Q: 1. Can I apply annual leave to extend my time on the rolls for the purpose of maintaining health benefits for a longer time? 2. Can I apply my AL to my “creditable service time” for the purpose of adding service time to help me reach retirement at an earlier future date (though still not eligible for immediate retirement now) even after adding AL time? 3. Can I use AL to help me qualify for severance pay (5 days more and I would have been eligible)? Background: I was recently separated from federal service. I tried to retire under…
Monthly Archives: May, 2011
Q: I live in Pennsylvania and I am interested in knowing the state and federal tax rate that will be applied to my federal pension from the U.S. Post Office. A: To find out how your retirement annuity will be taxed by the federal government, read IRS publication 721, Tax Guide to U.S. Civil Service Retirement Benefits, available at www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p721.pdf. To find out how Pennsylvania will tax those benefits, call or visit your state office of taxation.
Q: The OPM sent me a CSRS-post Sept. 30,1982, redeposit balance of $59,554 for a period of CSRS covered employment between June 28, 1982 to June 15, 1990. I am 57 and would like to retire at 65 with 17 years of FERS service. I could pay the redeposit value plus additional interest when I retire or could use the proceeds to apply to an annuity. My current TSP statement shows that if I retire at 62, the approximately $60,000 I have on hand could fund an annuity that would generate $309 per month, a payment that may be slightly…
Q: I have 31 years of federal service with a retirement SCD of Oct. 12, 1980. I am 57 and I have been working part time this year (20 hours per week). Because of my part-time schedule, I have had to pick up 50 percent of the government contribution of my health insurance (from $199.20 per pay period to $401.99 per period). I would like to retire in June. How much will I be charged for my health benefits? Do I get the same deduction as a full-time employee, or do I have to pay 50 percent of the government…
Q: If I am approved for FERS disability at my MMR age of 56 (not Social Security disability), am I allowed to work to supplement my disability amount? Is there a cap on earnings? A: Yes, you can work to supplement your disability annuity. However, you need to keep two things in mind, First, if that work establishes that you have sufficiently recovered from the disability, your annuity would be terminated. Second, if you earn more than 80 percent of the current basic pay for the grade and step you occupied when you went on disability retirement, your annuity would…
Q: I was in the Marine Corps in the late 1970s for four years. I bought these four years in the 1990s toward my FERS retirement. Do these four years count toward my meeting my mandatory retirement age and qualifying for my Social Security supplement? At MRA, I will have 28 years of FERS and four years of FERS-purchased military time. A: Those four years will count in determining your total length of service and used in your annuity computation. They won’t be used in determining the amount of your special retirement supplement. The SRS is based solely on the…
Q: I left work from the Veterans Affairs Department in January. I left because of injury and was awarded workers’ compensation. But I also applied for disability retirement. Now I have been approved for retirement. What happens to my retirement money while on OWCP? And will I be pushed into taking disability retirement? What happens to my time on LWOP? A: Your disability retirement benefit will be suspended while you are on workers’ compensation. If your workers’ comp ends and you still meet the medical standards for disability retirement, your disability annuity would be reinstated. You’d have to let OPM…
Q: I am a 63 and ready to retire. I am from Romania where I worked for 15 years and paid for the corresponding Romanian Social Security, so I got a small pension (about $250) from there. I moved to the U.S. in 1985 and became a U.S. citizen. I’ve worked here for 25 years and pay for U.S. Social Security. I never worked again in Romania after I came to the U.S. I applied for Social Security in the U.S. and it seems that my U.S. Social Security benefits will be reduced because I get a pension from Romania.…
Q: I have worked for the DHS for a little more than four years, and have four years of military time which I bought back. I am 59 years old and would like to retire sometime around 62. I have been in one of the health care plans, but would like to use it when I retire. My wife had a cheaper plan where she worked, so I never switched over. When I was hired, I was never told of the need to be in the plan for five years before I retired. Why would this have any affect on…
Q: Some lawmakers propose that CSRS and FERS employees contribute more to the cost of their pensions, specifically 50 percent of the cost. As a CSRS employee, I contribute 7 percent of my base pay to the retirement system. My pay stub reflects the dollar amount of that contribution. It also shows the federal government pays in the same dollar amount. If CSRS employees and the federal goverment each chip in the same amount to the pension fund every pay period, aren’t we already paying 50 percent of the cost? Can you explain why we should be contributing as much…