The Office of Personnel Management today published proposed regulations on a new phased retirement option, which will let federal employees ease into retirement on a part-time basis, while still getting half a pension.
You can read all about OPM’s plan here. And we’d like to hear from you on this potentially monumental change. Are you interested in phasing into retirement? If so, why? (Or if not, why not?) And if you are a manager, do you think allowing your employees to take phased retirement will help with your agency’s succession planning and knowledge retention efforts?
E-mail me at slosey@federaltimes.com if you’d like to talk. If you’d prefer to talk anonymously, that’s fine.
5 Comments
My idea of phased retirement is to retire completely and become a consultant working part time.
The DOD is going to experience a massive brain drain in the next couple of years and the government will have no choice but to turn to the private sector for their needs.
Private sector employment beginning around 2016 will boom once the government starts hurting from their self inflicted sequestration wounds.
I am curious as to how DoD will handle this. If it is offered, I would certainly look into it. I can retire today, but am waiting until Dec 2014. If there is something in place by then, I would consider it. If not, I’ll just retire.
I will just wait and see.
It will work for some, but not me. The DC area is a high-cost area. That’s not because of high-salaried feds, but because of the lobbying, defense, and service industries that have grown around the capital city. It would be very hard for me to collect a reduced salary, retirement and part-time pay, and stay in the area for an extended period of time. My financial plan is to fully retire and move to a lower cost area. That would also eliminate any possiblity of competing for a part-time job in my new location. Those jobs will go to folks who are already living at that location, and are more qualified for the mentoring role.
I find this VERY apealling. Both as a future retiree and as a Supervisor/Team Leader. A lot of professionals I know retire and then either go to work for firms that teach Government personnel or start their own consultant firms. As a consultant/contractor there are some limitations/reduced authorities which can be frustrating. I for one don’t believe I will ever fully “retire” until my faculties (mental or physical) say otherwise. I do want to be able to do a lot of other things than just work so I like the phased retirement approach. Although I do have VERY little faith that OPM and Lawmakers will be able to execute it in a manner that will be apealling or beneficial…………..
As a supervisor/team leader I am wondering if a person takes the phased retirement, does their postion get filled with a replacement at full time or part time to make up the difference?
Ms. McFarland said it the bset “We get a lot of ‘help.’ some of it well-intended, but a lot of this help misses.”
Which will this be?