How to Retire
What to file, when to file it, and what happens to your money in between
Your retirement countdown
Enter your planned last day and every deadline below gets a real date.
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Enter your planned last day above. No date yet? Start from your eligibility dates. The checklist below works either way.
Your FERS annuity starts the first day of the month after you separate (5 U.S.C. § 8464). The first payment arrives about a month after that.
The countdown checklist
Retirement paperwork rewards the organized. Everything below is standard for a FERS ATC retirement. The dates personalize once you enter your last day above.
Five years out
- Confirm your five-year clocks: FEHB (and FEGLI, if you're keeping it) must cover the 5 years before your date. Coverage under a spouse's FEHB or TRICARE counts for FEHB. The rules →
- Finish your military deposit and get written proof it's paid in full. It must be complete before you separate, and interest compounds while you wait. Buyback math →
- Audit your eOPF: every SF-50 present, service computation date correct. Missing records are the classic cause of a slow OPM adjudication.
- Ask HR for an official annuity estimate and compare it against your income timeline. Big gaps mean a records problem worth finding now.
One year out
- Take a retirement seminar. The FAA and NATCA both run them, and a year out is when the details stick.
- If married, decide your survivor election as a couple. Anything less than the full election needs your spouse's notarized consent. The decision →
- Consider your sick leave. Every unused hour converts to pension credit; none is paid out in cash. Conversion math →
- Set your TSP withdrawal plan. As an ATC retiree you can tap it penalty-free right away. TSP in retirement →
120 days out
- Get the retirement package from HR: SF 3107 (Application for Immediate Retirement) plus SF 3107-2, the notarized spousal consent required if you elect anything less than the full survivor annuity.
- Request a final, dated annuity estimate based on your actual last day.
- Round up documents: DD-214 and military-deposit proof, marriage certificate, and any court orders that touch your benefits.
60 days out: package in
- Submit the package to your servicing HR office. OPM says agencies need a minimum of 60 days (30 for HR, 30 for payroll) before it even reaches OPM. Earlier is better.
- The FEGLI continuation election (SF 2818) and your tax withholding (W-4P) ride along with the package.
- Carrying a TSP loan? Settle it. An unpaid balance is declared a taxable distribution after you separate.
The final two weeks
- Beneficiary forms current everywhere: FERS (SF 3102), FEGLI (SF 2823), unpaid pay and leave (SF 1152), and your TSP designation.
- Save personal copies of recent LES statements, your SF-50s, and the final annuity estimate. Your eOPF access leaves with your badge.
- Work the facility exit clearance: return any government equipment, collect the sign-offs.
Last day
- You separate at the end of your assigned shift; turn in your badge and keep copies of everything you sign on the way out.
- Then go home. You've given your last clearance.
The weeks after
- Your final paycheck and annual-leave lump sum come from FAA payroll, typically within a few weeks.
- OPM mails your CSA claim number. Use it to set up Services Online. From here on, address and bank changes go to OPM, not the FAA.
- Interim pay begins while OPM finalizes your case. See what to expect below.
Picking your actual last day
Once the year is chosen, the day is worth a few thousand dollars of attention.
End of a month beats the middle
Your annuity starts the first day of the month after you separate. Retire on the 3rd and you get no paycheck and no annuity for the rest of that month. Working to the last day closes the gap.
End of the leave year pays extra
Unused annual leave is paid as a lump sum, projected as if you'd stayed on the payroll: hours that fall after January's pay raise are paid at the raised rate (5 U.S.C. § 5551). Retire at the leave year's end with the 240-hour carryover maximum plus a full year's accrual, and the check can approach 450 hours of pay.
Mandatory-56? Your date is already smart
Mandatory separation lands on the last day of the month you turn 56, so the annuity-smart date is built in. Your only lever is the leave balance you carry into it.
Sick leave is not a payout
Annual leave becomes cash. Sick leave becomes pension credit: every 174 hours adds a month to your computation. Burning it down before you go throws that credit away. How the credit works →
Whatever day you pick, the lump sum is priced on your adjusted basic pay (plus the non-foreign COLA in Alaska and Hawaii; no premiums). It arrives as a single taxable payment, separate from your final paycheck.
Interim pay
Your first months of annuity checks are partial, on purpose. Knowing that in advance is the difference between a plan and a panic.
General playbook, not agency guidance. Forms, routing, and timelines are set by your servicing HR office and can differ; OPM processing times vary with its workload. Nothing here is financial, legal, or tax advice. Confirm every deadline and election with your HR specialist before you file.