Q. I am totally confused on this retirement from federal service. I am retired military and worked about 10 years for DECA. I resigned in 2004 to take a job in the Middle East. Now I am going to be 62 soon and want to apply for retirement. I was told to contact OPM. I did so via e-mail and not DECA because I am not an active federal employee. I did talk to a human resources officer at DECA who said that I was not entitled to both retirements. Then I found a site that said I could get some retirement.
I am confused on selling my military time back and would this be a better way to go? I sent e-mails to OPM over two week ago and the phone line is always busy. Is there a contact that I can talk to that will explain all this information to me?
A. If you left your retirement contributions in the civilian retirement fund when you left government, you would be eligible for a deferred annuity at age 62. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be eligible for anything. To apply for a deferred retirement, complete a copy of Standard Form 3107, Application for Immediate Retirement and send it to OPM. You can download a copy at www.opm.gov, click on Find Form(s).
