Q. I have been a federal agent under FERS for nine years. When I joined the agency, I purchased my 13 years of military service. I am considering completing my military service in the Reserve so I can retire from the military and from federal service. 1. Will having purchased my military time for federal employee retirement credit affect my time in service for the military? 2. Is it applied to both or one or the other? A. The deposit you made to get civilian credit for your active duty service will have no affect on any military retirement benefits…
Monthly Archives: July, 2012
Q. Can you please tell me rules on working while on Social Security and disability for 2012? A. The earnings limit for disability retirees from the federal government hasn’t changed. The limit is always 80 percent of the current salary of the position you held when you retired on disability. To find out the current limit for Social Security disability beneficiaries, type the following into your browser and click on Go: Social Security disability earnings limit.
Q. I am on Title 32 with the Army National Guard approaching my 38th year. I have more than 16 years of active duty during this time, as indicated on my DD 214. I also work for the federal government (Army) as a helicopter flight instructor at Fort Rucker,Ala., and not the National Guard in this capacity, with almost 23 years at this position. I am not a technician, as both jobs are separated. I am also pending more Medical Evaluation Boards resulting from injuries sustained while deployed to Iraq in 2006-2007. Of course, I have my 20-year letter for…
Q. I am 60 and planned on working until 72, but I developed a serious spinal disease that has disabled me. I have applied for and will receive disability (I just learned today); am I required to apply for Medicare even though I am covered by my wife’s Blue Cross plan (she is a teacher and will be for about five more years)? If, on the other hand, I have an option to retain my plan or apply for Medicare, what should I do? A. Since you have already paid for Medicare Part A coverage through payroll deductions while employed,…
Q. On Oct. 1, 2014, I will have reached my MRA with 32 years and 11 months of total service credit, of which 27 years and two months are under FERS, the rest under CSRS. I am subject to Windfall Elimination Provision. To avoid WEP, I must have 30 years of substantial earnings per the Social Security Administration. Am I correct in assuming that I must work until approximately Aug. 30, 2017, to attain the 30 years of substantial earnings to avoid WEP? I believe there was one year in the 1970 in which my earnings exceeded the substantial earnings…
Q. For FERS retirements, what are the differences between a deferred retirement and a postponed retirement, especially as they pertain to FEHB benefits? A. Some employees who retire under the MRA+10 provision (minimum retirement age with at least 10 but fewer than 30 years of service) postpone the receipt of their annuities to reduce or eliminate the age penalty, which is 5 percent for every year they are younger than 62. Regardless of when they activate it, if they were enrolled in the Federal Employees Health Benefit and/or Federal Employees Group Life Insurance programs for the five consecutive years before…
Q. I am a career federal employee under the old CSRS who has approximately 37 years of federal service. I just recently put in my paperwork for Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment. I was wondering approximately how long it would be after I retire before I receive my lump sum annual leave and payment. I know there is a major backlog in the processing of “exact” annuity payments upon retirement, but can I assume these two payments are different in that regard? A. Your lump-sum leave payment and Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment will come from your agency. Your payroll office can…
Q. My wife is a Civil Service Retirement System Offset retiree. She understands the offset of CSRS annuity by an SSA amount. She turned 62 on April 27. Her CSRS annuity was unchanged for April and May. She received two answers from OPM regarding whether or not she needed to sign up for SSA. One said she did not need to sign up for SSA at age 62 — it would be handled by OPM and she would receive two checks. One said she did need to sign up for SSA because the offset would take place when she qualified…
Q. I retired as a CSRS employee six years ago. While I was a federal employee, I dropped my individual health plan when my husband, also a CSRS employee, enrolled in a family health plan to cover us and our children. My husband is retiring and will keep the family health plan. Does he need to provide a survivor annuity for me so I can keep federal health insurance if he dies before me? We have been told that he does not need to provide a survivor annuity for me, because I dropped my FEHB plan to be covered by…
Q. I am a part-time regular with 14 years of service in the U.S. Postal Service under FERS. Can I retire at age 61 at any time and defer my pension until age 62 without penalty? Can I continue my health care coverage? A. You could retire under the MRA+10 provision and defer the receipt of your annuity to age 62, thus avoiding the age penalty. While your FEHB coverage would end 31 days after you retired, you could re-enroll when you applied for your annuity. In the interim, you could continue your coverage for up to 18 months under the Temporary Continuation of Coverage provision, for which you’d pay…