Q. I plan to retire in 2½ years on Dec 31, 2014 (at age 60) from federal civil service under CSRS Offset with 33 years of service. I am contemplating working a part-time job, nonfederal employment, but wondered if I will have my annuity reduced due to additional earnings. Also, is there a maximum dollar amount I am allowed to earn annually beyond what I am paid in my retirement annuity before my retirement is reduced? FYI, I worked four years federal service with an interim break of about five years before re-entering federal service for what will be 27…
Monthly Archives: August, 2012
Q. I was a half-time Veterans Affairs Department psychologist at an outpatient clinic from 1981 to 1993. During the first part of the period of employment, I recall that I was part of the standard VA retirement system. If my memory is correct, I was compelled to join the Thrift Savings Plan and also had some reduced level of participation in the some retirement plan (maybe it was Social Security) in the final years of my employment. I received an annual notice regarding TSP, but I have not received any other information on any possible retirement benefits. I am now…
Q. I have been working for the federal government for the past 33 years under CSRS. Prior to that, I worked in the private sector for well over 10 years, as well as seven years in the evening at a community college while a federal employee. I plan to retire in another five years, and as I began exploring my retirement opportunities, I called Social Security to determine my eligibility for a Social Security pension. SS determined that I had more than enough quarters paid in and would be eligible for approximately $700 a month under Social Security. However, the…
Q. I am retiring in two months from the Bureau of Prisons with 20 years. I have always carried the health insurance for me and my wife, along with a grandchild who qualifies. My wife also works for the BOP and I am wondering if I die while carrying the insurance, will she still be able to get her own self-only insurance since she has been on mine for 20 years? A. Yes, as long as she was covered under your self-and-family option when you died and is receiving a survivor annuity.
Q. I am working for the Veterans Affairs Department hospital. I served six years of service with the active-duty Navy, in which I was awarded the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and was honorably discharged with an RE1 enlistment code after the Navy. I served 14 years Active Guard Reserve with the Army National Guard. I do not wish to sell my time back, but I want to know why my active-duty time with the Navy does not count toward my time for leave or vacation when there are fellow workers who have less time (3-4 years) that do. A. It…
Q. I entered the federal workforce on Dec. 12, 1983. I transferred to the FERS retirement plan on June 1988. My Air Force agency is doing a reduction in force this month. I will have 28½ years time in grade and short of three months of my high-3 grade as a GS-13 (Oct. 10, 2012). Congress is talking about doing away with the supplemental income for everyone (That was one reason I switched from CSRS to FERS). I am short of my 30 years of service, but I turned 50 years old in March. (So I am too young to retire.)…
Q. I have been recently hired as a federal employee. Does my prior military service (five years) count toward the rate at which I accrue sick and annual leave? A. According to the Office of Personnel Management, “An agency may provide credit toward an employee’s annual leave accrual rate for non-Federal service or active-duty uniformed service that otherwise would not be creditable if the individual has prior work experience directly related to the duties of the position to which he or she is being appointed and the prior experience is necessary to achieve an important agency mission or performance goal.…
Q. After working for approximately 11 years in the private sector and paying into Social Security, I joined the Foreign Service in March 1979. I resigned in July 1983 to get married and start a family. I got back the $4,000 I paid into my retirement. In June 1985, I rejoined the Foreign Service and because my original separation was for the purpose of marriage, I was brought back on at the same grade and step level I was at, my leave balances at the time of my separation were reinstated, and I continued to earn annual and sick leave at the same…
Q. If a person does 23 years of active-duty (enlisted) Regular Army service and then gets a federal General Schedule job, can he still receive his military retirement pay, military disability check, Social Security and federal retirement check if he retires after 10 years? I was born in 1959. A. Yes, you can receive all three. However, you need to be aware that you would be retiring under the MRA+10 provision (minimum retirement with at least 10 but no more than 29 years of service). As such, your annuity would be reduced by 5 percent for every year you were under age…
Q. I have returned to federal service and want to redeposit my FERS contributions that were returned to me. Neither the Office of Personnel Management nor the Air Force Personnel Center can tell me whether the nine years of military time I bought back while I was previously a federal worker was returned along with the FERS contributions. Now that I have returned to federal service, the nine years of military service is not showing as credible time so I was hoping one of the experts here could shed some light on this for me. Would the bought-back military time be returned…