Q. I have 33 years in and am under CSRS. I will be 60 years old in May. I served less than two years in the Army in my 20s. I am a WG-8 making almost $25 an hour. I receive correspondence statements from Social Security that if I retire at age 62, I would be eligible for approximately $300 based on a second job 12 years ago and jobs before joining the government in the 1980s. 1. Should I buy back the time I have in the Army? 2. Will the buyback help increase my Social Security? Or will…
Monthly Archives: November, 2012
Q. I entered civil service Dec. 29, 1984. After contributing to CSRS for two years and accumulating approximately $3,500 in the retirement block of my leave and earnings statement, I got paid one day and the LES reflected about $9 in the retirement block. I went to payroll to inquire as to where the $3,500 already contributed had gone. This was about 1987, so I don’t remember the exact verbiage, but it was something like “You have a long time before you retire. Why are you worrying about that?” The payroll office was not even aware of the new FERS,…
Q. I am a registered nurse and have been in the same job for 30 years. I am 60 and want to reduce my hours from 40 a week to 20 a week for the next six years until full retirement at 66½. My salary will decrease from $80,000 to $40,000 a year. Will this have a significant effect on my retirement benefits? A. It will affect your annuity. Only you can decide if it would be significant. The methodology used to compute an annuity that includes part-time service is at www.opm.gov/retire/pubs/handbook/C055.pdf. Scroll to Part 55B2, which now applies to…
Q. I served in the Marine Corps active duty from 1975-1987, then in December 1987 became a civil servant under FERS as a special agent (1811) until I retired in 2009 with 21 years of civil service. I bought back my 12½ years of active-duty military time, giving me 33½ years of federal service at age 51 (I was 17 when I joined the Marines). I stayed in the Marine Corps Reserves with 20 good years and will start to draw my military retirement annuity at age 60. I am 55. What is my MRA? I receive the special retirement…
Q. I plan to retire at 32 years of federal service under CSRS. I have six months of military service that have not been paid off. Is that going to affect my 40 quarters of Social Security? A. If you don’t make a deposit for those six months of active-duty service, your CSRS annuity will be actuarially reduced by 10 percent of the amount you owe, plus accrued interest. Because you will be receiving an annuity from a retirement system where you didn’t pay Social Security taxes, you’ll be subject to the windfall elimination provision. The WEP will reduce your…
Q. If I retire at 62 with 11 years of work for the Postal Service, do I receive any retirement from USPS? A. You can retire at age 62 with as few as five years of service.
Q. I am a 43-year-old federal employee, and I had seven years of military time and so far 15 years of service under FERS. I have made a deposit for my military time, so I am at 23 years. I just made GS-11. What is the option for retiring at the end of that three-year period as a GS-11 for my high-three? A. There is no option because you won’t meet the age and service requirements to retire on an immediate annuity: age 62 with five years of service, 60 with 20, at your minimum retirement age with 30 or…
Q. The FERS book says you can retire at age 62 with five years of creditable service. If you worked as a regular employee, part time, 30 hours a week for five years, could you retire at age 62 with five years of part-time work; if so, would this affect your annuity payments ? A. While your part-time work would be treated as full time when it comes to determining your years of service, your annuity would be prorated to reflect the actual time you served. The methodology is at www.opm.gov/retire/pubs/handbook/C055.pdf. Just scroll to Part 55B2.
Q. I was under CSRS from 1984 to 1987 was not vested and took a nonappropriated job. Before 1984, I was strictly an NAF employee. In 1991 I was converted under the Portability Act to civil service and became a FERS employee. Later I purchased the 3.2 years back and was told it had to go under a redeposit for FERS credit. I was told that I might qualify for the CSRS offset. Do I have options under the offset program, and is the offset better than 25 years under FERS with the 1.1 retirement multiplier? A. Because you didn’t…
Q. I am a rehired annuitant and my four-term of employment is ending. Will I be eligible for unemployment? A. Highly unlikely; however, that decision rests with your state employment office.