Q: Do postal workers get federally funded retirement? A: Postal workers are under the same retirement systems – CSRS and FERS – as other federal employees. Therefore, their annuities are funded in the same way, through their own and their agencies’ contributions to the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund. However, whereas federal agencies mostly make contributions from appropriations, the postal service makes its from income received.
Monthly Archives: October, 2011
Q: I am 57 with four years of military buyback and 18 years of uninterrupted federal service. I am confused about eligibility for the special retirement supplement. Some say I am eligible if VERA is implemented, others say eligibility requirements state that only those eligible for an “unreduced” retirement are eligible, which of course would exclude MRA+10 retirees like myself. Please clarify for me. A: Those who retire under the MRA+10 provision aren’t eligible to receive the special retirement supplement. Those who meet the age and service requirements for early retirement and accept an offer to do that are eligible,…
Q: Our organization announced it was approved for a VERA/VSIP. I applied for the VERA and was told that the agency would not offer the buyout with the VERA, due to funding constraints. I was under the impression that if the VERA/VSIP was offered, a buyout automatically came with the VERA. Am I mistaken? A: Yes, you are mistaken. The Voluntary Early Retirement Authority is a broad-based tool that allows those who have the years and service to qualify for early retirement to do so. The Voluntary Separation Incentives Payments program is more narrowly focused. It’s designed to encourage employees…
Q: The Army has announced it may offer VERA/VSIP to many civilian employees in 2012. I had planned to retire Sept. 30 and have submitted my paperwork to retire. If VSIPs are offered, I could delay or cancel my retirement if I thought I could get a VSIP in 2012. Would I be able to do this? How should I handle it? A: I’ve answered this question several times. And the answer hasn’t changed. The purpose of the Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment program is to get selected employees who had not intended to resign or retire to do so. If…
Q: I am a GS-13 planning to retire at 70 with 19 years in CSRS, 11 years in CSRS Offset, and 19+ other substantial years under Social Security. No matter how many times I read the other questions and answers, I keep thinking they say my total retirement will be the sum of my CSRS retirement reduced by the net Social Security benefit after WEP reduction, PLUS the net Social Security benefit after WEP reduction. In other words, Total = (CSRS – (SS-WEP)) + (SS-WEP) = CSRS as if Social Security doesn’t exist. Am I confused? Can you straighten me…
Q: If carried under your spouse who is a non-federal employee and she retires, the federally-employed spouse is eligible to elect FEHB coverage due to this loss in coverage because of the retirement of his spouse. Will he have to work an additional five years to be able to take the FEHB into retirement? A: Yes.
Q: If offered a buyout, can an employee quit or resign from federal employment even though the employee is eligible for an immediate annuity? Can the buyout payment be extended into the next calendar year, or can the employee choose to retire early in a new calendar year and accept the buyout? How long after accepting a buyout can an employee who left federal employment, under conditions other then retirement, be rehired into federal service? A: If you are offered a Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment, the fact that you are eligible to retire would have no affect of your accepting…
Q: I voluntarily separated after 11 years of Navy service in 2003 and received a separation payment. Six months later, in 2004, I took a civil service job and have been a civil service employee since. When I came into the civil service they set my retirement Service Computation Date in 2004 and not as 1993 when I entered the Navy because of the separation pay, or so I thought. In 2005, I was approved for 30 percent disability, but the VA said they had to recoup the separation pay before I could start to get my disability payments due…
Q: I am a FERS employee and I have an excess of 23 days of use or lose annual leave. I just took three days off of unscheduled sick leave. Can I use my “use or lose annual leave” instead of using up my sick leave so I can eventually put my sick leave toward my retirement service computation date? I understand that the laws have changed and that now sick leave will be credited toward retirement in FERS and not just in CSRS only. A: You can ask your supervisor to change the leave from sick to annual. As…
Q: I am retiring under CSRS on Dec. 31. I will be 66 at retirement. I have not yet claimed Social Security. I have 35 years of federal service. I understand that Social Security will offset my federal monthly pension. If for example, my Social Security is $500 a month and my federal pension is $4,000, how do I figure out how much it will be reduced? Also, is the offset taken even if I don’t claim Social Security? I receive a survivor benefit from my deceased husband. Will my husband’s survivor benefit affect my monthly pension. Also, how will…