The Best Dates for Feds to Retire in 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028, 2029, and 2030

When planning for retirement, timing is everything—especially for Feds looking to maximize their benefits. One of the key factors in ensuring a smooth transition to retirement is choosing the right date to retire.

Ideally, you want to retire on the final day of the pay period to get credit for all accrued annual leave. Retiring too early in a pay period could result in forfeiting the 8 hours of annual leave earned in that final pay period. Saturdays matter here, even though they are not a business day. Federal pay periods technically end on Saturdays.

Additionally, timing your retirement for the end of the month can be beneficial, as it ensures that your FERS pension will begin on the first day of the following month. In this case, interestingly, Saturdays and Sundays don’t factor into the equation. For example, if you retired on Friday, November 28th, your pension would still start 12/1/24. But if you retired just one day earlier, on Thursday, November 27th, your pension would not start until 1/1/25, because you retired one business day short of the end of the month. In both of these cases, you would be leaving 8 hours of earned annual leave on the table, since you are not retiring on a Saturday at the end of the pay period.

Confusing enough?

Here at Serving Those Who Serve, we do our best to take the legwork out of maximizing your federal benefits, and selecting a retirement date is no exception. So, without further ado, here are the most optimal dates for Feds to retire in 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028, 2029, and 2030.

2025:

Saturday, May 31st
Saturday, November 29th

2026:

Saturday, May 30th
Saturday, October 31st

2027:

Saturday, October 30th

2028:

Saturday, April 29th
Saturday, September 30th

2029:

Saturday, March 31st
Saturday, September 29th

2030:

Saturday, August 31st
Saturday, March 30th

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What makes these dates ideal is that they are situated at the end of a pay period and at the end of a month, to ensure you get credited for your full annual leave accrued during that final pay period and your FERS pension will begin on the first day of the following month. If you have a significant cash buffer built up and you’re not pressed for income in the month following retirement, you could consider simply retiring at the end of a given pay period—this would significantly increase your options for a retirement date since there are 26-27 pay periods in each given year.

Retiring prior to the end of a pay period is not recommended, since you could be leaving money on the table. To get an idea of how much money you might be missing out on so that you can adequately weigh the pros and cons: take your annual salary, divide it by 2087 (assuming full-time employment), and then multiply by the 8 hours of leave accrued per pay period. That is how much you’d be forfeiting by retiring prior to the end of the pay period. If that works for you and you have more important reasons for setting a different retirement date, that’s great! But if you’re looking to maximize your benefits, consider setting a retirement date at the end of a pay period.

One last note: Many federal employees believe that December 31st is the ideal day to retire, thinking it guarantees a smooth transition into retirement with a FERS pension starting on January 1st. While it's true that retiring on December 31st will ensure your pension begins the following day, this date rarely coincides with the end of a pay period. As a result, retiring on December 31st often means forfeiting the 8 hours of annual leave accrued in the final pay period. However, there is one notable advantage to retiring on December 31st: the final paycheck, which includes the lump sum payout for any unused annual leave, will be issued in the following tax year. This can be beneficial, as it may place the lump sum payout in a year when the now-retired Fed’s overall income is lower, potentially reducing their tax liability on the lump sum payout.

If you're thinking about how to best time your federal retirement, the team at Serving Those Who Serve is here to help. We specialize in guiding federal employees through the complexities of retirement planning, from maximizing your benefits to making informed decisions about your retirement date. Reach out to us for a consultation to learn more about how we can support you in making the most of your federal benefits as you plan for the future.

Katelyn Murray, CFP®, ChFEBC℠, FBS®, CFT-1™: Relationship Team Lead & Financial Planning Expert

Katelyn is a financial advisor with over a decade of experience working with Feds to build a healthy, balanced relationship with money and to design and enjoy the retirement of their dreams. In addition to her CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and Chartered Federal Employee Benefits Consultant℠ designations, Katelyn also holds a Master in Business Administration as well as a graduate certificate in financial psychology and behavioral finance. Her unique approach merges financial psychology with traditional wealth management expertise to create an integrated financial planning approach that helps clients make the most of the one resource they can’t get more of: time.

Here at Serving Those Who Serve, Katelyn serves as our Director of Relationship Management, mentoring our advisors and guiding our client experience. She also co-hosts The Fed15 podcast each week with STWS founder Dan Sipe.

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, CFP® (with plaque design) and CFP® (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board's initial and ongoing certification requirements.

**Written by Katelyn Murray, CFP®, ChFEBC®, FBS®, CFT-1™, ECA. The information has been obtained from sources considered reliable but we do not guarantee that the foregoing material is accurate or complete. Any opinions are those of Katelyn Murray and not necessarily those of RJFS or Raymond James. Any information is not a complete summary or statement of all available data necessary for making an investment decision and does not constitute a recommendation. Investing involves risk and you may incur a profit or loss regardless of strategy suggested. Every investor’s situation is unique and you should consider your investment goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon before making any investment or financial decision. Prior to making an investment decision, please consult with your financial advisor about your individual situation. While we are familiar with the tax provisions of the issues presented herein, as Financial Advisors of RJFS, we are not qualified to render advice on tax or legal matters. You should discuss tax or legal matters with the appropriate professional. **