Q: I don’t know what the established policy will be, but if I know ahead of time that they will implement the retirement annuity calculation with the high-5 vice high-3, could I retire before that expected implementation date and still have my annuity calculated with the high-three? Do you have any insight that there is a probability that this change will happen? A: During these unstable times, only a fool would attempt to predict the future of a proposal that would increase the high-3 to a high-5. However, since a bill to make that change could not be effective until…
Monthly Archives: April, 2011
Q: It has leaked out that FERS may be paying 5.8 percent instead of 0.8 percent toward retirement. What about Congress, law enforcement and other categories? A: The National Commission of Fiscal Responsibility and Reform recommended that the amount FERS employees and their employers contribute to the retirement fund be equalized. In other words, both would pay the same amount instead of the employer paying the bulk of the money needed to fund FERS employee retirement benefits. If that were done, the contribution rate for most FERS employees would jump from 0.08 percent to 4.15 percent. The rate for others…
Q: I have 30 years of service, 18½ under CSRS and 12 under CSRS Offset. When I began my career in 1979 I had four months under FICA, not CSRS. The four months will still count for service and calculating my annuity but unless I pay it back, 10 percent of the amount (which is $600 now) $60 will be deducted yearly from my annuity. Is it to my benefit to repay the $600 or have the monthly annuity reduced by $5 for rest of my retirement? If I live 20 years after retirement, $1,200 would have been reduced from…
Q: I am retired under CSRS from the postal service. I am 59 and do not qualify for Social Security. In a seminar before my retirement, I was told that the Social Security Administration will check my eligibility at age 62 and, if I am eligible, an adjustment would be made for Windfall Elimination Program. However, I was told if I became eligible for Social Security after 62 no adjustments would be made. I would receive Social Security based on what I earned when becoming qualified, probably around age 65. Is any of this accurate? A: What you were told…
Q: I am trying to determine if it’s worth buying back my military time. I retired from the Army in October 2009 with about 14 years active-duty and 17 years reserve service, including two mobilizations for Operation Iraqi Freedom. I also receive a Veterans Affairs Department disability check after my last deployment. I should begin receiving my military retired pay in April 2016 based on the “90 days for 90 days” rule for being mobilized after 2008. I work for the Veterans Health Administration. I was hired in November 2010, and I have no other federal service. What benefit would…
Q: I am a retired soldier with 22.5 years of active-duty service, half enlisted and half officer, and four years in the reserves. When I entered the GS system a little over a year ago, I was told that my service time was used to compute my annual and sick leave and that I would be maxed out at eight hours per pay period because I had more than 20 years of service. I was only accruing four hours per pay period for some time, but just figured there was a paperwork backlog. I eventually asked about the matter and…
Q: I am 58 years old, and I started work for the government in 1981. I have 30 years of service as a Defense Department civilian employee and four years as an active-duty service member. I am under the Civil Service Retirement System and plan to retire at age 62 with 38 years of total service. I have not bought back any of my active-duty time. What impact will that have on my retirement annuity and what impact will that have if I decide to take another job after I retire? A: Because you were first hired before Oct. 1,…
Q: I am a postal inspector under the Civil Service Retirement System. I plan on retiring with more than 2,500 hours of sick leave. The Office of Personnel Management shows a sick leave conversion chart rate based on 2,087 hours a year. The Postal Service human resources department uses a chart based on 2,080 a year. Upon retirement, does OPM accept the Postal Service conversion rate, or do they calculate based on their own conversion chart? Is there a reason the Postal Service uses a different conversion chart? A: By law, a work year is 2,087 hours long. OPM will…
Q: I recently read an article on the minimum retirement age in which the author states, “Here are some reasons that the MRA+10 option is not more popular than it is (other than the fact you’ll not be receiving an annuity for two years).” I’ve been considering the MRA+10 option for quite some time now, and this is the first that I have heard of not receiving and annuity for two years. In all of the literature I’ve read on MRA+10, I cannot find any mention of it. Do MRA+10 retirees have to wait two years to receive their annuity?…
Q: I just received notice from Social Security that my benefits check may be reduced because of the windfall elimination provision. I retired under the Civil Service Retirement System Offset program Oct. 31, 2010. My time in service under CSRS was approximately five years, nine months. I withdrew the money that I put in after each job because at the time I did not expect to retire from civil service. My last withdrawal from CSRS was from the period of May 1981 to December 1982. I returned to government work in May 1984 and was placed in the CSRS Offset…