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Tips to Getting Your House in Order to Retire Well – Sick Leave

Dianna Tafazoli
January 9, 2014

~~ Sick Leave

Capitalizing on every resource available should be a constant theme for those anticipating leaving the workforce to start a new beginning – Using the value of your accumulated Sick Leave as a Retirement Planning tool is no different. We invest a huge amount of time and energy in our jobs. By the same token we must prioritize preparing to live well in retirement. How do we do that?

By taking advantage of information and knowledge that will support and enhance our lives as we move into retirement. Today Americans are living longer, some past the age of one hundred. As such, we will need far more money than our parents to ensure our resources outlast us. We cannot afford to overlook or minimize any opportunity that will potentially brighten our retirement outcome.

As of 2014, for employees under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) like their counterparts under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), 100 percent of their unused sick leave to lengthen years of service towards retirement.

While employees cannot be paid for sick leave, its value is immeasurable because the more years of service you have under your belt, the greater your annuity. Sick Leave is no longer just available to cover illness, but Sick Leave can also serve as an important tool in evaluating and managing one’s financial picture in retirement.

For example, when calculating years of creditable service it might be that your hours fall short of a full month. By adding your accrued unused hours of sick leave to the formula, length of service is increased, thereby increasing your annuity. So don’t put sick leave on the back burner, because it can make your annuity check look very healthy.

P. S. Always Remember to Share What You Know.

For more information on Sick Leave;

LINKS

To calculate the value of your Sick Leave

www.psretirement.com