Q. I’m a CSRS Offset employee planning to retire before reaching age 62 to take a job outside the government. Would I be entitled to Social Security payment from my new job, which will not be subject to the offset system, or deducted from my retirement annuity?
A. As a CSRS Offset retiree, your CSRS annuity will be offset at age 62 by the amount of Social Security benefit you earned while covered by CSRS Offset. If you apply for a Social Security benefit at that time, the total amount of money you receive will be approximately the same. It will just come from two different places.
If you take a nonfederal job from which Social Security deductions are taken, you’ll earn additional Social Security credits which, in the long run, will increase your Social Security benefit. However, if your earnings from wages or self-employment exceed the annual Social Security earnings limit ($14,160 in 2012), your Social Security benefit will be reduced or eliminated until you once more fall below the earnings limit.
