Q: What are the available annuity options for a federal employee with 19 years of service under the Foreign Service Retirement and Disability System (FSRDS) and an additional 21 years under the Civil Service Retirement System? A former spouse has an entitlement for the 19 years under FSRDS, and a current spouse has entitlement for the 21 years in CSRS. Is there an option for two separate annuity computations? Also, what are the various benefits included in a lump-sum payment from the Office of Personnel Management?
A: If you don’t take steps to combine your service, you would be eligible for a FSRDS deferred annuity at age 60. Because you have at least 20 years of service, you’d be eligible for an immediate CSRS annuity at age 60. You could also retire under the minimum retirement age plus-10 provision when you reach your MRA, which ranges between 55 and 57 depending on your year of birth. However, your annuity would be reduced by 5 percent for every year you were under age 62 unless you postponed the receipt of your annuity to a later date.
As to your final question, basically there are two kinds of lump-sum payments. One is for unused annual leave and is paid either when you resign from the government or retire. The other is a refund of your retirement contributions if you resign from the government before being eligible for a retirement benefit.
