[E086]

early retirement age

If a person retires before the target retirement date in a pension plan, that person is taking early retirement. Plans usually have a minimum early retirement date which may be a specific age or a combination of age and years of service. Benefits are lower than if the person would have retired at the target retirement date because there is less time to accrue benefit (in a target retirement plan) or the years of service are not as great (in a defined benefit plan).