The December 31 retirement countdown, week by week from October 1

1. Why December 31 this year

Three reasons hold in any year. It is the last day of a month, so a FERS annuity begins the first of the next — January 1, 2027, with the first payment nominally due February 1. It sits inside the 2026 leave year, so your entire annual leave balance is paid as a lump sum. And it splits the tax years cleanly: a full year of salary in 2026, and the leave payout landing in 2027, when your income is lower.

One usual reason does not hold this year. Normally, leave projected into January is paid at January’s higher rates, so waiting into the new leave year adds money. Under the 2027 alternative pay plan, base and locality pay are frozen at 2026 levels, so the rate is identical on both sides of New Year’s Day. The 2026 leave year does not end until January 9, 2027, and retiring then adds six days of pay and one more accrual — but it pushes the annuity start to February 1, trading a month of annuity for a week of salary. For nearly every FERS employee, December 31 wins. CSRS employees can retire through January 3 and still have the annuity start in January under the three-day rule.

The complete date analysis is in December vs. January and the worst days to retire; the freeze math is in retire now or wait.

2. Weeks 12–10: October 1–21

This is the block where the irreversible confirmations happen. Everything later assumes these are true.

• Get a written retirement eligibility determination from HR, naming your exact creditable service to the day, your high-3, and your annuity estimate. Verbal confirmations are not usable if something is wrong later.
• Confirm the FEHB five-year rule in writing. Continuous enrollment for the five years immediately before December 31, 2026, or since your first opportunity. This one overrides the date itself: if your fifth year completes in 2027, move the date. See the five-year rule.
• Confirm the FEGLI five-year rule the same way, for each coverage type you want to carry. See FEGLI in retirement.
• Verify deposits and redeposits are complete — military service, pre-1989 temporary service, refunded service. These must be paid before separation; afterward is generally too late.
• Check your sick leave balance, which converts to service credit at 100% for FERS retirees. See sick leave credit.
• Discuss the survivor election with your spouse and understand that it also decides whether they keep FEHB after your death.

3. Weeks 9–7: October 22–November 11

File. This is the block, and earlier inside it is better.

• Submit the retirement application. SF-3107 for FERS, SF-2801 for CSRS, through your agency’s process or the ORA digital system. Sixty to ninety days of lead is the standard; filing in late October puts you at the top of that range. See how to actually file.
• Include the survivor election and the spousal consent if declining or reducing it. A missing notarized signature is the most common cause of a returned package.
• Repay or reamortize any TSP loan. An outstanding balance becomes a taxable distribution roughly 90 days after separation, and it blocks post-separation withdrawals until settled. See TSP loans.
• Set your final TSP contributions so the agency match is captured in every remaining pay period, and confirm the annual limit will not be hit early. See the five TSP mistakes.
• Watch for the 2027 FEHB premiums, announced late September or early October, and start the Open Season comparison.
• Request written confirmation that your package has been received by HR, and diary a follow-up for two weeks later.

4. Weeks 6–4: November 12–December 2

• Make your Open Season elections early in the window (it runs November 9 to December 14). Elections made as an employee take effect in the first full 2027 pay period; as an annuitant, January 1. Filing early avoids any interaction with the December 11 deadline. New this year, every family member you add is verified — have documents ready. See the verification rule.
• Schedule use-or-lose annual leave by November 28 (end of pay period 25) if you are above the carryover ceiling and want to preserve it — though for a December 31 retiree the balance is paid out as a lump sum anyway, which is usually the better outcome. See the lump-sum payout.
• Confirm the package reached OPM, or that your agency has scheduled its transmission.
• Build the cash cushion: three to six months of expenses for the interim-pay gap. See surviving the OPM wait.
• Move the first few years of planned TSP withdrawals into the G Fund if you will be drawing on the account, so a bad January cannot force a sale.
• Update your address, personal email, and phone in every system: agency, TSP, FEHB carrier. Your work email disappears on December 31.

5. Weeks 3–1: December 3–31

• Before December 11: confirm in writing that your retirement package has been transmitted. If a lapse begins December 12, anything still in the agency stops moving. See the funding tracker.
• December 14: Open Season closes. Verify your election was accepted, not just submitted.
• Take any 2026 RMD by December 31 if you are 73 or older, and execute any 2026 Roth conversion — the last day for both is the same as your last day of work.
• Download everything from agency systems: SF-50s, leave and earnings statements, performance records, benefits confirmations. Access ends with your account.
• Confirm your final leave balance with timekeeping, and get the projected lump-sum figure in writing.
• Verify your TSP loan is settled and your beneficiary form (TSP-3) is current.
• December 31: the separation SF-50 should show December 31, 2026 as the effective date. Get a copy before you leave the building.

6. After the last day

January 1 your annuity begins on paper. It does not arrive on paper’s schedule.

Weeks 4–6: OPM assigns a CSA claim number and interim payments begin at roughly 60–80% of the estimated annuity, with no FEHB or FEGLI withholding taken yet and limited tax withholding. Months 2–5: the case is finalized, the annuity is computed exactly, and a true-up with back pay covers the difference. Meanwhile: your leave lump sum arrives from your agency’s payroll provider, typically within one to two pay periods, taxed at the supplemental rate.

Three things to do in this period. Register on OPM’s Services Online as soon as you have the CSA number. Set your tax withholding deliberately — the interim default is often too low. And do not panic at the interim amount; it is supposed to be short.

7. The two risks inside the window

Neither risk touches your annuity amount, your eligibility, or your date. Both touch timing, and both are fully removable by acting in October rather than December. That is the entire argument for starting a twelve-week countdown twelve weeks out.

8. The one-page summary

For the longer arc — the eighteen months before this twelve-week window — see the 18-month countdown. For every other date in the year, the 2027 retirement calendar.

9. Frequently asked questions