Q: My wife is a nine-year CSRS VA employee injured on the job.She was on LWOP receiving workers’ compensation till she reached over 80 percent of her former pay in the private sector. When she reaches retirement age, will the cost of living adjustments for the last 16 years be added on to her annuity. If she receives a new federal position does that entitle her to receive 16 years as time served? How is sick time calculated? A: If your wife doesn’t return to federal employment, she could apply for a deferred annuity at age 62. That annuity would…
Monthly Archives: October, 2011
Q: Is there anything “magic” about hitting 35 years of service relative to how your annuity is computed under CSRS? I used to hear that, once you hit the 35-year mark, you reached a particular percentage milestone in the computation of your annuity, something comparable to the fact that, at 40 years, you cap out your annuity at 80 percent of pay. Is that an urban legend or is there something to it? I plan to retire next year with 34+ years of service and I am trying to decide if there is value in delaying retirement by a couple…
Q: Can I borrow money from my CSRS account, the one where my retirement deductions have gone, and if so, what do I have to do. I am looking to borrow some of the money to pay off something else right now. I plan on putting it back before I retire. A: No, you can’t. The only way you could get any of the money in your retirement account would be to resign from the government and accept a refund of all your retirement contributions. And you wouldn’t be allowed to get a refund if you were already eligible for…
Q: I am contemplating retiring on the 2011 VERA/VSIP offer. If I took a VSIP in 1995 and returned to federal employment in 2002, am I eligible to receive a VERA in 2011? A: There isn’t any bar to your accepting another offer of early retirement. However, you are barred for life from accepting another Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment.
Q: My father has been a federal employee since 1975 under CSRS. He intends to retire at some point in 2012 and has already elected for my mother to receive survivor benefits. If he passes away before he formally retires, does my mother still receive the survivor benefits, and is the amount the same as the amount would be if he had first formally retired and then passed away? Or does his retirement need to vest before she can collect her full survivor benefits? A: She would be entitled to a survivor annuity in either case. If he were to…
Q: When you retire from a federal agency and become part of the Office of Personnel Management, does the former agency have any input about your current retirement after you have left? In other words, can it make changes to your retirement annuity or benefits? A: Only if your former agency forwards information to OPM that would affect your annuity or benefits; for example, a debt that had not been repaid to the agency which would need to be deducted from your annuity. However, since your agency would have certified your retirement application when it sent the file to OPM,…
Q: I am a 57-year-old FERS employee with 26 years of service in my current position. I made a deposit in FERS some years ago to buy back previous civilian service. Some of this service involved intermittent time and LWOP. I recently met with my agency to determine whether I have 30 years of credit and thus can retire on an unreduced annuity and receive the special supplement. My agency had a great deal of difficulty making the determination. It took seven weeks and it had to consult with specialists at another center. It finally decided I will have 30…
Leave without pay (LWOP) must be granted in some instances and is a matter of supervisory discretion in others. Employees are entitled to LWOP in the following situations: • Under the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act, which provides covered employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period for certain family and medical needs. • Under the 1994 Uniformed Service Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, which requires LWOP for a period of military service. • Under Executive Order 5396, from July 17, 1930, which requires LWOP for disabled veterans for necessary medical treatment. A supervisor might…