Q: If I retire under FERS at age 56 (MRA) and begin drawing an immediate annuity I understand that I am entitled to the FERS supplement until age 62 when Social Security kicks in. I also understand that it will be suspended if I earn above a certain amount. If I only worked for a couple of years (say, until I was 58) will the supplement be reinstated for the years I don’t earn too much and, if so, what is the process to get it reinstated?
A: Once your earnings have fallen below the Social Security earnings limit, the special retirement supplement will be reinstated. The reinstatement is automatic; however, it only happens after OPM has done a file match with the federal income tax return that shows you are now qualified for a partial or full reinstatement.
7 Comments
Good afternoon,
I retired as a national guard technician in march of 2014 with 30 years of service and went on a two year 8 month active duty tour. I started drawing my FERS retirement as well as my FERS supplement. I received the earnings quote request a year later and filled it out as needed and of course I had earned more than enough to take my supplement to zero. I continued to work the tour until Sep of 16. I completed my National Guard time from that point on and went out June of 2017 at the mandatory retirement age of 60. I called the supplement board as I had only earned $5300 that year from the Guard and had no other income but my retirement pay. I was told to wait until the end of the calendar year to request reinstatement. I did so and it is in their hands now.
I have a question that they have not answered.
Will I receive backpay of the supplement to Jan of 2017 since my earnings were below the cap that year or will I only receive pay from the time of the request
Thank you for any info you might give me
Stephen M Fannin
You will receive back pay.
back to jan of 2017?
Yes.
just received email from the office in charge of the supplement. it read
You will be back payed beginning January 1, 2018 forward. You do not receive money for the time you were not in receipt of the supplement.
Is there an appeals process since I only made $5307 in 2017?
First go to https://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/publications-forms/csrsfers-handbook/c051.pdf and read the material in Part 51A3. If you feel that OPM is wrong, send your explanation to the address on the email that was sent to you.
I saw nothing that addressed reinstatement