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PostaIPEOPLE News & Views April 2006 Issue

 

A draft version of the article “Thinking About Retirement?” was inadvertently included in the April

2006 issue of the PostaIPEOPLE News & Views. The following article clarifies the information

included in the published article:

 

Thinking About Retirement?

 

When the Retirement process for your employing district/office has migrated to the Human Resources Shared Services Center (HRSSC) employees are encouraged to take the following steps:

 

1. Three years before you are eligible to voluntarily retire, you can contact the Human Resources Shared Services Center (HRSSC) at 1-877-477-3273 and select option 5 to request an annuity estimate.

 

2. Although you can select any date to retire once you become voluntarily eligible, there are certain times of the month under both the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) that may be more advantageous to you. For example, if you are covered by CSRS the best time to retire is either on the last day of the month or the 1st, 2nd or 3rd day of any month and your annuity is effective the following day. On the other hand, if you fall under FERS you should retire at the end of the month so your annuity will be effective on the first of the next month.

 

3. To initiate a voluntary retirement, employees are encouraged to contact the HRSSC within 90 days of their desired retirement effective date by calling 1-877-477-3273 and selecting option 5. The HRSSC will request your annuity estimate and order your Official Personnel Folder (OPF) from your employing district/office.

 

4. A retirement specialist at the HRSSC will be assigned to your case and will ensure that your retirement application is processed from the beginning to the end. Your retirement specialist will:

  Verify your creditable service by reviewing your personal records. This process can take up to 3 weeks to complete    after receipt of your OPF.

  Mail your retirement application package to your address of record that includes all the pertinent forms and       informational documents you will need to retire. After you complete your retirement application, you are asked to    contact the HRSSC to arrange your individual retirement counseling session. Your assigned retirement specialist will   call you back within one (1) business day and arrange a time and date to have your retirement counseling session.

  Conduct your individual retirement counseling session by reviewing your application and discussing a variety of other    information concerning your retirement and answering any questions you may have. Following the counseling session,    you will mail your application back to the HRSSC for processing

   Review your application to ensure that all the appropriate documents are included and signed.

  • Complete the processing of your application by forwarding your application to the Accounting Service Center (ASC)    who verifies your earnings and forwards your application on to the Office of Personnel Management.

 

5. Because of your many years of service, the Postal Service wants to ensure that your retirement is processed timely and as smoothly as possible. The retirement specialists at the HRSSC have years of experience and are thoroughly trained to make sure that your retirement application gets the personal attention it deserves throughout the process.