Summer is Here – How Will You Use Your Annual Leave
Summer is here and what does that mean for federal and postal workers?  Your annual leave which you have accumulated, will you use it to take the family on a long and much deserved vacation, perhaps even an international trip? Not so fast. If you are looking at retirement in the next 3 to 5 years, you might want to rethink how you use those accumulated annual leave hours – both sick and unused annual leave can have an impact on your federal retirement.
If you are heading into your CSRS or FERS retirement age you should pay careful attention to managing your resources for a retirement future that could last another 30 years or more. Many financial experts recognize that the challenges to the US economy is intimately tied to the economies around the world and therefore point to the risks abroad as possible reasons to be cautious with your money in retirement. We have learned that the economy of the United States is not isolated but is greatly impacted by the world economy.
We can no longer say, that is happening over there and it has nothing to do with us. Not so. Not so. If the world has always been intricately connected, it is now even more apparent via advances in information technology. Therefore, instead of using your leave for an extended summer vacation, preserve your unuse annual leave so that it can leverage your retirement options.
Both CSRS and FERS employees can enhance their retirement by using sick leave to add to years of service when calculating the retirement annuity. The more years served the greater the retirement annuity. Since it often takes some time to get your first full annuity check, having a handsome annual leave check is just what the doctor ordered to fill the gap.
We all need a vacation from the high demands of work. Instead of a lengthy vacation think about a number of mini vacations. Holidays that fall on a Monday or a Friday are especially nice. Those holidays can extend the weekend into 3 days. Our nation offers many attractions that can be managed in 3 days at affordable prices. A friend recently suggested an in-home SPA vacation. She is a connoisseur of great, affordable, luxury spa items topped off by placing them in breath-taking baskets and other containers.  Turning your home or a room into a Day Spa with all attention focused on you is both fun, relaxing, refreshing and helps avoid breaking the bank.
In this instance you can have it all. Those who have use-or-lose leave can really live it up and still save for future retirement. Take a vacation, manage your retirement dollars and enjoy the lazy days of summer and hang on to your annual leave.
P. S. Always Remember to Share What You Know.
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