5 U.S.C. § 8338
Section 8338 · Deferred retirement
Amended 4 times on record
Applied in 33 court decisions — leading case In Re the Marriage of Castor (1991)
Most recently applied in Hunt v. Merit Systems Protection Board (March 2012)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) An employee who is separated from the service or transferred to a position in which he does not continue subject to this subchapter after completing 5 years of civilian service is entitled to an annuity beginning at the age of 62 years.
(b) A Member who, after December 31, 1955, is separated from the service as a Member after completing 5 years of civilian service is entitled to an annuity beginning at the age of 62 years. A Member who is separated from the service after completing 10 or more years of Member service is entitled to an annuity beginning at the age of 60 years. A Member who is separated from the service after completing 20 or more years of service, including 10 or more years of Member service, is entitled to a reduced annuity beginning at the age of 50 years.
(c) A judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces who is separated from the service after completing 5 years of civilian service is entitled to an annuity beginning at the age of 62 years. A judge of such court who is separated from the service after completing the term of service for which he was appointed is entitled to an annuity. If an annuity is elected before the judge becomes 60 years of age, it shall be a reduced annuity.
(d) An annuity or reduced annuity authorized by this section is computed under section 8339 of this title.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
July 7, 1960, Pub. L. 86–604, §1(c), 74 Stat. 358.July 12, 1960, Pub. L. 86–622, §2(a), 74 Stat. 410. In subsection (b), the words “after December 31, 1955” are substituted for “on or after January 1, 1956”. The word “hereafter” is omitted as unnecessary.
Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable and the style of this title as outlined in the preface to the report.
1967 Act
This section amends 5 U.S.C. 8338(a) for consistency within the subchapter and to reflect that it is the individual, rather than the position, that is subject to the subchapter.
Amendments
1994—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 103–337 substituted “Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces” for “Court of Military Appeals”.
1983—Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 98–94 added subsec. (c), and redesignated former subsec. (c) as (d).
Savings Provisions Deferred Annuities Under Laws Repealed by Pub. L. 90–83
Pub. L. 90–83, §10(a), Sept. 11, 1967, 81 Stat. 222, provided that: “The right to a deferred annuity on satisfaction of the conditions attached thereto is continued notwithstanding the repeal by this Act of the law conferring the right.”