Q: I recently ran across a copy of your Oct. 4, 2010, article on retirement titled, “These dates key for feds considering retirement.” I am a retired Navy officer. I left in 1999 with 20 years of active duty service as a commander. I collect retired pay annually, increasing from about $32,000 (1999) to a about $40,000 (2010) over the last 11 years. Upon retirement I was selected for the SES on July 6, 1999. I am 53 years old with more than 31 combined years of service. I am a FERS employee with an annual salary of around $172,000.…
Monthly Archives: February, 2011
Q: I was employed under CSRS and retired in 2008. From about 1967 to 1971 I paid Social Security taxes while working for the government as a Veterans Administration trainee. I later bought back this time. I am 63 and I have almost enough quarters to qualify for Social Security. I understand that any Social Security would be reduced by the windfall elimination law. Will the time I bought back also count toward my Social Security calculations (effectively therefore being counted for both CSRS and Social Security? If I don’t collect Social Security until my full retirement age (in my…
Q: I retired in December 2010 with 34 years of federal service under the CSRS plan. My wife is a state government employee who has paid into Social Security her entire 32-year career. If my wife should predecease me, will I be eligible to receive Social Security as her survivor? A: Because you would be receiving an annuity from CSRS, a retirement system where you didn’t pay Social Security taxes, you would be subject to the government pension offset provision of law. Under the GPO, any spousal or survivor Social Security benefit to which you were entitled would be reduced…
Q: My husband is retired and receives a pension and Social Security retirement. He is enrolled in the NALC Health Benefit Plan. He turns 65 in June. I understand that he will automatically be enrolled in Medicare because he receives Social Security benefits. Can he keep his federal health care plan with NALC instead of Part B? I am still working but am covered on his FEHB plan. If he is enrolled in Medicare Part B how will that affect my health insurance? A: Your husband will automatically be enrolled in Medicare Part A at no cost to himself. He…
Q: I am a military technician with 20 years of service but I’m only 44. I am thinking about retiring from the National Guard, which would then cause me to lose my technician job. Will I still get any type of retirement when I reach my MRA? A: Because you have 20 years of service, you would be able to apply for a deferred annuity at age 60.
Q: On Feb. 11, 2011, a question was asked in regard to loss and reinstatement of the Special Retirement Supplement. Where can I find in writing the answer that once you fall back below Social Security max amount, the SRS amount lost will be reinstated? I could not find this information in chapter 51 of OPM CSRS/FERS handbook. A: What you are looking for is implicit in Part 51A3. A reduction is only made in the special retirement supplement when a FERS retiree’s earning from wages or self-employment exceed the Social Security annual earnings limit. When annual earnings no longer…
Q: I am about to retire soon from CSRS. How can I find out if I will be eligible for Medicare? I don’t see from my pay stub that a Medicare tax has been taken out. The CSRS tax is at 7 percent with AT next to it. What do I need to do to ensure that I will be eligible for Medicare when I reach 65? A: Relax. Medicare taxes in the amount of 1.45 percent are automatically deducted from every employee’s pay to cover the cost of Medicare Part A. That’s been the case since 1983.
Q: My wife is a FERS employee and will have 26 creditable years of service at her MRA in May 2013. She wants to be able to participate in the FEHB program at retirement too. I am a retired federal employee. I was under the impression that I can add her to my plan during the years she is separated from federal service and that she can re-enroll in her own FHEB plan when she “retires”. Is this correct? She is trying to wade through retirement/annuity options. We see the terms “delayed retirement” and “deferred retirement” used here and in…
Q: I plan to retire in January 2012 and I have Self-only FEHB. My husband works for the city and has his own health insurance plan. Do I have to put my husband on my FEHB during the 2011 open season (before retiring) or can I add him to my FEHB once he retires, which should be about six years after I retire? A: You can add him to your plan from 31 days before through 60 days after he loses his coverage or, if he doesn’t lose his coverage, during any open season.
Q: I have been employed with the as a probation officer for 22 years under FERS. Have you heard of any buyouts coming for the Southern District of New York? A: No.