I found out this week that my boss was retiring this March. Since I knew he was not old enough to retire I suspected that he was getting what the federal government calls a VERA. (Voluntary Early Retirement Authorization) This allows you to retire without meeting the mandatory age and time requirements. There is a penalty for retiring early but it is only about 2% per year that you retire early. So I asked him about the VERA and he told me that he did get one. I asked if they were still available and he told me yes. So to make a long story short I will be retiring this year. I will retire by August at the latest and May at the earliest. It all depends on how I want to cash in my accrued sick leave. Anyway, before the year is out I will be retired at the ripe old age of 59 with 28 years of federal service. Needless to say I am REALLY excited about this. I am finally starting to sense what being retired will really be like, and I can’t wait. So next week I will be busy getting all the calculations and paperwork done so that I can get a final retirement date. In the meantime I am giving serious thought to what I want to do with the rest of my life as a retired person. To use an Internet phrase W00T!!!