Q. I am a FERS law enforcement federal employee with 22 years in and eligible to retire. I am suppose to receive an OPM supplement of approximately $800 a month. I understand that I start receiving the supplement when OPM finally determines (with 6-12 months) the correct amount of my retirement. Do I get back pay on approximately $5,000-$10,000 of the supplement or do I lose the $800 a month until OPM decides to process my retirement? A. The special retirement supplement, like any shortage caused by receiving an interim tather than a final annuity, will be made whole when the adjudication…
Monthly Archives: July, 2011
Q. Am I right that my two four-year term positions will count for retirement and after five years of continued employment that I can keep my insurance? A. If you were later appointed to a CSRS-covered position, those term positions will count toward an annuity if you make a deposit for that time to the retirement fund. If you were later appointed to a FERS-covered position, only term service performed before Jan. 1, 1989, would be creditable with a deposit. Term positions entered into on or after Jan. 1, 1989, aren’t creditable for any retirement purpose, nor can you make a deposit to…
Q. Are there any planned buyouts for 2011 or 2012. If so, for which agencies? A. We don’t keep an inventory of current offers, nor do we have advanced knowledge of future ones. I suggest you continue to visit our website and, better yet, subscribe to the Federal Times to be sure you have the latest information.
Q. I am thinking about buying back my time on active duty, 22 years, to make a deposit so that I can retire early from the Foreign Service. If I do, will I lose any of my military retirement privileges. A. If you make a deposit for your active-duty service, just before you retire from your civilian job, you will also have to waive your military retired pay. Doing so will have no affect on any other entitlements you have based on your active-duty service.
In my June columns, I talked about how planning pays off when you are getting ready to retire and how your agency processes your retirement application. Here, I’ll describe the Office of Personnel Management’s role in converting your application into a retirement annuity. I’ll also provide some insights about how long it will take before you receive your first annuity payment. If your agency met OPM’s processing standards, your retirement application will have cleared your agency’s personnel and payroll offices in 30 days or fewer after your retirement date. However, staffing shortages in your agency personnel and payroll offices or…
Q: I am an employee under the Civil Service Retirement System Offset program, and I plan on retiring at age 64. I know my annuity will be reduced for the period of time I was an offset employee. I have dealt with the local Social Security Administration office and I am concerned; they had no idea what the offset is. Does the Office of Personnel Management deal with SSA experts for the offset? A: OPM and the Social Security Administration have a file-matching system that allows OPM to accurately reduce a CSRS Offset annuity by the amount of Social Security…
Q: I’m an employee under the Federal Employees Retirement System with a hire date of Jan. 19, 1999. I plan on retiring the day after my 60th birthday in 2015 under the minimum retirement age plus-10 provision with 16 years of service. Will I have to take the 10 percent penalty for being two years younger than age 62, or does being age 60 somehow eliminate it? A: The 5 percent-per-year penalty will apply for every year (5/12ths of a percent per month) that you are under age 62. If you had 20 years of service and retired at age…
Q: I have three periods of military service for which I am required to pay a deposit under “Catch 62.” The first period, 1969 to 1972, I paid for when it came due in 1986. This bought me a period of about 2.6 years. I was mobilized for Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm in 1990 to 1991, and for duty in Bosnia in 1997, for eight and seven months, respectively. I plan to work off the additional time by delaying my retirement for 15 months or more. When I discussed this plan with our human resources office, I was told that…
Q: I am on disability retirement through the U.S. Postal Service. I am 48 years old and am under the Federal Employees Retirement System. I have been retired since 2009. I am also receiving Social Security disability. I just received information from Social Security stating that I am required to receive Medicare Part B. It says I may opt out, but if I decide to join later, I may end up paying penalties. Can I keep my health insurance through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan? If I do keep it and decide to keep Medicare Part B, is Medicare…
Q: I will be 59 years and 8 months old with 37 years, 7 months of federal service on my target retirement date of Dec. 31. I only earned 33 quarters of Social Security; to earn more credit on Social Security, can paid annual leave be considered as Social Security income for the year 2012, because the paid annual leave is not included as Civil Service Retirement System income for the year 2011? If so, what is the procedure to report it as Social Security income? And will this only be applied at the end of the year of retirement,…