Q: I will be 57 in June with more than 25 years civil service. I was put in FERS even though I started civil service in Aug 1985 in Sigonella, Sicily. I was told I was never invested until I came to states in 1987. My question: If I retire in June, would I be responsible for the 5 percent deduction for MRA? I have asked several people and still do not understand. A: Although you have reached your minimum retirement age (MRA), you have fewer than 30 years of service. If you were to retire before reaching 30 years of service,…
Monthly Archives: June, 2011
You’ve all heard about the Office of Personnel Management’s problems in getting newly retired employees on the annuity roll in a timely manner. While some of the fault lies at OPM, other roadblocks are at work here. Sheer volume is one of them, with early-outs and buyouts generating floods of retirement applications. Of equal importance is the uneven quality of the paperwork OPM receives. If your application is incomplete or includes contradictory information, it can delay the processing of your case. In this column, I’ll talk about what you can do to increase the likelihood that your application will be…
Q: Do you have a reference for a list of federal agencies that are hiring GS 1102/Contracting personnel under the Annuitant Program? A: No.
Q: I will retire from the federal probation system in July 2012 at the mandatory age of 57. Can I be hired by the TSA in a non-law enforcement position and continue to receive my federal retirement? If not, what will be the arrangement? A: In most cases, the salary of your new position would be offset by the amount of your annuity. If you worked for at least one year, you’d receive a supplemental annuity based on that service. If you worked for at least five years, your annuity would be recalculated as if you had never retired. On…
Q: I am currently making payments to buy back my military service time so that it can be counted toward my FERS retirement and want to know if I can now make a partial withdrawal to pay a Defense Finance and Accounting Services debt? I have been making payments toward a military deposit for more than four years and only have less than a year until I have finished paying the amount requested, but now am faced with a debt action for an erroneous payment that happened over three years ago. I understand I have alternative options — i.e. hearing, waiver…
Q: Regarding the article in the May 16 Federal Times “How to Calculate SRS Benefit”: The first paragraph says that employees are trying to find out what their annuities would be if they get the opportunity to retire early or are RIF’d. However, the article doesn’t seem to address retiring early until the second to last paragraph. So if someone is 50 years old with 20 years of service of any age with 25, which is the criteria to retire early, they won’t get the special retirement supplement? They would have to be the MRA with 20 or 25 years…
Q: I am 58 years old and left the Postal Service in 1999. I have 10 years of credited service under FERS. Am I eligible for retirement benefits now or must I wait until normal retirement age? A: If you didn’t take a refund of your retirement contributions when you left, you’ll be eligible for a deferred annuity at age 62.
Q: Do you know where and who can be contacted to determine time in service BEFORE you retire? I just received a 20-year federal service award dated March 31, 2011. My pay slip states my service computation date as 5/31/1991. What is the difference? How can I find out exactly the amount of time I currently have that will be used for my pension calculations? A: Your service computation date (SCD) is the one that will be used to determine your years of service. You’ll have to check with your personnel office to find out why they selected the earlier…
Q: Is the Veterans Administration having any early out/buyout in the near future? A: Not there we’re aware of.
Q: I have just been offered a GS job that I plan to start in a couple of months. However, I have a unique situation. I have the opportunity to retire in September and start receiving my retirement pay immediately because I will have obtained more than 20 years of total combined active-duty time during my 29+ years of active duty and reserve service. So, basically I can begin receiving my retirement immediately beginning in October 2011 even though I have not reached the 60 years of age that is normally required for reservist retirement because of the “sanctuary” provision…