Q. I retired from the federal government with more than 35 years of service with a CSRS pension on Jan. 20, 2009, because I was serving in a non-career SES position (my final SF-50 indicated an involuntary separation). If I were to return to federal service, would I be eligible for an annuity offset, thereby keeping my annuity and federal salary? In addition, if, after working as a re-employed annuitant for two or three years and then re-retiring, would my CSRS annuity change or be re-calculated to reflect additional years of employment?
A. As a rule, if you were re-employed by the federal government, your salary would be offset by the amount of your annuity. If you worked full-time for a year (or the part-time equivalent), you’d be entitled to a supplemental annuity. If you worked for at least five years, you’d be entitled to a re-determined annuity. In other words, your annuity would be recomputed as if you were retiring for the first time.
On the other hand, if you were hired into a position that allowed you to receive both your annuity and your full salary, you wouldn’t be entitled to any additional retirement benefits when you left.
