Q. I have 12 years of service as a foreign service officer under the Foreign Service Pension System. If I leave the government, can I withdraw my retirement contributions and my agency’s contribution? Are there reinvestment requirements or tax implications? A. You can withdraw your retirement contributions, but not those you agency made. The latter were put there to fund your retirement, not your bank account. When refunded to you, the contributions will be tax-free because you already paid taxes on them; however, any interest you receive will be taxable as ordinary income.
Monthly Archives: September, 2012
Q. I am a federal retiree in Northern California. I am covered under a Northern California Kaiser HMO. I downloaded the 2012 benefit plan from the federal website for Kaiser HMO Northern California. Page 33 of this plan says acupuncture is covered. The Kaiser customer service information for this plan says the federal government opted out of this treatment. How do you find out who is correct? A. I, too, looked on Page 33. You are right, and the person you talked to at your plan is wrong. If a benefit is stated in the plan brochure, then they must…
Q. I am a CSRS postal employee considering retirement, with the offer of $20,000 Special Retirement Incentive as a postmaster. I am 55 with 30 years of service. Under service history, I have listed as unfunded, work from Aug. 22, 1979, to Oct. 5, 1979. This is one month and 14 days of service. In addition, the history lists this service under U.S. Postal Service when the work was for the U.S. Census Bureau. Should I be concerned about getting the agency information corrected on this? I was first employed by the Postal Service on June 19, 1982. I assume…
Q. My agency is going to offer early outs this fiscal year, and I want to take advantage of that. I am 48 and have been in FERS my entire career, with no service breaks. My service computation date is October 1983. If I take the early out, my major concern is if I can keep my heath benefits. Will I get to keep my full health benefits? Will I have to take over from my agency the full cost of premiums? Will open season still be available to me each year, just as it is every year as an…
Q. I have been under Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs for the last 10 months. If voluntary early retirement is offered to the clerk craft, am I eligible to take it? I am 48 and have worked for the Post Office for 27 years. A. Yes. With 25 years of service, you can retire at any age.
Q. I was released from the Postal Service involuntarily after about 6½ years. My steward informed me that my health benefit continues for one year after separation. Also, she told me that if I am reinstated, any back premiums will be repaid from any back pay I may receive or they will make up for them during this time by taking it from my paychecks. I was hired with a 10-point veterans preference (under 30 percent) compensation. Is this correct? A. Unless your steward knows something that I don’t know, here’s what will happen: You’ll get a 31-day extension of…
Q. I retired in December 2011 from the Bureau of Prisons, after almost 22 years. I did the normal retirement as a law enforcement officer. I am planning to apply for Social Security disability. If I get approved for SSDI, could the award affect my annuity in any way? A. Being approved for SSDI wouldn’t affect your FERS annuity. However, it would affect any Social Security benefit you were entitled to. For more information on the interaction between the two benefits, call 1-800-772-1213 and talk to a Social Security benefits specialist.
Q. I’ll be 62 years old in March and covered by FERS for six years. After retirement, I’ll leave the country. Besides a small amount in the Thrift Savings Plan, there will be no health care coverage (will be covered by my home country) or other retirements service in the future. Social Security will be my only monthly U.S. income. The rough estimate retirement amount from FERS will be around $260 per month. Do I get the amount that I contributed AND the amount the government contributed in a lump-sum payment? A. No, you wouldn’t get a lump-sum payment. Instead,…
Q. I am rather new to civil service and am not well-versed at finding information on my FERS retirement account. I see deductions from my check on my leave and earnings statement and the current balance. However, I also see contributions made by the government on my behalf are going into my account. The balance for my contributions is clearly found; the balance on the account to include the contributions made by the government on my behalf is not. Combined contribution amounts should make the overall amount in my account considerably more than what it shows on my LES. Please…
Q. I am accredited with 41 years, 11 months of civil service and am eligible to retire. The time includes two years, six months, and 13 days of military service, which I did not buy back. I was told it didn’t matter that the difference between buying your military time and not buying it is that you would only have more money on the retirement fund but that the time would still be counted toward retirement. Is this correct? Also, I want to know what day I need to make my effective date of retirement so that I will receive…