Q. If an employee retires and elects an insurable interest for his spouse, will that payment be a monthly payment or a lump-sum payment? Also will the spouse be able to continue in FEHB if the annuitant had self and family coverage? A. First things first. You are required by law to provide a full survivor benefit to your spouse unless 1) there is a court order assigning that benefit to a former spouse or 2) she agrees in writing to a lesser amount or none at all. The insurable interest annuity is designed to provide a benefit to someone…
Monthly Archives: October, 2012
Q. My father left my mom and me many years ago and remarried. He passed away a number of years ago. He was a federal employee, and his second wife got his benefits. Am I as his daughter able to receive benefits from his pension? He stopped sending us a check of $50 when I was 16. A. No.
Q. I retired on disability about five years ago. I am in CSRS. My annuity statement shows no deduction for the survivor annuity. However, when I got the personalized little book they give you when you retire, it mentions the survivor annuity and how much my wife would get. Am I missing something? Is my wife covered by the survivor annuity I provided? And if this is an OPM snafu, how do I correct it? Also will I be on the hook to pay back any premiums I would have paid to provide the survivor annuity? A. Yes, your wife…
Q. I am a new federal employee, and I am trying to get credit for my military time to go toward my service computation date. I was in the military from 1986 to 1996 had a training accident, which caused me to be medically retired. My accident did not happen in combat but during training while theU.S.was at war. Human resources is telling me I cannot be credited because my accident is not combat-related. Is this true? A. Because you are retired from the armed forces, you can get credit for only: 1) actual service during a war declared by…
Q. If USPS offers a VERA, I have 26 years and am 54. I know I’ll be eligible for retirement, but if I leave before 56, my MRA, will there be a reduction in my annuity? Are there any penalties associated with accepting the VERA? A. The age penalty is waived for anyone retiring under the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority. However, you wouldn’t be entitled to the special retirement supplement until you reach your MRA.
Q. I am an 82-year-old CSRS retiree who wants to know what benefits would be available to a new spouse age 19 if a man my age were to marry that age woman. Would she receive an annuity, and what percentage, based on my annuity? A. There would be two reductions in your annuity to pay for the survivor benefit. One would be the standard reduction to provide a survivor annuity (approximately 10 percent of your unreduced annuity). Second would be a permanent actuarial reduction to pay the survivor benefit deposit. That deposit equals the difference between the new annuity…
Q. If a federal employee is placed on 30 days administrative leave with pay pending possible disciplinary action, does the time one is on administrative leave still count toward retirement? A. Yes.
Q. I am a FERS employee with 20 years in civil service and have made a deposit for 13 years of military service (active duty). Do my years of military service count toward years of service for MRA purposes? In other words, am I now eligible for an immediate retirement at my minimum retirement age (56) since my combined years of service are over 30? A. Yes.
Q. I’m considering retiring on July 3, 2013. My current and projected sick leave balance is as follows: Currently as of pay period 14 = 2,320.45 End of this calendar year projection = 2,372.45 Projected amount as of June 29, 2013 = 2,428.45 (last pay period before retirement) If you apply the Office of Personnel Management’s sick leave conversion to the 2,428.45 sick leave hours at the time of my probable retirement (July 3, 2013), the conversion table states that I’ll be one hour or .55 hours shy of having one year and two months of sick leave applied to…
Q. I am a 59-year-old Army civilian and have 30 years of service as of early August. I had left government service and did not withdraw my contributions from CSRS. I came back to the government after a more-than-five-year absence in the private sector. Hence the CSRS Offset status. Instead of retiring, could I resign and apply for my retirement at a latter age, say 62 or later? Between now and that time, I would be working in the private sector again contributing to Social Security. I still do not understand why the CSRS pension is reduced by Social Security…