Q. I am under the old retirement system, where retirement is based on your high-3. Is this based on the pay scale or on what you gross per year? A. It is based on the part of your gross pay from which retirement deductions are taken.
Monthly Archives: August, 2012
Q. I am a guardsman who has been on continuous active-duty orders since June 2004. Before 2004, I was employed as a civil service technician since 1981 (I am a FERS employee). When I went on orders in 2004, I was continued in leave-without-pay status in my Civil Service technician position by my Guard unit until my five-year USERRA rule ran out in 2009, when I was forced to give up my technician position or face being placed in absent-without-leave status. Now that I am nearing the end of my active-duty orders in October (I do not have enough active-duty…
Q. If I have 25 years of service and I am 52 and I have health insurance for 15 years, can I take my health insurance with me if I retire this year? Can you go from a federal job to a state job and have your service time go on? Or can you go from a state job to a federal job and have your service time go on? A. Unless your agency offers you an opportunity to retire early, you can’t retire. You don’t meet the age and service requirements to do that. Your federal service wouldn’t be…
Q. I am four years from retirement at the Postal Service; however, I have Parkinson’s disease and don’t know if I can hang in there. Whom can I contact regarding my options, and what is best — disability or trying to hang in there until 2016? A. You’ve already identified your options: file for disability retirement or continue working until you are eligible for regular retirement. That said, because you are a FERS employee, your annuity would be greater if you were approved for disability retirement than if you took regular retirement.
Q. I was medically retired from the military after about 15 years of service. I was receiving a pension from the Army until I was awarded Veterans Affairs compensation. The VA compensation was more than the Army pension, which is taxable; therefore, I receive a VA compensation that is nontaxable (80 percent). Within the past three or four years, I was awarded Combat-Related Special Compensation because the injuries were considered combat-related during my military career. I served from Sept. 21, 1981, to June 19, 1996. Does the military buyback option apply to me without giving up my military pension? In…
Q. When I retire from the USPS in Alaska, will I receive the T-COLA with my leave when I cash it out? A. An agency calculates your lump-sum payment by multiplying the number of hours of accumulated and accrued annual leave by your applicable hourly rate of pay, plus other types of pay you would have received while on annual leave, excluding any allowances paid for the sole purpose of retaining you in government service (e.g., retention incentives and physicians comparability allowances). You’ll have to check with your payroll office to find out if the Alaska T-COLA would be included.
Q. I am a retired FERS annuitant with less than 20 years’ federal service. I retired as a GS-13 in December 2004 with 13 years’ service. Can I be rehired if I agree to give up my FERS annuity? A. Here’s what will happen if you are rehired. As a rule, the salary of your new position will be offset by the amount of your annuity. Thus, the total amount you receive will be the same; it will just come from two places. Note: In rare circumstances, you may be hired into a position that allows you to keep your…
Q. I am 61 and a federal employee with FEPBLUE. My wife turned 65 last year and was enrolled in Medicare parts A and B paying the Part B out of her Social Security check. I recently took a CSRS retirement class that stated that Part B is a total waste of money because in our situation, Medicare is not only secondary to FEHB (which I knew), but Part B would pay nothing until it was primary. They advised us to cancel Part B until I retire because it is worthless until then. Please advise. A. The person who taught…
Q. I am a FERS employee with nine years’ active duty time. I retired from the National Guard with 20 years but do not receive any annuity. I know I am supposed to buy back my active-duty time to receive credit toward my civil service retirement, but if I do this, will it affect my National Guard retirement? I am wondering if my active-duty time can be counted twice — once toward my National Guard retirement and once toward my civil service retirement. A. Yes, it can be counted twice. Making a deposit to get credit for your active duty-service…
Q. I am employed by the state of Massachusetts as an attorney. I am enrolled in our pension system and will be eligible to collect it at age 55. If I left employment with the state of Massachusetts before being eligible for my Massachusetts pension in terms of age and took a job with the federal government as an attorney at the Department of Justice, would I flat out lose my Massachusetts time? Or could I get credit for it under the federal system? In other words, could I “buy back” the state service toward a federal pension? Assuming the…