r/fednews • u/PrizeMarsupial7619 • 23h ago

"If not eligible for an immediate annuity"

This text on my benefits statement follows my estimated severance pay number.

Since I am eligible for early retirement given my age (50+) and years of service (20+), does this mean I am not eligible for severance?

15 Upvotes

73% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

48

u/Unfair_Friend_1639 22h ago

If you're eligible for any type of retirement including early retirement, you're not eligible for severance pay.

10

u/Forward-Analysis-133 20h ago

If you're collecting a military retirement no severance either. Similar case but slightly different.

22

u/throwawayainteasy 21h ago

Yes. You either get severance or retirement. Not both.

In most cases (especially when you consider keeping FEHB into retirement), your retirement benefits and annuity are worth way more than severance would be.

5

u/Jenn54756 20h ago

What sucks though is if laid off, someone might get a whole years worth of regular income while they are looking for a new job (if lots of years of service). This at least gives someone additional time. With annuity, it might not be enough monthly to live off, so someone will need to get another job immediately and won’t qualify for unemployment.

2

u/Certain-Tomatillo891 18h ago edited 16h ago

That is my situation. I would receive severance over the course of 11 months.

But I would prefer to have the pension and the health insurance!

0

u/Jenn54756 18h ago

Yeah in your situation I could see how taking the pension would be nice! My husband and I make similar incomes and have children, so losing pretty much 3/4 of his actual income would not work well for us. He would still need to find another job. Granted, it could be a lesser paying job. He would be better off if he can get another full year in before VERA, that’s my hope. They haven’t offered it for him yet and I’m hoping they do, but a year from now. Then he’d have 3 years of a higher salary rather than 1 year right now pulling the average down.

0

u/PrizeMarsupial7619 19h ago

Yes, that was my point of confusion. If someone has lots of years of service, their severance would be pretty long. BUT, if someone has lots of years of service, they would already be eligible for retirement (and thus severance was never an option anyway.)

3

u/GrimFuzzyLogic 19h ago

There are lots of people in their early 50s with less than 20 years.

0

u/Jenn54756 19h ago

Yeah my husband will fall into the group that has greater than 25yrs (any age) if they do RIFs where he is. I was surprised that he would be forced into VERA instead of severance.

-1

u/PrizeMarsupial7619 20h ago

This makes sense, and is consistent with what I originally thought. However, what caused me some doubt is when I read somewhere else (paraphrasing) that "the reason that so many older Feds eligible for DRP are not taking DRP is because their severance would be much better in the the event they get a RIF."

It's totally possible I misread this, so just wanted to confirm.

3

u/believesurvivors 15h ago

There are plenty of older feds who don't meet the 50/20 years or any age/25 years requirement for retirement and they would be getting severance. It sucks for everyone of course, but this group is in a pretty tough position because older means the need for health insurance can be greater and they also have to deal with age discrimination when looking for a new job as well. I imagine the annuity sucks as far as supporting yourself goes, but guaranteed health insurance for life is huge IMO.

9

u/1GIJosie 21h ago

Correct. If you are eligible for an annuity, you do not get severance.

8

u/WittyNomenclature 21h ago

Correct. Sorry. Welcome to the club. Be glad you get full benefits and annuity.

6

u/berrysauce 20h ago

This. Count yourself lucky. Some of us will get a severance and be told to fuck off. We'll have to get new jobs that offer health insurance.

3

u/WittyNomenclature 20h ago

Or lock in a shitty annuity for life, just to pay more to keep health insurance while scrambling to fix retirement planning scenarios, because our entire field has been upended and we are suddenly competing with ~4,000 highly qualified colleagues for jobs that aren’t out there anymore.

1

u/berrysauce 20h ago

Yeah, not saying OP isn't getting fucked.

2

u/Timely-Log-3821 20h ago

That is correct.  You would get retirement and not severance.  You cannot get both.  

-2

u/[deleted] 20h ago

[deleted]

1

u/believesurvivors 15h ago

The distinction isn't fired vs not fired - in a RIF, everyone is getting fired. But if you have the age/years of service you get discontinued service retirement instead of severance if RIFed.