Under the 29 1/2 year rule, service is increased to the next full year for fractions
of six months or more. If a veteran completed at least 29 1/2 years of creditable
service before September 16, 1940, 30 years of service is used in computing retirement
pay. In this situation, the amount of payment will not be based on WW II service even
though service continued during that period. The same rule applies to the post-WW
II period where the veteran completed at least 29 1/2 years of service before July
25, 1947.
In any case in which application of this rule is pertinent, the service department
will complete the appropriate item(s) on SSA-654-U4 to indicate that service in the
WW II or post-WW II period was not included in the computation, or will leave those
items blank and show under “Remarks” the exact amount of active service as of the beginning of WW II or post-WW II period.
Use this information to determine whether wage credits may be granted under the above
rule.
The rule for crediting 30 years of service on the basis of 29 1/2 years of active
service applies only to the computation of the payment. If 30 years or any other specified
number of years of service is required to establish eligibility to the retirement
payment, the full number of years must be completed before eligibility is established.
If any part of the WW II or post-WW II period is used to meet the minimum eligibility
requirement, wage credits may not be granted for that period even though it is not
used for computation under the above rule.