Q. My mother received survivor benefits from my father’s federal retirement annuity and she passed away in December. Can I now receive these benefits because I am receiving Social Security survivors benefits on my father’s account because I am a disabled child? A. If you weren’t receiving children’s benefits during your father’s lifetime, then it’s unlikely that you would be entitled to any now. To be sure, you can write OPM at retire@opm.gov or call the Retirement Information Center at 1-888-767-6738.
Monthly Archives: March, 2011
Q. While in the Army stationed in western Germany, I met and later married my wife, a German citizen. We were married in December 1974. She accompanied me to the U.S. in July 1977 with permanent resident status. She worked in the U.S. and the income was reported to the IRS on our joint return. In 1979, we returned to Germany where she worked for the military PX and the commissary and was paid in local currency as a German. This was done in accordance to the Host Nation agreements in place. She did not receive a W2 from either…
Q. I’m a FERS DoD employee, planning to retire on Dec 31, 2011 to maximize my annual leave lump-sum payment. Dec 31 is the end of a pay period, and the end of the leave year. It’s also the end of my 104 week waiting period for my step increase from step 5 to step 6, which is due on Jan. 1, 2012. I understand that annual leave lump-sum payments are calculated based on what I would have earned had I stayed in federal service. Am I considered to have fulfilled my waiting period, since the step increase would become…
Q. I’m a reservist with over 17 years of active-duty time who is looking at becoming an Air Reserve technician eligible for FERS. If I buy back my active-duty time and later become eligible for an active-duty retirement as a reservist through military deployments, making my active-duty time equal 20 or more years, can I collect both retirements without waiting until I turn 60? Also, is there a requirement to buy back my years or enter the FERS prior to hitting 20 years of active-duty service? I’m told that if I stay on active-duty orders until 20, I will become…
Q. I was married to my husband for almost 25 years. I worked under CSRS for 42 years. I have been divorced since 1998. My ex-husband recently passed away. I believe he was on disability retirement. He was not a government employee. Can I draw anything from his pension. I am 69 years old. A. We don’t know anything about nonfederal benefits, so we can’t comment on whether you’d be entitled to anything from his former employer. On the other hand, you may be eligible for a a former spouse Social Security survivor benefit. The only way to find out…
Q. My service computation date, after the buyback of my military time, changed to July 1998. I was hired by Customs and Border Protection in December 2007. I am getting confusing information from different sources. Can I now retire at age 60, with over 20 years of federal civilian time? A. You have to have five years of actual FERS service to retire. Therefore, you wouldn’t be eligible to do that until the five years are up in 2012.
Q. Retiring in 2012, I have FEHB and Tricare at present and will sign up for Medicare before retiring. I don’t think I will need FEHB after retirement but would like to keep my options open. I understand you can request that your FEHP be put in abeyance at the time of retirement but reinstate it at a later period. If this is correct, how do you do it? A. Yes, you can suspend your FEHB coverage rather than canceling it. To find out how to do that, go to www.opm.gov/insure/health/eligibility/tricare.asp and click on Frequently Asked Questions.
Q. I am a federal employee with 31 years of service. Civil Service Offset, with 10 years CSRS and 21 years in FERS. I plan to retire at age 59 1/2. Will there be any penalty? Will I be eligible for Social Security special retirement supplement? A. Because you have reached your minimum retirement age and have at least 30 years of service, there won’t be any reduction in your annuity. Further, you will receive the special retirement supplement.
Q. In your article, “Focus on good points of unused-sick-leave credit,” in the March 7 issue of the Federal Times, you mentioned that for FERS employees, the pension rate is 1 percent of the high-three salary regardless of the number of service years. This is contrary to what I was told that after 20 years of service, the rate goes up to 1.1 percent. Is your information correct? A. Yes. It only goes up to 1.1 percent if you have 20 years of service and are age 62 or older when you retire.
Q. The father of my children worked for the Veteran’s Administration for several years and decided to leave his retirement money in the system (FERS) to collect a pension in the future. He passed away over a year ago and we do not know whether his money is still in the system. If it’s still there, how can his children claim the money? A. Call OPM’s Retirement Information Office at 888-767-6738 and talk to one of the benefits specialists. Be sure to have his full name, date of birth and any other information that will help them to locate his file. They…