I mentioned awhile back that an early retirement package may be offered at the local government where I am employed. I am in the group that started "too young" (something to be thankful for) but was hired so long ago (28 yrs) that the pension contribution is only 2%. The was a tentative deal offered to folks with different criteria. It seems my group has been mentioned. However, it does appear that the offer for my group is not as generous as was previously rumored. The artificial 55 & 30 (non-penalized) retirement is probably not an offer. The offer is 5 years added to one's service credit. But DB (my bro) a union mucky-muck still thinks that the 5 years can be used as I see fit. So stay tuned..... It is a better deal to add the 5 years to my age rather than to service time. There is a larger penalty with the age. I will be *gasp* the Big 5-0 next month, so getting to 55 would be better than staying 50 with the extra time. With all the votes and delays, it seems that any realistic departure would be at the end of this year or early in 2010. That will increase service time by a few months. Vacation and sick payouts will be split into the 2 years to lessen tax burdens (yay). So, I am in the process of determining what I actual live on now versus what a monthly retirement check would be (minus those charges I do not have to do anymore). I'll keep you posted. My gut tells me to take the $$ and run!