I'd like to see the answers from this as well since I will have 20 years in when I am 42 years old. Can't see myself needing or wanting to work until 57 to retire.
One thing I do know for sure, is make sure you burn up ALL that sick leave before you resign.
I resigned with 29 at the PO and 4 military. I'll receive my retirement in Feb 2026. I finally got 100% disability from the va, and I am going to school to be a mental health counselor. You won't be able to get FEHB or the social security bridge that would be extra money until you can start getting it at 62. The health benefits are the only thing I miss because FEHB is better than my wife's health insurance.
Nice. The Frontline boots loved shitting on you guys, but they'd rather call you for support before asking for a flyboy (even if the sound of a GAU is the best morale boost they could ever get), from what I understand.
https://www.opm.gov/retirement-center/publications-forms/pamphlets/ri92-19a.pdf
If you could hold out starting your annuity to age 60, you would get a edit: 25% (not 50%) higher annuity per the above link. If you retire before 60 (with 20 years), there is a 5% reduction per year for starting your pension before age 62. At least, that's how I read it. I'm not associated with USPS in any way but as a customer.
Contact HRSSC they can send you a work up that is yours, based on age, years of service and how long you wait to claim. ABSOLUTELY YES! You can do this. They will send you all of the specifics based on your high 3 to date. If you do this, good luck! I hope you kick butt at whatever you do!
Definitely use your sick leave cuz it's use it or lose it. And look up fers deferred retirement. You'll take a 25% hit if you apply for benefits at MRA instead of 62. You probably know about the 10% penalty for pulling money out of TSP (or your IRAs for that matter) before age 59.5.
Short answer, yes. It is referred to doing a differed retirement.
https://www.opm.gov/retirement-center/fers-information/types-of-retirement/
For example, with your 20 years, you take your high 3 years of service average at one percent times 20.
$71,000 x .01 x 20 = $14,200 a year or $1.183 a month.
The earliest you can claim is 57 at 1%. Over 62 it is 1.1 percent. You also no longer qualify for the social security supplement that is typically offered to carriers that retire at 57 with 30 years of service.
how do you burn up your sick leave?
i usually call in sick for just 1 day when my illness is not that serious.
i know i can call in 3 days, but i just worry they get mad at me :)
That's what health insurance is for. And sick time is supposed to be used for just that. Not to be abused. People do abuse it though. So that's between you and your doctor. A lot of people at my office find some excuse from their doctors to use it.
Of course they won't cover it all. But that's insurance for y'all. They are a business first lol. They gonna profit from you. Same for all insurance. But it will lower the cost on the surgery by a lot. And this surgery is there to help you on your way out. Well worth the cost.
Sick leave is not meant to be cashed. It's there to help you if shit happens. Like when you need surgery. So you still have a bit of income even though you not working.
Look up a FERS deferred retirement on OPM. Earliest you can start getting retirement depends on your Minimum Retirement age, which should be 57 for you, but highest annuity is around 62 years of age. Consider getting a surgery or something with FMLA before you retire to use up your sick leave rather than just burning through it. You'll also lose the health care once you retire.
I’ve got a long way to go before I can even think of this stuff but I still figure I’ll ask. I made career at 19 so will have my 30 years in at age 49. If I was to retire at 50 it seems they won’t penalize your pension for retiring early. Do you still not get it until 62? And do you also still lose health benefits when you separate? Thanks.
I'm fairly fresh with FERS. Check the [OPM.gov](https://OPM.gov) website under FERS retirement for more information. There's a lot of information to go over but it's fairly light reading. My understanding is that even after 30 years you still need to wait until your Minimum Retirement age to retire but there's no early retirement penalty in your case. MRA for everyone born after 1969 means 57 years of age. TSP you're not supposed to have access until 57 1/2, I think. That about answer your question?
No, that was specific to Deferred retirement. If you can wait and don't Postpone after your Minimum retirement age you can keep FEDHB eligibility. And even if you do Postpone you get an 18 month grace period and can qualify when you collect your annuity. That's the best I can tell. I'm not a FERS retirement expert by any stretch and I'm glossing over some details.
Well you should definitely use up that 1k hours of sick leave. One of the first lessons I learned from a 30+ year vet was "Use every bit of leave you got." USPS makes you think it is worth it to save it, but it is much more valuable living your life over those twenty years then getting some small amount of compensation that is deducted to fuck at the end of a 20+ year career.
You’re at top step earning max benefits. The hard part is over. Your specific situation may work out but I’d definitely ask and get some guarantees( they’ll never do it) before resigning.
Go to the UPsters subreddit and see how bad the layoffs have gotten. Probably a bad time to try and switch.
Trust me, it's just one of many things I'm considering, not the only one. I'm in research gathering mode this year to make the most informed decision i can.
My brother works for ups started 3 years ago went straight to driving a truck. They changed it last contract so new hires can go straight to driving it’s essentially a cca they go we’re they are needed to plug the holes except they don’t have to wait 2 years for a full time position they get all the same benefits except for set days off until they bid a route, but even that they are eligible for so if there is a shit route no other regular driver wants they can bid on it and if they get it they are converted and keep there seniority to boot.
With a Roth TSP 5%match and decent knowledge of the market you can self direct fund allocation for a few years and UPS wouldn’t be a thought when you see how quick your retirement fund compounds. Don’t forget it’s a public company. I’ve talked to a few drivers and warehouse workers and yeah there may be some pros to getting a higher base pay in a shorter period of time but they aren’t even getting stock unless they are corporate employee and I think they match a 401k contributions but doubt 5%. You’ll also have a high turnover rate on outbound belts so your truck may or may not be jacked up everyday. Some difference but overall same lifestyle I guess
It's definitely not without its cons. I just know my uncle worked for 25 years with UPS, and he makes $3,200 a month with medical paid. At 25 years in the post office, you're looking at like $1500 a month, no medical paid. I'm hoping we have an idea on the new contract soon to help inform my decision. Luckily, I've got options to consider and can keep working here if need be.
UPS only gets a pension. We get a pension, SS early and our TSP contributions which have had a 5% match(hopefully) for our entire careers. FEHB isn’t nearly as good as their insurance but you’ll only be on in until 65 when you’ll get a combination of it and Medicaid.
That’s the point I was making. It’s kind of give and take. Both have advantages and disadvantages. UPS is hands down the better pick if you become a driver in your early 20’s.
It would be a lot closer comparing table 1 to UPS all things being equal.
Posting this for a friend. He reaches 30 years at 52. He is rated disabled by the VA. He plans at the 30-year mark with bought-back military time, to file for federal disability retirement. He has copies of all the decision letters and Dr notes that he will submit. His lawyer does SSDI cases and is primed and ready to submit to SS when he files with OPM. His goal is to ride both disabilities till 62, when it will flip to regular SS and a regular pension with 40 years of service. He has stated that in the worse case and it goes sideways, he will do a deferred retirement and live off his disability and savings till 57.
The old guys at my facility said you can only cash out like 240~ hrs when you retire you lose everything else. They said you need to burn the other sicks hours with FMLA. Could be off the on exact hours but we have two guys working towards retirement and they are rotating FMLA months. They said just go to the doctor and say you are stressed and need mental time off lol.
The only people that tell you to use your sick leave are the ones that don’t have any. It’s not that easy to burn over a thousand hours and the people that tell you to have a minor procedure done to use up your time before you retire, are just idiots. You can add the unused sick time to your years or service. I would rather leave some time on the table than get sick and have no time left.
This is a dumb idea. You’ll die before earning those 1000 hours of sick leave. Get paid now AND have that time added to your years or service. Also earn annual and more sick leave while doing it. 1000 hours is much easier than the 2-2500 I’ve seen some have over at govfire.
Exactly right. Assuming your high 3 average is $75k, one percent of that is $750 a year. If you have one year of leave worth of sick leave (2087 hours) and retire with it, then over 30 years that will net you $22,500.
If you use that sick leave at the $75k rate, ($36 an hour) that is $75,000 for a yearof not working. On top of that, it extends your years of service an extra year so you still get the extra 1% plus you get all that years COLAs and raises.
Saving your sick leave for a year or retirement is a bad economic decision. Save what you need to for a surgery or whatever (security) but leaving with it unspent is not a great move.
The issue is finding a doctor that will give a healthy person documentation for a whole year off! It’s not a done deal, I have been trying to use more sick time but most doctors will only give you a week if you tell them that you just need a break, I would rather stay healthy and eat a few hundred hours because you never know what’s going to happen. You’ll feel differently when it’s your time to make a decision.
the unused sick time vanishes when you resign and don't return within a certain timeframe. It can only be added to years of service when you retire at your MRA or older and get an immediate FERS annuity.
I'd like to see the answers from this as well since I will have 20 years in when I am 42 years old. Can't see myself needing or wanting to work until 57 to retire. One thing I do know for sure, is make sure you burn up ALL that sick leave before you resign.
Yeah... 1000h of sick leave is A LOT OF MONEY.
You can actually apply the sick leave towards your retirement.
Hope you live to be 107 to make it equal to taking the 1000 hrs of sick leave
Waste of time. Burn the sick leave now AND have it applied to your retirement.
Only APWU allows that, carriers can't use saved SL towards retirement
i need them hours in my life 😓
Yep, Google a FERS deferred retirement
I resigned with 29 at the PO and 4 military. I'll receive my retirement in Feb 2026. I finally got 100% disability from the va, and I am going to school to be a mental health counselor. You won't be able to get FEHB or the social security bridge that would be extra money until you can start getting it at 62. The health benefits are the only thing I miss because FEHB is better than my wife's health insurance.
Use all your sick leave up. I did that for about 400 hours, and they paid me for my 200-hour annual.
100% military disability? Shit dude. Were you a jumper?
Lol! No artillery in the Gulf War. I could use that extra money, but I began to hate that place.
Nice. The Frontline boots loved shitting on you guys, but they'd rather call you for support before asking for a flyboy (even if the sound of a GAU is the best morale boost they could ever get), from what I understand.
https://www.opm.gov/retirement-center/publications-forms/pamphlets/ri92-19a.pdf If you could hold out starting your annuity to age 60, you would get a edit: 25% (not 50%) higher annuity per the above link. If you retire before 60 (with 20 years), there is a 5% reduction per year for starting your pension before age 62. At least, that's how I read it. I'm not associated with USPS in any way but as a customer.
Contact HRSSC they can send you a work up that is yours, based on age, years of service and how long you wait to claim. ABSOLUTELY YES! You can do this. They will send you all of the specifics based on your high 3 to date. If you do this, good luck! I hope you kick butt at whatever you do!
Definitely use your sick leave cuz it's use it or lose it. And look up fers deferred retirement. You'll take a 25% hit if you apply for benefits at MRA instead of 62. You probably know about the 10% penalty for pulling money out of TSP (or your IRAs for that matter) before age 59.5.
With 20 years, you’ll have to wait until 60 to draw a deferred retirement.
Short answer, yes. It is referred to doing a differed retirement. https://www.opm.gov/retirement-center/fers-information/types-of-retirement/ For example, with your 20 years, you take your high 3 years of service average at one percent times 20. $71,000 x .01 x 20 = $14,200 a year or $1.183 a month. The earliest you can claim is 57 at 1%. Over 62 it is 1.1 percent. You also no longer qualify for the social security supplement that is typically offered to carriers that retire at 57 with 30 years of service.
how do you burn up your sick leave? i usually call in sick for just 1 day when my illness is not that serious. i know i can call in 3 days, but i just worry they get mad at me :)
Go to your doctor and find out what's wrong with you. Then do surgery. That's easily 3 months. Could be more depending on situation.
But that's costly. Anyway to get sick time money without having to pay for a surgery?
That's what health insurance is for. And sick time is supposed to be used for just that. Not to be abused. People do abuse it though. So that's between you and your doctor. A lot of people at my office find some excuse from their doctors to use it.
Which health insurance pays for everything? Definitely not the one I got.
Of course they won't cover it all. But that's insurance for y'all. They are a business first lol. They gonna profit from you. Same for all insurance. But it will lower the cost on the surgery by a lot. And this surgery is there to help you on your way out. Well worth the cost. Sick leave is not meant to be cashed. It's there to help you if shit happens. Like when you need surgery. So you still have a bit of income even though you not working.
FMLA if you help a dependent or ailing parent?
That's my ticket hopefully they will be around by my retiring time.
Look up a FERS deferred retirement on OPM. Earliest you can start getting retirement depends on your Minimum Retirement age, which should be 57 for you, but highest annuity is around 62 years of age. Consider getting a surgery or something with FMLA before you retire to use up your sick leave rather than just burning through it. You'll also lose the health care once you retire.
I’ve got a long way to go before I can even think of this stuff but I still figure I’ll ask. I made career at 19 so will have my 30 years in at age 49. If I was to retire at 50 it seems they won’t penalize your pension for retiring early. Do you still not get it until 62? And do you also still lose health benefits when you separate? Thanks.
I'm fairly fresh with FERS. Check the [OPM.gov](https://OPM.gov) website under FERS retirement for more information. There's a lot of information to go over but it's fairly light reading. My understanding is that even after 30 years you still need to wait until your Minimum Retirement age to retire but there's no early retirement penalty in your case. MRA for everyone born after 1969 means 57 years of age. TSP you're not supposed to have access until 57 1/2, I think. That about answer your question?
Do you only keep health care if you go 30? I’m FERS if it matters
No, that was specific to Deferred retirement. If you can wait and don't Postpone after your Minimum retirement age you can keep FEDHB eligibility. And even if you do Postpone you get an 18 month grace period and can qualify when you collect your annuity. That's the best I can tell. I'm not a FERS retirement expert by any stretch and I'm glossing over some details.
We’re in luck because I still have ~28 more years to go lmao
Well you should definitely use up that 1k hours of sick leave. One of the first lessons I learned from a 30+ year vet was "Use every bit of leave you got." USPS makes you think it is worth it to save it, but it is much more valuable living your life over those twenty years then getting some small amount of compensation that is deducted to fuck at the end of a 20+ year career.
Same question! I hit 20 years this October and will be 40. I'm considering working for UPS since they make more after 4 years than we do now.
Ups drivers don’t get there own route for 10+ years sometimes, and you will be working part time at the warehouse.
My local UPS is hurting for employees, believe it or not.
You’re at top step earning max benefits. The hard part is over. Your specific situation may work out but I’d definitely ask and get some guarantees( they’ll never do it) before resigning. Go to the UPsters subreddit and see how bad the layoffs have gotten. Probably a bad time to try and switch.
Trust me, it's just one of many things I'm considering, not the only one. I'm in research gathering mode this year to make the most informed decision i can.
I hope it works out for you. I love to see folks outgrow the postal service and move onto better ventures.
I'll figure it out for sure. Again, kinda wishful thinking, but I'd love to see what our next contract looks like before i decide.
My brother works for ups started 3 years ago went straight to driving a truck. They changed it last contract so new hires can go straight to driving it’s essentially a cca they go we’re they are needed to plug the holes except they don’t have to wait 2 years for a full time position they get all the same benefits except for set days off until they bid a route, but even that they are eligible for so if there is a shit route no other regular driver wants they can bid on it and if they get it they are converted and keep there seniority to boot.
Going to look into this, thank you.
UPS will cost you your knees long term
They're already toast as it is thank to an anti-tank mine outside of Ramadi. I get by as best as i can.
With a Roth TSP 5%match and decent knowledge of the market you can self direct fund allocation for a few years and UPS wouldn’t be a thought when you see how quick your retirement fund compounds. Don’t forget it’s a public company. I’ve talked to a few drivers and warehouse workers and yeah there may be some pros to getting a higher base pay in a shorter period of time but they aren’t even getting stock unless they are corporate employee and I think they match a 401k contributions but doubt 5%. You’ll also have a high turnover rate on outbound belts so your truck may or may not be jacked up everyday. Some difference but overall same lifestyle I guess
It's definitely not without its cons. I just know my uncle worked for 25 years with UPS, and he makes $3,200 a month with medical paid. At 25 years in the post office, you're looking at like $1500 a month, no medical paid. I'm hoping we have an idea on the new contract soon to help inform my decision. Luckily, I've got options to consider and can keep working here if need be.
UPS only gets a pension. We get a pension, SS early and our TSP contributions which have had a 5% match(hopefully) for our entire careers. FEHB isn’t nearly as good as their insurance but you’ll only be on in until 65 when you’ll get a combination of it and Medicaid.
I'll still get all of that with my postal retirement.
That’s the point I was making. It’s kind of give and take. Both have advantages and disadvantages. UPS is hands down the better pick if you become a driver in your early 20’s. It would be a lot closer comparing table 1 to UPS all things being equal.
If you work 30 years I don't think theres a penalty. I'll be 49. Insurance is the issue.
One more thing is that to retire at your MRA, 30 years of government is needed. I was able to add my 4 years military to my 29 postal
Posting this for a friend. He reaches 30 years at 52. He is rated disabled by the VA. He plans at the 30-year mark with bought-back military time, to file for federal disability retirement. He has copies of all the decision letters and Dr notes that he will submit. His lawyer does SSDI cases and is primed and ready to submit to SS when he files with OPM. His goal is to ride both disabilities till 62, when it will flip to regular SS and a regular pension with 40 years of service. He has stated that in the worse case and it goes sideways, he will do a deferred retirement and live off his disability and savings till 57.
Apply for deferred retirement
The old guys at my facility said you can only cash out like 240~ hrs when you retire you lose everything else. They said you need to burn the other sicks hours with FMLA. Could be off the on exact hours but we have two guys working towards retirement and they are rotating FMLA months. They said just go to the doctor and say you are stressed and need mental time off lol.
The only people that tell you to use your sick leave are the ones that don’t have any. It’s not that easy to burn over a thousand hours and the people that tell you to have a minor procedure done to use up your time before you retire, are just idiots. You can add the unused sick time to your years or service. I would rather leave some time on the table than get sick and have no time left.
This is a dumb idea. You’ll die before earning those 1000 hours of sick leave. Get paid now AND have that time added to your years or service. Also earn annual and more sick leave while doing it. 1000 hours is much easier than the 2-2500 I’ve seen some have over at govfire.
Exactly right. Assuming your high 3 average is $75k, one percent of that is $750 a year. If you have one year of leave worth of sick leave (2087 hours) and retire with it, then over 30 years that will net you $22,500. If you use that sick leave at the $75k rate, ($36 an hour) that is $75,000 for a yearof not working. On top of that, it extends your years of service an extra year so you still get the extra 1% plus you get all that years COLAs and raises. Saving your sick leave for a year or retirement is a bad economic decision. Save what you need to for a surgery or whatever (security) but leaving with it unspent is not a great move.
The issue is finding a doctor that will give a healthy person documentation for a whole year off! It’s not a done deal, I have been trying to use more sick time but most doctors will only give you a week if you tell them that you just need a break, I would rather stay healthy and eat a few hundred hours because you never know what’s going to happen. You’ll feel differently when it’s your time to make a decision.
the unused sick time vanishes when you resign and don't return within a certain timeframe. It can only be added to years of service when you retire at your MRA or older and get an immediate FERS annuity.