Was talking to a coworker this morning about what kind of buyout/voluntary severance we might be looking at. I told him if they offered $50k to me a couple of years from now I'd take it. He mentioned the "Rule of 80" formula that is often used but wasn't sure how it worked. Did some digging on the 'net and found various companies and government agencies have their own interpretations, but generally if your age+years of credited service equal 80 or greater, you can retire at that point, if you choose to, with your full retirement benefit. Thus if you are 50 and have 30 years in you can take your full pension then. Some companies say you have to be at least 55 under this formula. It varies.The rule of 70 is similar, but would allow more people the option of retiring early. I'm 50 with 23 years of credited service. My full benefit at 60 on my traditional pension is $16,100. If FedEx implements this plan I'd qualify and I would take it. I was very frustrated with the pension termination. Should've got in the low $20k's at 55. This isn't perfect but hopefully they'll make a broad inclusive offer to those at least 50(or even younger) as opposed to the rule of 80 which would be very limited in scope. Still think topped out employees will be the ones hanging on for Social Security but more might go for this. If their goal is to get as many out the door as possible as quickly as possible then they will probably be as inclusive as possible. If anyone thinks this scenario is unlikely then would be interesting to hear realistic options they might consider.