Monthly Archives: November, 2012

Q. I am retiring from CSRS on Dec. 1. I have 42 years of federal service. I already have Medicare Part A. I am keeping my health insurance after I retire. Do I have to take out Part B? A. No, you don’t. Part B is optional. It’s up to you to decide if you want to pay for it.

Q. I am a 57-year-old postal employee and I am considering retiring under a FERS Voluntary Early Retirement Authority with 26 years of service. I have reached my mandatory retirement age. Am I eligible for the supplement if I retire Jan. 31, 2013? In researching the special retirement supplement, I read that a bill may have been signed by the president eliminating this benefit for those who retire after Dec. 31, 2012. Can you give me the correct information regarding this supplement? A. Yes, you’ll be entitled to the special retirement supplement. No, the president didn’t sign a bill eliminating that benefit.

Q. Postal Service employees can carry over 440 hours of annual leave. The next year, they earn their new annual leave upfront (208 hours), making their balance 648 as of January. They work every holiday for leave for an additional 80 hours of leave and take no annual leave during the year, making their balance 728 hours of annual leave. They now want to retire Dec. 31. Will they get paid a lump-sum check for 728 or only 440 hours? A. As a rule, Postal Service bargaining unit employees may only receive a lump-sum payment for 440 hours of unused…

Q. I left the active-duty Army with 15 years of service to take a federal law enforcement position (6c). I’ve bought back all 15 years of service, and now I have the opportunity to go back on active duty with the Army (I’ve been in the Reserve) and complete five years for an active-duty retirement. What happens to the buyback time and money when I return to my federal job if I complete the active-duty retirement after I’ve finished the military buyback payments and I have an updated service computation date? What if I finished the federal retirement first with…

Q. My husband and I are both federal employees. I am CSRS, and he is FERS. His plan is to retire in December at age 62. My plan is to retire at age 57 in June. We both had planned on leaving the other with the maximum survivor benefit amount. However, I am rethinking this because part of my husband’s annuity will be made up of Social Security benefits. Will that affect our ability to get the maximum benefit of each other’s survivor annuity? Or will mine, his or both of ours be subject to the Social Security government pension…

Q. I’m retiring Dec. 31 as a law enforcement officer under FERS. Would I be eligible for the retirees’ cost-of-living adjustment in 2013? A. No, you wouldn’t. However, you would be eligible for 11/12ths of the 2013 COLA, which would show up in your January 2014 annuity payment.

Q. I was in CSRS for five years and six months. Returned to the post office in 1993 under CSRS Offset. Reached 20 years under CSRS Offset on Oct. 1. Paid into Social Security for 32 years. What does my retirement look like? I am told I was put into a real bad retirement plan. A. I’ll tell you what your retirement will look like. Then you can go back to whoever told you that you were “put into a real bad retirement plan” and laugh in his face. As a CSRS employee, you’ll be eligible to retire at age…

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