Q: My uncle retired from the U.S. Postal Service in or around 1982 after 30 years of service. He is 92 and will be moving into an assisted living facility. Is he entitled to any financial assistance to cover the cost? He has been receiving his pension of $2,400 a month since his retirement, but it does not cover the cost. A: No, the retirement system doesn’t provide such assistance. However, if he is enrolled in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program or Medicare, he may be eligible for some benefits from them.
Yearly Archives: 2011
Q: I am 47 and served for 23 years on active duty. I am employed in federal service going on a year. How long must I serve in the government before I can retire and receive both military and federal service retirement pay? A: The earliest you could retire from your civilian employment would be when you reach your minimum retirement age, which in your case would be 56. You could then retire under the MRA+10 provision. However, your annuity would be reduced by 5 percent for every year you were under age 62. You could reduce or eliminate the…
Q: I am a Postal employee with 25+ years under FERS. Can I take the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority if I am excessed? A: The VERA applies only when OPM has granted an agency permission to offer early retirement. However, if no such authority has been granted to your agency, but you receive an official notice that you will be separated from your position, and there is no other job at the same grade or pay in your commuting area, you would be eligible for a discontinued service retirement.
Whether you are an employee or a retiree, this year is a real bust when it comes to benefits. Employee pay scales are frozen at 2010 levels for two years under a presidential proposal that was approved by Congress. Frozen are cost-of-living adjustments to the General Schedule, Senior Executive Service, wage grade and other pay scales in the executive branch for 2011 and 2012. On the bright side, employees eligible for step increases will still receive them in those years. About 1.1 million GS employees — three-quarters of the GS population — will receive $2.5 billion in raises through step…
Q: I have worked for the U.S. Postal Service since 1996 and have always had FEHB. I am submitting for disability retirement. If approved, will I have to pay my share and the postal service’s share to maintain coverage in retirement? A: You will only have to pay your share of the premiums. However, they will be higher than they were while you were an employee. That’s because the U.S. Postal Service unions negotiated a better deal for its employees. Retirees pay the same premiums as all other federal employees and retirees.
Q: How is unused sick leave calculated when a CSRS employee retires at the maximum 42-year tenure with an 80-percent annuity calculation? Would the annuity be higher then 80 percent based on the sick leave accumulated? Example: Federal Service of 42 years. Sick leave accumulated is 3,000 hours. Would the annuity be calculated at near 83 percent? A: Yes. The 80-percent maximum is a cap on your earned annuity, the one based on your years of creditable service. It does not apply to unused sick leave or to additional annuity purchased through the Voluntary Contributions Program.
Q: Articles in Federal Times mentioned that CSRS employees will not receive the payroll tax deduction, but they have not mentioned CSRS Offset employees. As CSRS Offset employees pay into Social Security, will they receive the payroll tax deduction in 2011? A: Yes, CSRS Offset employees will receive the Social Security payroll tax deduction with no increase in the amount they contribute to CSRS.
Q: I am under FERS, and I am considering applying for disability due to bypass heart surgery. I am also retired from the active Air Force (20 years and collecting a pension). I’ve studied chapters 61 and 62 “Computation of Disability Retirement,” and under the General Rule it indicates active-duty military retirees are not eligible for the guaranteed minimum disability annuity compensation. Based on an answer you provided to a person in similar circumstances, this apparently does not apply to FERS. If that is true, then I have a question about computation for me if I stay to age 60…
Q: My Aunt passed away in October. She was never married and had no children. She was retired under the CSRS, and I was named with two others (one is deceased) as a beneficiary to receive a lump-sum retirement payment. How is the lump-sum amount calculated, and will it be divided equally between the two living beneficiaries? A: The lump-sum payment would consist solely of those retirement contributions your aunt made to the retirement fund that had not already been returned to her in her annuity payments. If anything does remain, it would be divided equally among the still-living beneficiaries…
Q: If while on leave without pay for OWCP work-related injury the LWOP used does not count against me for retirement purposes, then why does the LWOP used count against my sick leave and annual leave accrual? It doesn’t make sense to lower my accrual rate for annual leave and sick leave while I’m absent due to OWCP-LWOP work-related injury. They don’t penalize us for retirement purposes, and they shouldn’t penalize us in our accrual of annual and sick leave either. If it’s not counted against us for retirement purposes, it shouldn’t count against us for anything. It’s not our…