Why You Might Want to Choose a Date That’s Toward the Beginning of a Month

  • You gain an additional 1/12th of your annual vacation allowance that is then paid to you after you retire.
  • Many of your current benefits (such as medical and dental coverage) continue through the end of your retirement month. This gives you additional time to analyze your health care coverage needs during retirement and explore your options.

NOTE: If you choose a retirement date toward the beginning of a month, you’ll need to prepare for a slightly longer cash flow gap. For example, if you choose to retire on March 2, you would need to have enough savings on hand to cover one month of living expenses since your first pension check would arrive on April 1. (It takes 90 – 120 days following retirement to process a lump-sum cash payment from the Pension Plan.)