Q: I am a CSRS Offset federal employee with 18 years of service and I am now 53. I expect to retire at 65 with a total of 30 years of federal government service. Will my retirement be offset at the age of 65 with 30 years of service when I apply for Social Security? A: Yes, your CSRS annuity will be reduced by the amount of Social Security benefit you earned while employed under CSRS Offset. The total you receive will be the same, it will just come from two different places, OPM and the Social Security Administration.
Monthly Archives: November, 2010
Q: Most questions about WEP have centered around federal employees retiring under CSRS. I am a federal employee with 11 years of service under FERS. As a result, I have paid Social Security on my previously earned income. If I leave federal service now, I should get an annuity of 1 percent of the high-three, times the number of years of service. Figure about $11,000 per year. I am considering accepting a job with the United Nations in Europe. Based on the literature, the United Nations income is paid on a “net basis” with the “gross-net” differential going toward funding…
Q: Under FERS, after 2013 or 2014 (whenever you get full credit for sick leave), if you retire under MRA 10+, will the sick leave add on, or add service months to help reduce the 5 percent reduction per year? I am 54 with 20 years of FERS service. A: No, it won’t. While unused sick leave will be added to your years of service and used to increase the amount of your annuity, it won’t alter your age. You will still be penalized 5 percent for every year (5/12 percent per month) that you are under age 60.
Q: When I retire from the USPS under CSRS I plan to switch to self-only insurance. My husband will be going into the USPS under FERS. He plans on taking out family insurance because we still have a 20-year-old son that we plan to cover. From what I have read this is not possible. I don’t want to risk giving up my health insurance just in case something happens and my husband can’t work. One of us must take the family option because of my son. Can I have self-only while he takes the family option? If not, what would…
Q: I am a dual status employee in an excepted position with military affiliation with the Air National Guard as a condition of employment. If I elect to retire from my military position before the end of my enlistment and subsequently lose my civil service job, would it be considered a voluntary separation? I am eligible to retire from both and trying to determine if I am eligible to receive unemployment insurance benefits. A: Eligibility for unemployment benefits is determined by the state in which you live. You’ll need to talk with a specialist in your state unemployment office.
Q: I am a federal employee under CSRS. When I die, my spouse will get the full spouse survivor benefit. She is not and has not been a federal employee. Is it true that when I die most (if not all) of her Social Security benefits will go away because she receives the CSRS survivor benefit? A: Her Social Security benefit won’t be affected in any way unless she is receiving an annuity — in whole or part — from a retirement system where she didn’t pay Social Security taxes.
Q: I understand that my FERS law enforcement retirement annuity will be determined by my consecutive high-3. How long do I have to work in a high locality pay area before I am eligible to receive that locality pay during my retirement? For example if I am a GS-13/Step 10 in a “Rest of US” locality pay area for two years, transfer to high locality pay area such as San Francisco (N/CA) as a GS-13/Step 10 for one year and then retire, will my high-3 be calculated as three years as a GS-13/Step 10 from the high locality pay area…
Q: I was told that if I retire from the USPS with 30 years of service but only at 59 1/2 years of age, I’m entitled to my FERS full retirement benefits as well as a 35 percent advanced payment from Social Security until I reach age 62, and then I will get the full amount by age 62. Is this true? A: No, it isn’t. It’s a garbled account of what the law provides. Because you will meet the age and service requirements to retire on an immediate annuity, in addition to your FERS annuity, you will receive a…
Q: I began working for the federal government in 1966, and in October 1972 I was no longer able to work and began receiving a CSRS disability annuity. At the time I was married, but that marriage ended in 1990. In 2000 I remarried at age 53. I never applied for Social Security disability. I worked and paid into Social Security for a few years, but because I was disabled, my earnings were extremely low. At my full retirement age of 66 my Social Security benefit would only be $257, and less than that if I applied for my benefit…
Q: I am trying to determine the best date to retire at the end of 2013. I want to maximize the amount of lump-sum leave I would be entitled to and also to take advantage of the new FERS sick leave policy. The pay period calendar shows that pay period 26 for 2013 begins Dec. 29, 2013, and ends Jan. 11, 2014. I plan to have my 240 hours of annual leave carry over and my earned leave for 2013 of 208 hours at the end of 2013, for a lump-sum payout of 448 hours. If I retire Jan. 10,…