Voluntary Early Out Retirement AuthorityVoluntary Early Out Retirement Authority


Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 09:35:53 -0500
To: "USGS Employees"<distribution>
From: Judy Huffman <chuffman>
Subject: Voluntary Early Out Retirement Authority

MEMORANDUM

To:		All U.S. Geological Survey Employees

From:		Robert Hosenfeld
		Personnel Officer

Subject:	Voluntary Early Out Retirement Authority

We received approval from the Office of Personnel Management to offer
Voluntary Early Out Retirement Authority (VERA) to all employees,
nationwide from the date of this memorandum until September 30, 1998.

All USGS employees nationwide who meet eligibility requirements for early
retirement may take advantage of the VERA.  Employees who wish to retire
under this authority must be off the roles by close of business September
30, 1998.  Following is information to assist you in making decisions about
your use of the early retirement authority:

1.  ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.

To be eligible for early out retirement, both FERS and CSRS employees must
be age 50 with 20 years of credible service or have 25 years of credible
service at any age.  Under CSRS, the annuity for an early out retiree is
reduced 2 percent a year for each year the retiree is under age 55.  Since
the annuity of a FERS-conversion retiree is based on both CSRS and FERS
components, this means that the reduction applies only to the CSRS portion
of the annuity--not the FERS portion.

2.  COMPUTING ANNUITIES.

The amount of your basic annuity is based on a percentage of your "high 3"
average salary.  Your "high 3" average salary is the highest 3 years of
base pay or salary you earned in any consecutive 3-year period (normally
most recent 3 years).

CSRS FORMULA*

	Basic annuity equals:
	1.5 % x high 3 x 5 years, plus
	1.75% x high 3 x 5 years, plus
	2% x high 3 x number of years of credible service in excess of 10 years

CSRS SHORTCUT FORMULA*

	(Length of credible service in whole years minus 2) x .02 x high 3= basic
annuity


FERS FORMULA*

	Basic Annuity equals:

	1% x high 3 x all years of FERS service

			OR

	If age > 62, 1.1% x high 3 x all years of service

*The formulas above do no include any age reduction which may apply or any
reduction resulting from the election of a survivor annuity.  PART TIME
employees should not use these formulas and should contact a retirement
specialist for assistance.

3.  CONTACTS FOR ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE

Cynthia Wylie (703) 648-7429		All Employees Serviced by the Reston				 
Judy Huffman (703) 648-7428*		Personnel Office--Headquarters/Eastern Reg
TTY Line (703) 648-7788			*Judy will not be 
601 National Center				available after 4/30/98
Reston, VA 20192

Dian Reeves (770) 409-7752		All Employees Serviced by TTY Line (770)
509-7750			the Norcross Personnel
Spalding Woods Office Park, Suite 160    Southeastern Region
Norcross, GA  30092

Emily Alexander (303) 236-5900x352 	All Employees Serviced by 
Tamara Erlsten x336				Denver Personnel Office- 
Michelle Schindler x370			Central Region
Darlene Welton x342				
TTY Line (303)236-5852			
Building 25, Denver Federal Center
P.O. Box 25046
Denver, CO 80225

Trish Sliter (650) 329-4078		All Employees Serviced by 
Michele Bollier (650) 329-4096		the Menlo Park Personnel 
Cathy Swigart (650)329-4116			Office-Western Region
Trindel Thompson (650)329-4077
Elizabeth Cohen (650)329-4112
TTY Line (650) 329-4123
345 Middlefield Road
Menlo Park, CA  94025