NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Submitted by: NSSC, NASA Shared Services Center

A recent survey from OPM revealed that eight out of ten government workers wanted to receive additional retirement information in preparation for this key life decision. From fiscal year 2008 through 2012, you may be one of 240,000 federal employees expected to retire from government service, mostly Baby Boomers who will be calling it quits; are extremely interested in additional information about preparing for retirement.

Here at the NSSC, there are several avenues for you to use to learn more about retirement process planning. The first way to obtain current information is to go online at: Retirement Application Processing, where you will find service descriptions and references in how to apply for retirement. An alternate path to utilize is to contact the NSSC Customer Contact Center at (1-877-NSSC123 or 1-877-677-2123), where our highly knowledgeable help desk agents can provide the initial steps on your retirement information path or provide you with opportunity to speak with an experienced retirement counselor. Another option the NSSC provides is through Face-to-Face Center visits, where our highly skilled human resource specialists provide you the information you need, right at your own location.

Are you looking forward to retirement? If so, you should first take a look back at your service history. Do you have prior military service or temporary service? Did you take a refund of your retirement contributions? All these services may be creditable for retirement purposes. The NSSC Retirement Application or Estimate Request Web page is a great site to start your retirement planning journey. The Retirement Information “Type of Request” dropdown provides the option for you to request: Retirement Estimates Only, Begin My Application for Retirement Processing, Military Deposits and Civilian Deposit/Redeposit Calculation Requests. Once a NASA employee completes the Retirement Estimate Request form, the NSSC starts the retirement information/application process.

The following priorities apply to your request for retirement estimate:

• Priority High: within one year of expected retirement date, you will receive an estimate within 10 business days.
• Priority Medium: within one to three years of expected retirement date, you will receive an estimate within 30 business days.
• Priority Low – within three to five years of expected retirement date, you will receive an estimate within 45 business days.

You should begin planning several years before the date you have set for retirement so that you will know what is required to continue certain benefits into retirement. There are many factors related to retirement planning, and it is literally never too early to begin. For more information, visit OPM FAQ’s for Planning for Retirement.

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