Q: My father worked approximately nine years for the Postal Service as a rural mail carrier in the 1960s. He was employed both part time and full time, and he did not take a pay out upon leaving the post office. How might he find out his dates of service and whether he has a deferred annuity?
A: His records are stored in the National Personnel Records Center, located in St. Louis, Mo. The instructions for getting that information will be found at www.archives.gov/st-louis/civilian-personnel/index.html#. Once he has that information, he can complete OPM Form 1496A, Application for Deferred Retirement, available at www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/opm1496a.pdf, and send it to OPM. If he has five years of creditable service and is at least 62 years old, he would be eligible for an annuity based on that service.
