In general, you can retire as early as age 50 with five years of service credit unless all service was earned on or after January 1, 2013. Earn any pay without affecting your retirement benefit if you return to work before the 180-calendar day separation-from-service requirement is met.The special rule lets us pay a full Social Security check for any whole month we consider you retired, regardless of your yearly earnings. You can get Social Security retirement benefits and work at the same time before your full retirement age. However your benefits will be reduced. The ADEA allows employees over the age of 40 to retire voluntarily. The ADEA also clearly states that there is no mandatory age for retirement. A worker can choose to retire as early as age 62, but doing so may result in a reduction of as much as 30 percent. The California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) offers a defined benefit retirement plan. • an active member of the University of California Retirement Plan with at least five years of service credit,.