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Notes -
This is clearly not what it means, although Reddit is awash with some pretty insane conspiracy theories at the moment.
It just means that, even though you will not be working, you continue to accrue retirement benefits during the 8 month period as if you had worked.
My point, and what I assume workers would be concerned about, is that you don't get certain parts of your retirement (specifically the Basic Benefit Plan) if you resign your position with the government (as opposed to retiring). The OPM page on the Federal Employee Retirement System specifies:
So you get 8 months of pay but you don't get your post-retirement annuity (unless you get another job with the government and retire through that).
FERS should be a moderate part of a good retirement plan, for anyone saving for retirement their TSP (the government's version of a 401(k) plan should be the lion's share of retirement benefits. FERS is 1% per year of your highest income years average salary. CRS was the true government pension and most current workers started after it was phased out.
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