(a) An employee or Member who, after completing 5 years of service, separates from service or transfers to a position not covered by FERS is entitled to a deferred annuity beginning on the first day of the month after the individual attains age 62.

(b)(1) Except as provided in paragraphs (b)(3) and (c) of this section, an employee or Member who has not attained the minimum retirement age, and who, after completing 10 years of service, is separated or transferred to a position in which the individual is no longer covered by FERS, is entitled to a deferred annuity commencing—

(i) The first day of the month following the date on which the individual attains the minimum retirement age or, if later,

(ii) A date the individual designates that follows the date on which the designation is filed.

(2) The election of a commencing date may be filed no more than 90 days before that commencing date, and must be elected in a form prescribed by OPM. A written election that is not in the prescribed form, but which designates a specific commencing date, will be accepted for as an informal election, subject to ratification in the prescribed form.

(3) An employee or Member is not entitled to a deferred annuity under paragraph (b)(1) of this section if the individual is eligible for an annuity under §§ 842.205 through 842.211 or will, within 31 days after filing the election of a commencing date, attain age 62.

(4) The election of a commencing date becomes irrevocable on the date OPM authorizes the first annuity payment.

(c)(1) If an employee or Member separates from service after completing 10 years of service but before attaining the minimum retirement age, and is reemployed before filing an application for retirement based on that separation, that individual may not elect an annuity commencing date that precedes separation from the reemployment service.

(2) In the case of an employee or Member who separates from service after completing 10 years of service but before attaining the minimum retirement age, and is reemployed after filing an application for retirement based on that separation, that individual may not elect an annuity commencing date that precedes separation from the reemployment service if he or she is reemployed prior to a postponed commencing date elected under paragraph (b).