Subject: Re: Purchasing service credit at retirement age?
Out of curiosity I put your exact question into Perplexity to see how it would respond.

https://www.perplexity.ai/sear...

I was surprised to see that it indicates the pension you asked about is inflation adjusted in retirement, more and more rare these days. If true, that would make the purchase of additional years more attractive, again depending on your personal situation.

The summary at the end of the Perplexity response is really quite good:

How I’d use this as a “reality check”

As a simplified rule of thumb for your situation:

* Use your simple breakeven age (~80) as Step 1.

* Assume the purchase is roughly like a 5–6% real annuity if you live to your mid‑80s or beyond.

Ask yourself:

* Am I comfortable treating $58k as “gone” in exchange for more guaranteed income from 65 on?
* Do I reasonably expect to live well into my 80s, and do I value predictability over investment flexibility?

If your answer is “yes” to longevity and guaranteed income, it’s not a “really bad” idea; it’s in the realm of reasonable choices. If you strongly prefer flexibility, anticipate shorter longevity, or are confident you can earn significantly more than that with your portfolio at acceptable risk, it’s likely not compelling.

Jeff