Q: In 2008, I retired involuntarily at 60, with 20 years under FERS, because of funding cuts. In 2009, I was re-hired in a permanent GS position by another department. The salary of my position is offset by the amount of my annuity and retirement contributions are being deducted from my salary. I am planning to retire after completing at least five, or six+ years, in 20015-16. How will my redetermined annuity be affected, under following conditions: (1) do I qualify for 1.1 percent per year rate, instead of 1 percent, as I have now; (2) my earlier high-3 was approximately $120,000, at GS14-10 for all years, whereas as GS-13/10, in my current job this may remain below the earlier job; and (3) is the redetermined annuity based on my high-3 for the total service period, or uses another formula, for example how would unpaid (LWOP) FMLA leave, taken in last three to five years, affect annuity?
A: Because you will have worked for at least five years more, when you retire again, your annuity will be recomputed as if you were retiring for the first time. Your high-3 will be based on your highest three consecutive years of average salary, regardless of when they occurred in your career. Because you will be at least 62 and have 20 or more years of creditable service, a 0.011 multiplier will be used instead of the standard 0.01. As long as you did not take more that six months of leave-without-pay during a calendar year, that would have no effect on your annuity calculation.
