Earlier this month, I celebrated 19 years of federal service, which includes over a decade at the Department and the remainder split between my time as a Peace Corps Volunteer and my federal civilian roles at the Voice of America and Peace Corps Headquarters.
My federal service anniversary milestone brought to mind two significant numbers for Foreign Service Officers (FSOs): 50 and 20. Often referred to as the “50/20” rule (spoken as “fifty and twenty”), these numbers signify an FSO’s retirement eligibility.
I’m still in my mid-40s, so the idea of retiring may sound a little surprising. But the reality is that I will be eligible in just a few short years. When I turn 50, I will already have 23 years of service! And the Foreign Service Pension System (FSPS) grants retirement to FSOs who are at least age 50 with 20 years of service (as long as at least five of their service years were in the Foreign Service).
Many FSOs come into the Department with prior military or civilian service, so my scenario is not uncommon.
Of course, FSOs don’t have to retire when they reach 50/20. A lot of officers stick around much longer. Some love the career and the lifestyle. Others have crossed the Senior Foreign Service threshold, ascending to or still pursuing their dream jobs.
Most who continue working past their retirement eligibility are presumably also trying to cover their current costs of living (mortgages, children’s college, etc.) while increasing their future annuities. FSPS retirees receive a basic annuity calculated at 1.7% of their high-three average salary for each of the first 20 years of service, plus an additional 1% of their high-three average salary for each year of service beyond 20 years. (The “high-three” refers to the average of the three highest consecutive years of basic salary.)
The Foreign Service does have mandatory retirement at 65. One way or another, I could only do about 19 more years before having to hang up my hat. I don’t think I’m in any danger of sticking around that long, though; the PCS moves would likely unhinge me by then. But as someone smarter than me once said, You just never know. It’s fair to say that for some of us, there isn’t any better way we could serve our country – even as we may thrill to leave behind once and for all the death-by-one-thousand-cuts of the bureaucracy.
So what will I do? If moving to Burma next year still feels abstract, I must say, my hypothetical future retirement from the Department feels even more so.
It’s hard for me to imagine where my husband and I would live and what else I would do to bring in money and occupy my time. Not because I haven’t thought about it or can’t come up with any options – but rather because there are so many possibilities.
Would we end up overseas again due to family ties or an assignment with Peace Corps? Would we move back closer to the west coast? Would I work in the private sector, for state government, for the national park system? Would I go back to school and get a PsyD? Would I just go work at Trader Joe’s in some new part of the country and enjoy a more chilled-out life?
Maybe these choices sound too disparate and unconnected to make sense. But they’re all things I’ve been thinking about. It also depends on my husband’s plans and when he wants to retire himself. He is a civil servant and could in about seven years from now.
My husband and I agreed 10 years ago when I started A-100 that if this career ever stopped working for both of us, we would pull the plug. But I always had 50/20 in mind; none of my harder times in this career ever made me think surrendering my monthly pension for life would be worth it.
I suspect that the development of my eventual exit strategy will hinge on the trajectory of my post-Burma career. In 2025, shortly after arriving in Rangoon, I will bid for my next assignment. If the position requires language training, I will head to my next post in either 2026 or 2027. Around the time of my 50th birthday, I will bid for yet another onward assignment. Then, in 2029 or 2030, at the conclusion of the tour following Rangoon, I will either retire and pursue new opportunities, or, if my next assignment is particularly compelling, I may choose to keep going in the FS instead.
Whatever I decide, it will be a good feeling to know that I’ve achieved 50/20 and can walk away when and if I decide it’s the right time.
FSPS is a generous system and – I think – a fair reward to offset the financial and logistical disruptions this career is so famous for. It also allows space for a continuous cycle of fresh new talent to enter the FS, assuming the Department hires beyond attrition.
(If you want to read more about deferred, involuntary, and disability retirement, you can read more detail at the link. If you want to read more about what happens if you retire early, Annuity Supplements before age 62, and the impact of divorce on your FS retirement, you can do so here.)
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