in how the Postal Service Retirement works. Federal Civil Service is a 407K program. and it takes a while to grasp it's operations.