Q: I served eight years on active duty in the Army and then went into the National Guard. While in the National Guard, I began working for the federal government. I bought back the eight years of service in the Army and plan to draw a federal pension as well as a National Guard retirement. Will either retirement offset the other? A: No, there wouldn’t be any reduction. You’d get the full amount of each retirement benefit.
Monthly Archives: December, 2010
Q: I recently went into the Social Security office and was given three different answers by three different people regarding offsets and the windfall elimination provision. I received an increase in my Social Security monthly payment for 2011 based on my 2009 earnings. In 2009, I made more then the minimum and qualified for another year (26 years now) toward my 30-year full exemption from the offset and windfall, so should Social Security also have given me an additional 5 percent because I now have one more year of substantial earnings toward my 30-year exemption? I was told by the…
Q: I am 50 years old and have been working for the last five years in a civil service position for a county sheriff. I served eight years and three months in the Coast Guard and have an opportunity to move to a federal job. If I stay in my current position, I will have to wait until I am 65 to retire. Is there a retirement benefit to moving to the federal job? Can I combine the periods that I have worked in the military, civil service and in a federal job for a total of 20 years and…
Q: My question deals with my wife’s Social Security survivor benefit upon my death. I am 70 years old and my wife is 68. Both of us started taking Social Security when we were 62. I receive $1,663 in gross Social Security payments a month, and my wife receives $136. I worked in private industry and retired. My wife worked for the Defense Department and retired under the Civil Service Retirement System, never paying into Social Security. My question is, with these figures, if I died today, what would my wife be entitled to? A: Any Social Security spousal benefit…
Q: I am an employee under the Civil Service Retirement System, 6C, facing mandatory retirement the second week of January 2012. I anticipate finishing 2011 with 448 hours of annual leave on the books. Jan. 1, 2 and 3 would be the ideal retirement dates. In 2011, Pay Period 26 ends on the last day of the year. I’m now looking at Dec. 31, a Saturday, as the retirement date on the paperwork in order to receive the full annual leave 448-hour lump-sum payment. Do you see any problem with that date given the information provided? Additionally, I would imagine…
Q: I worked as a civilian federal employee from July 2006 through December 2008. During that time, I bought back my three years of active-duty military service. Does this give me enough credited service to receive a retirement under the Federal Employees Retirement System? A: No, it doesn’t. You’d have to have five years of creditable civilian service to be eligible for a deferred annuity at age 62.
Q: A friend told me that her monthly Social Security benefit was reduced by $250 because of the profits made from the sale of a house that she inherited from her mother. Can this be true? A: The Social Security earnings limit only applies to earnings from wages or self-employment, and then only for those individuals who haven’t reached full retirement age. In the ordinary course of events, income received through the sale of a home wouldn’t be considered to be earnings. However, if she reported any portion of the proceeds as earnings on her federal income tax return (because…
Q: If someone is going into his eighth year under the Federal Employees Retirement System and is eligible to retire in two years, is there any way he could buy two years of service so he could retire with benefits? A: No, there isn’t.
Q: I want to retire Jan. 1, 2012. will I lose my 240 hours of accumulated leave? What is the use-or-lose date for 2011? A: In 2011, the leave year ends Dec. 31. However, even if you retire after that date, you won’t lose your 240 hours of annual leave; that’s the number of hours you can carry over from one year to the next. If you retire after Dec. 31, you would lose any hours of annual leave in excess of 240. Those are your use-or-lose hours.
Q: I know it won’t matter for at least the next several years, but when we receive a pay raise at the beginning of the year, how long do we need to be at the new salary for it to be a part of the computation of our high-3? A: A high-3 is simply the average of the three highest consecutive years of base pay, whenever they occur. Assuming that your most recent 36 months are the basis for your high-3, for every additional month you work at the same or higher pay rate, one month will be dropped from…