Q: I am a CSRS offset employee contemplating retirement at age 56. My retirement computation date is July 4, 1976. I resigned and withdrew my retirement (approximately $8,500) in 1983. How can I get an accurate annuity estimate based on not repaying my refunded retirement? My agency has sent me an annuity estimate but cannot tell me how much it will differ from OPM’s figure. I want to retire, but I need to know how much I will be making! A: You’ll have to complete Standard Form2803, Application to Make Deposit or Redeposit, and send it to OPM. The address…
Monthly Archives: March, 2011
Q: I am 52 and a FERS employee with 30 years of service. I’m thinking about deferring my retirement until I reach the MRA of 56. My questions are: When you defer you lose: the SSI at 56? You need to be in the service for five years to get the health care? What if I come back to the government a year before I reach my MRA of 56, do I then get the SSI when I retire at 56? I know I would lose the health care without the continuous five years. I am more concerned with the…
Q: My husband is 56 and we have been married for four years. He works with the Navy as a civilian and has 35 years of service. If he dies, will I get his civil service retirement? Will I still qualify for his Veterans Affairs benefits? How about his Social Security? I am 27. Does age make a difference? I know he doesn’t pay in for FEGLI. Do federal employees have life insurance covered by the government? A: If your husband were to die, you would be entitled to a survivor annuity. The same is true if he was eligible…
Some Federal Employees Retirement System employees are unhappy with the credit for unused sick leave they finally won because it isn’t worth as much as they hoped it would be. Let me turn back the clock. At its beginning in 1987, FERS precluded retirement credit for unused sick leave. This was a significant departure from what has been allowed under the Civil Service Retirement System since 1969. A study at that time revealed that as CSRS employees approached retirement, they burned off their sick leave at an alarming rate. About half of all retiring CSRS employees had zero sick leave…
Q: I remember reading that in 2017, 100 percent of the health insurance premiums will be paid for federal retirees. Not sure if I read ALL federal retirees or just postal service retirees. However, I am unable to locate any information on this. Can you clarify whether or not this is factual? A: You can’t find any information about this because there isn’t any. If you did indeed read this somewhere, it was written by someone whose mind had blown a gasket.
Q: I’m 61 and a 70-percent service-connected veteran receiving Veterans Administration disability benefits. I am also a CSRS -offset federal employee. I took a lump sum in 1996 and resigned from federal service. I returned to federal service in 2002 as a CSRS-Offset employee, after working for a local government and paying Social Security. I have over SSA 40 credits. How will my annuities be calculated at age 62 if I were to retire then? How would the CSRS offset affect my VA or Social Security benefits and vis-a-vis? I am trying to decide whether to redeposit my lump sum…
Q: I was a U.S. Postal Service employee from Feb. 1975 until Feb 1983. I will turn 65 in May. I am not eligible for government retirement, since those eight years were my only government employment. Nor am I eligible for Social Security benefits. Is there some way that the postal service can credit my employment with them for Social Security benefits? A: No, there isn’t any way that can be done. On another subject, if you left your retirement contributions in the fund when you left the Postal Service, you would be eligble for a deferred annuity. If you…
Q: I work for the Treasury Department and have 28 years of federal service. I plan to retire in December because I will have reached age 57. I am seeking federal employment (non 1811series) and am unclear as to how my retirement/salary would be affected if I took another federal job before retirement, and what would happen if that other job was again with treasury. A: Generally, federal employees, civilian and military, are prohibited from receiving pay from more than one Federal Government source. The laws on dual employment apply to agencies in the executive, legislative and judicial branches, corporations…
Q: I served four years 1987 to 1991 in the military, but haven’t made a deposit to get credit for my active-duty service. I work for TSA and have been here for more than 8 years. I worked for the U.S. Postal Service for more than four years from June 1994 to December 1998, and I was removed, only withdrawing my TSP. Will I be able to use my postal service time toward my retirement when I get of age. If so, how, because my SCD for leave is showing 1998 and my SCD for retirement is showing 1994. A:…
Q: I work for the DHS/ICE. I will retire in September of 2015 at 60 with about 22 years of service. I am covered under FERS. I hear two answers about what happens to unused sick time. One answer is that I will receive a lump sum for the unused sick time, the other is that it will be credited toward my time in service. Which is true? A: Sick leave has no cash value. It may only be added to your actual service after you meet the age and service requirements to retire.