Q. I plan to retire on Dec. 31. I plan to return as a rehired annuitant Jan. 2. Can I elect to defer the receipt of my 240 hours of annual leave pay out until my final departure from the agency? A. If you return to work for the government, your unused annual leave should be restored to you. If you are going to work for the same agency, you’ll need to alert your payroll office of that fact. If you are going to a different agency, you may end up with a lump-sum payment for your annual leave, which you’ll…
Monthly Archives: December, 2011
Q. When must I use 2011 annual leave that exceeds the 240 maximum so that I will not lose it? A. It must be used by Dec. 31. However, for most agencies the date for scheduling use or lose leave was Nov. 19.
Q. I will be age 56 on Feb. 15 with 22 years FERS time and nine years, 11 months active-duty military time (deposit paid); 31 years total. I also retired from the Navy Reserve and looking forward to a pension at 60. I would like to retire under the Federal Employees Retirement System at the end of 2012. 1. Will the nine years, 11 months be used to calculate my special retirement supplement? If no, why not? 2. Will the nine years, 11 months affect my social security benefits at age 62; if so, how and where can I find more information? 3. Will the…
Q. I medically retired as a Chapter 61 with 14.6 years active duty. I don’t and haven’t received any of my retirement pay because my disability through the Veterans Affairs Department has always been higher than what my service retirement pay would’ve been. Because my medical retirement is less than 20 years, I don’t get both entitlements. Because I’m not drawing both entitlements, is there any reason why I shouldn’t be able to add the 14.6 years toward leave accrual? A. Go to www.opm.gov/feddata/gppa/gppa06.pdf, which contains the chapter on Creditable Service for Leave Accrual, and scroll down to section 1.6. Creditable…
Q. I am a 58-year-old letter carrier covered under the Federal Employees Retirement System with 27½ years of service. I recently became incapacitated due to an occupational disease/illness. I am considering submitting a CA-2 form for worker’s comp under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act, applying for FERS disability and Social Security disability, or applying for early retirement. Can I apply for all four options at the same time and choose the best option later? What is not clear to me is the FERS disability option. Since I have reached my minimum retirement age and qualify for immediate retirement excluding the…
Q. I accepted a buyout in 1997 under the Federal Employees Retirement System. I had 22 years of continuous service at that time but was under age 50, so I couldn’t retire. In February, I will be 60 and eligible to receive my pension. I was covered by the federal health insurance program for my entire federal career. Can I opt into it when I start receiving my benefits in February? A. No, you can’t. Anyone receiving a deferred annuity, like you will be, can’t re-enroll in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program.
Q. I had 22 years of service when I resigned from the government in July 2010 at age 55. I am under the Civil Service Retirement System. I worked for Department of Agriculture from 1972 to 1978 and returned from 1994 to 2010. I would like to know when I can get some of my retirement monthly. A. Assuming that you didn’t take a refund of your retirement contributions, you can apply for a deferred annuity at age 62.
Q. I’ve been in federal service a little over a year. If I decide not to stay in federal service, is all the money I’m spending to buy back military time being wasted? A. If you stay for a full five years and then leave, you’d be eligible for a deferred annuity, and the military service for which you made a deposit would be included in your annuity computation. If you stay for less than five years, you wouldn’t be eligible for any retirement benefit. Therefore, you’d be better off asking for a refund of both your Federal Employees Retirement…
Q. In 1999, I was forced to go on disability retirement by the Postal Service after 13 years of being under the Federal Employees Retirement System. In 2006, I was deemed to be back to full earning capacity by a few hundred dollars. In 2007, I finally obtained another federal position, which I have been in ever since. What happens to those 7 years I was under disability retirement? I know if I had stayed under disability retirement when I reached age 60 or 62 (I forgot which age it was), all my time including the years on disability retirement would have been…
Q. I withdrew my accumulated retirement money when I left my state ($3,000) and federal ($18,000) jobs in 1978 and 1992. I will not receive any government pensions. Will my being a previous state and or federal employee affect the amount of my Social Security benefit? A. No.