“I officially turn 66 and 6 months in May 2024. However, I’ve read conflicting advice regarding when in the calendar year is the best time to actually plan for retirement. Some say to wait until the beginning of the next calendar year past my eligibility date, while others say to “pull the trigger” as soon as you can, while still others say it doesn’t really matter since it takes so long for paperwork and process to take place anyway. What is the official ‘best time’ to retire, personal financial situation notwithstanding?

Reg’s Response

There is no one best time to retire.The one that fits you best is the one that satisfies most of your needs. However, let’s start with a set of basic ground rules. First, if you are covered by FERS, you must retire no later than the last day of the month in order to be on the annuity roll in the following month. If you are covered by CSRS, you must retire no later than the third day of a month and be on the annuity roll in that month; however, you’re first month’s annuity would be reduced by 1/30th for every day you weren’t on the annuity roll. Second. you’d want to retire at the end of a pay period in order to get credit for any hours of annual and sick leave you earned during those two weeks.

If your greatest desire is to maximize your financial interests, you’d retire at the end of a pay period before the beginning of the new leave year. That way you wouldn’t lose any annual leave that exceeds the annual limit, which for most employees is 240 hours. In 2023 the leave years ends on January 13, 2024. That way most of your unused annual leave would be paid out at the hourly rate in effect after that date. That’s because unused annual leave is treated as if you were still on the employment roll.

If you retired on or after December 1, 2023 , for example, you wouldn’t be entitled to a retiree cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) until January 1, 2025. If you retired earlier in 2023, you’d be entitled to a portion of the 2023 COLA based on the number of months you were on the annuity roll before December 1.

Now it’s time to push dollars and cents aside and accept the fact that many people retire at other times during the year. They do it for a variety of reasons, including the weather, family matters, health, vacation plans, selling a home and moving. For them, the difference in income is of secondary importance.

In closing, let me point out that retiring at the end of the year with so many other employees, means that your annuity will take monger to process and get you on the annuity roll. Some of the problem has to do with the volume of paperwork that needs to be processed. Much of the rest lies both within an employee’s agency and at OPM, where so many of the workers processing applications are on vacation.

My advice is, retire when it meets your needs and interests.

Got a question for the Federal Times expert? Send inquiries to: fedexperts@federaltimes.com.

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Reg Jones, a charter member of the senior executive service, is the resident expert on retirement and the federal government at Federal Times. From 1979 until 1995, he served as an assistant director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management handling recruiting and examining, white and blue collar pay, retirement, insurance and other issues. Opinions expressed are his own.

Reg Jones, a charter member of the senior executive service, is our resident expert on retirement and the federal government. From 1979 to '95, he served as an assistant director of the Office of Personnel Management handling recruiting and examining, white and blue collar pay, retirement, insurance and other issues. Opinions expressed are his own.

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