Q. I am employed with the federal prison system, which gets law enforcement officer coverage. With five years of civilian service and eight of military paid for, I will have 13 years of total service. I’m only 34 now, but if I leave to pursue other employment, will I qualify for an MRA+10 annuity at 57 or deferred annuity at 62? Also, what will be used to compute my annuity —1.7 percent or 1.0? A. If you left, you’d be eligible for either an MRA+10 annuity at age 57 or a deferred annuity at age 62. If you elected to…
Monthly Archives: November, 2012
Q. My husband worked for the post office from approximately 1977 until 1982. He cannot remember if he took a lump sum when he quit or not. How can he find out? It is clear he did not pay Social Security during those years. Please provide us the email or website/telephone number for him to check. It is hard to find on the websites. A. Have him call OPM’s Retirement Operations Office at 1-800-767-6738 and talk to a benefits specialist.
Q. I am recently separated from federal service as a law enforcement officer after nine years and 11 months. I am making the necessary arrangements to have my TSP transferred, but no one can tell me what amount is in the regular retirement fund, which I believe is the FERS one. I am electing to have that one paid directly to me and be subject to the taxes and penalties. Am I eligible to receive the federal contributions to that as well as my own over the last almost 10 years? A. The amount of your FERS contributions is posted…
Q. I am a retiree from the military after 20-plus years. As a civilian, I plan to work in the federal government. What is the federal government’s vested time? What is the early (minimum) retirement time — i.e., service time and age? A. You would need to work for five year to be vested in the retirement system. The age and service requirements to retire are: 62 and five, 60 and 20, at your MRA (minimum retirement age) with 30 or at your MRA+10, but with a 5 percent reduction in your annuity for every year you were younger than…
Q. I will be 56 in December and have a bit over 26 years of Postal Service employment under my belt. I was told that I would not be eligible for the special retirement supplement until I have 30 years of service. That would seem to mean that I would not be able to receive the supplement for a little less than four years. Under the present Voluntary Early Retirement Authority, is this true? Has the VERA changed my minimum retirement age even in light of the present SRS requirements? A. No it isn’t true. Whoever told you that was…
Q. I am a new federal employee with Tricare Prime that I am paying for since I am retired military. Is there any advantage in taking Federal Employees Health Benefits. If so, what would it be? Second, can I only sign up for the Federal Flexible Spending Account Program to take care of my co-payments and additional dental cost if I don’t sign up for FEHB? A. As to your first question, I have only anecdotal advice to give you. Some employees who are covered by Tricare have told me that they enrolled in the least expensive FEHB plan as…
Q. I am a federal civilian worker with a recent injury outside of the workplace. I do not have sufficient sick leave to cover my upcoming surgery and convalescence. I have annual leave but would prefer not to completely deplete my leave . Am I required to use all of my leave, or can I take some leave without pay? If I do not have enough paid leave to cover the time, am I a risk for dismissal from my post? A. Discuss the matter with your supervisor and your personnel office. You may be eligible for advanced sick leave,…
Q. When is the last day of 2012 that I can retire and get a lump-sum payment for unused annual leave? A. December 31. However, since the 2012 leave year doesn’t end until Jan. 12, 2013, you could retire as late as that and receive a lump-sum payment for all of your unused annual leave.
Q. I’m 60 with 24½ years of service. I was gone on detail and my position was filled with a permanent employee. So we are now both in the same position on the org charts. They are having me do the work no one wants to do, like a directives project that was due in 2009. I have been waiting for a buyout, but can they offer me a discontinued service out and are there any benefits? A. No, they can’t. The only way you’d be eligible for a discontinued service retirement is if your agency officially proposed to separate…
Q. I have 16 years in FERS. But I worked 18 years under CSRS and received a refund for that service in 1992. If I buy back that CSRS time, will it be computed as a CSRS component that will affect my Social Security? If I don’t do a redeposit of the CSRS time, will I be free and clear of any Social Security benefit reduction? A. While you will get credit for that period of service in determining your eligibility to retire, because you took a refund of your retirement contributions after Feb. 28, 1991, you’d have to make…