Retiring early.

Federal Severance Pay After a RIF

Federal severance pay: who qualifies, the formula, the age adjustment over 40, the 52-week cap, and why an immediate annuity rules it out.

Unemployment Benefits After Federal Separation (UCFE)

UCFE pays state unemployment benefits to federal employees separated through no fault of their own. Where to file, and how severance affects it.

Facing Removal: Retiring Before the Action Takes Effect

If you’re eligible to retire, you can retire before a removal takes effect and still appeal it under 5 U.S.C. 7701(j).

OWCP or OPM Annuity: The Election You Can’t Avoid

You can’t collect workers’ compensation and a FERS disability annuity for the same period. Which pays more, and why you should apply for retirement anyway.

Do Federal Employees Need Private Disability Insurance?

Federal employees have no employer disability insurance, and FERS disability retirement often replaces about half of pay after year one.

Forced Ratings Distributions Are Final — and Your RIF Score Depends on Them

Ratings can now be capped on a curve, retention standing is scored from ratings, and the grievance route is gone. Three rules, one outcome — plus the compression problem nobody has written about.

Paid Administrative Leave Before You Separate: What to Do With the Months

Service credit keeps accruing, eligibility milestones can arrive inside the window, and separating as a resignation instead of a retirement costs the annuity and FEHB for life.

The Accommodation Record Decides Your Disability Retirement

FERS disability turns on whether your agency could accommodate you, and that evidence is built before you apply. What to request, why light duty does not count, and answering an agency that says it could have.

OPM’s New RIF Rules Took Effect September 2: Performance Replaces Seniority

Bump and retreat are gone and retention standing is now a numeric score from your last three ratings. What the final rule says, a worked register, what happened to veterans’ preference, and the retirement options a notice opens — with a retention-score calculator.

RIF Appeals Moved From the MSPB to OPM: The 30-Day Clock

Thirty calendar days to file, a record-based review with no hearing, reconsideration by the OPM Director, and no route to the Federal Circuit. Which notice date decides your forum, what is worth appealing, and what still goes elsewhere.

You Already Left: Deferred Annuity, Refund, or Wait

Federal payroll is down ~336,000 since January 2025, and most of those people separated without retiring. What happens to the pension you already earned, why the refund is almost always wrong, and how to claim it with Form RI 92-19.

2027 Pay Freeze: Retire Now or Wait? The FERS Math

The alternative pay plan holds 2027 pay at 2026 rates. What a frozen high-3 does to your pension, five worked cases, why the supplement and the 1.1% milestone matter more than the freeze — with a stay-or-go calculator.

OPM’s Proposed RIF Rule: Performance Replaces Seniority

FERS MRA+10 Early Retirement: The 5% Penalty & How to Beat It (2026)

The 5%-per-year reduction under 62, the lost FERS supplement, and how postponing your annuity erases the penalty and restores FEHB — with a comparison tool.

Postponed vs Deferred FERS Retirement: The FEHB Split

The MRA+10 choice that decides whether you keep FEHB for life — the age reductions, the 5% penalty, and the reinstatement rules — with a side-by-side comparison.

VERA and VSIP: The Federal Early-Out Decision

Who qualifies for early retirement, how the $25K buyout is taxed, the FERS supplement timing, and the re-employment trap — with an early-out decision calculator.

Federal Phased Retirement: Half Schedule, Half Annuity, Full FEHB

Work half-time while drawing about half your annuity, keeping the full government FEHB contribution and the TSP match. Eligibility, the 20% mentoring rule, the composite annuity, and the supplement trade-off.

FERS Disability Retirement: When and How to Apply in 2026

The five eligibility tests, the SF-3112 forms, the 60/40 benefit math, the SSDI offset, and the age 62 conversion. With a two-phase disability calculator.

Discontinued Service Retirement (DSR): Your Pension If You’re RIF’d

Involuntarily separated at 50 with 20 years, or any age with 25? DSR pays an immediate annuity with no FERS age reduction, plus lifetime FEHB. Eligibility, the traps, and a calculator.

Deferred Resignation & Buyouts: DRP, VERA, and VSIP Compared

Three different tools with very different outcomes. What each is, how they interact with your pension, FEHB, TSP, and the supplement — plus a package-value calculator.

Stacking FERS Disability, SSDI & VA Compensation

You can collect all three at once — but only FERS is offset (60%−100% of SSDI year 1, 40%−60% after). VA stacks free and tax-free. Why the offset still leaves you ahead, plus a three-benefit calculator.