Federal Employee FIRE Starter Pack

MRA + 30 Eligibility Checkpoint

Retirement math changes fast when the path changes. This sheet exists to stop you from treating immediate, reduced, and deferred retirement like they are basically the same thing.

Start here

  • Write down your birth year and confirm your likely Minimum Retirement Age.
  • Write down your current age and your years of creditable service.
  • Mark the path you think you are on before you check the rules.

Immediate retirement checkpoints

  • MRA with 30 years of service
  • Age 60 with 20 years of service
  • Age 62 with at least 5 years of service

MRA+10 warning

  • If you retire at MRA with at least 10 years but under 30, the annuity can be reduced for each year under age 62.
  • That is not a rounding error. Model the penalty before you pretend it is a harmless shortcut.
  • Check whether postponement changes the outcome and whether FEHB assumptions survive the path you are considering.

Deferred retirement warning

  • Deferred retirement may preserve an annuity later while breaking other advantages now.
  • Do not treat a deferred path like an immediate-retirement path with a small inconvenience attached.

Covered-service note

Law enforcement officers, firefighters, air traffic controllers, and other covered positions can operate under different retirement rules. If that is you, do not use a civilian shortcut worksheet as your final answer.

One next question

What exact age-and-service threshold turns your current plan from "interesting idea" into an actual immediate retirement path?