The BEST Days to Retire as a Federal Employee

John Mason, CFP®, reviews the best days of the month to retire as a Federal Employee under FERS as well as CSRS.

ℹ️ About the Episode:
• Your retirement date is very important
• The goal is to minimize the amount of time you are not being paid
• Preferred FERS retirement date: End of the month
• Preferred CSRS retirement date: Last 3 days or first 3 days of the month
• If possible, also retire at the end of a pay period

🎙️New Client Process and Experience

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[georgekraus]

All employees should avoid taking annual leave the last year so as to accumulate a fund for direct deposit the month after they retire. For example, you will accumulate 208 hours of unused annual leave, so which will be converted to a cash deposit at least 2 weeks after you retire. This will help you pay off the bills, debt, etc. the month you retire so that you can relax.

[roachtoasties]

The best day for me to retire is the day after I win the lottery. The heck with picking the best day of the month or pay period.

[kenhart]

If end of month is a Friday, how does that affect the end of pay period?

[-Year_Accountant]

I'm a FERS employee and my initial retirement date was December 30, 2023, but we (government employees) recently received a memo informing us that 2023 has a quirk in that it has 27 leave periods, not the normal 26. The last 2023 leave period is 12/31/2023 to 1/13/2024. While 1/12/2024 is mind month and I will have 408 hours of annual leave to cash out (at the 2024 cola which is projected to be 5.2% (I'm in the Baltimore/DC local)), my analysis indicates this is advantageous for me. I would receive pay checks on 1/5/2024 and 1/19/2024. My biweekly gross pay is more than my projected monthly FERS and supplement pay combined. So I'm ok with not receiving a FERS payment for January and realize my first FERS check will be on March 1, 2024, for the month of February 2024. Do you agree that retiring on 1/12/2024 is better than retiring on 1/12/2024 in my case?

[janejones]

I am retiring Mar 1st 2024. Is that a good date?

[Milkman]

MRA. I'm not waiting. I will eat bread if I have to.