Bravo, LJ!
Originally Posted by Jambo Jet
if you stay in until your 60th birthday I think you will find that AFPS 15 becomes payable at 60; if you left the day before then you're right, the 15 portion will be paid at SPA.
This is correct, BUT it is important to say that if you leave at 60 you get no lump sum from AFPS15, whereas if you leave one day earlier, you do. Experimentation with the online calculator shows that (AFPS15 lump sum) divided by (number of years between 60 and SPA) gives a number tolerably close to the difference in annual pension. It is effectively a different way of receiving the same money and I know several people who have deliberately retired a few days early to receive a boost to their 75 or 05 lump sums.