Buying extra time for your pension
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Fong adds that at CalPERS, you do not have to wait until you retire to buy that extra time. So if you are vested and plan to stay there until you retire, the earlier you buy the time the cheaper it will be, since you will be paying for it based on your salary at the time you buy it and not at what your salary might be when you actually retire.

Buying time is expensive. Many people have to either finance buying time or work out a deal to pay for it over time by docking their paycheck every month.

Remember, Getzoff points out, "It is not tax-deductible." As a rule, the dollars you put into your pension fund are pretax. You do not pay taxes on them.

"You pay taxes when you withdraw them. But when you buy pension time, you are buying it with after-tax dollars, so the best you can hope for is that a percentage of the benefits coming out are going to be after-tax."

Even if it isn't, you may be making less money when you do get your pension, in which case your taxes will be lower.

Both Johnson and Getzoff point out that you might be able to take the funds from a defined contribution plan -- a 401(k) or IRA, for example -- and roll it over into buying additional time in a defined benefit plan without having to pay taxes. In that case you are taking money you already have in one type of retirement plan and transferring it into another one. But you really need to sit down and go over it with your tax preparer or tax attorney first.

Should you do it?
"It's a decision that you and only you can make, and you have to weigh the evidence and the odds," Getzoff says.

You should talk to your pension plan representative to find out all your options, and bring your spouse to the meeting with you.

Once you understand the plan and the various options you may have, Getzoff says you have to ask yourself a series of questions. How long do you expect to live? How long did your parents and other family members live? What's your and your family's medical history? Are you healthy?

There are numerous Web sites that will ask you these and similar questions and then tell you how long you can expect to live. They use the same forms and statistical databases that insurance companies do.

Then there are all the things no one can ever be totally protected from: floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, fires, car wrecks, crimes, etc.

So, should you buy extra time?

Once you've done all the math, looked at your own health and family history, lifestyle, hobbies and risk factors, Getzoff says, "it is still a question that only you can answer."