Q. I was a federal employee under CSRS for almost 11 years and left to pursue a state job that I am now retired from. I immediately got back into the federal system under CSRS Offset and have repaid almost all of the retirement funds that I withdrew when I first left. I am considering overpaying back into the retirement system by about $8,000 and retiring with 20 years of service. Do you have any idea what percentage I might receive if I do this? I understand normally with 20 years, the amount is usually about 38 percent. I was wondering if this would boost my percentage.
A. If you are asking if you can deposit more than you owe and get extra credit for that time, the answer is no. You can only get credit for the period of service for which you took a refund. If, as you say, you had almost 11 years of service when you left, then re-depositing that money would allow that time to be used when computing your annuity. Since the formula for doing that is straightforward, you can do the math yourself:
0.015 x your high-3 x five years of service, plus
0.0175 x your high-3 x five years of service, plus
0.02 x your high-3 x all remaining years and full months of service.
