Q. As a federal agent with 6c coverage, do I have to achieve 20 years of service *on* the day I turn 57, or can I achieve 20 years of service *during* the year I turn 57? For example, could I achieve 20 years of service in the sixth month of the year I turn 57, so long as I retire during my 57th year of age with 20 years of service? Everything I see says I have to achieve 20 years at age 57. A. You appear to be asking about the rules for mandatory retirement. If you have…
Monthly Archives: January, 2013
Q. I have been retired under Social Security disability since 2000. I declined Part B because of federal insurance. My Postal Service disability turned over to regular pension at age 62. I am now 64. According to new law, I am eligible for regular Social Security at age 66. Will my federal Blue Cross/Blue Shield continue until age 66, or does it end at age 65? And do benefits change at all? Do I then have to apply for Part B at 65, or do I wait to apply at 66? And do I have to pay a penalty for…
Q. I am eligible for CSRS retirement with 39+ years of service. I just completed a temporary promotion to manager for five months and some days. Will that pay increase be considered in my high-3 for retirement? A. Yes. A high-3 is based on the average of the three highest consecutive years (78 pay periods) of basic pay.
Q. I am older than age 50 with 20 years of federal service. I fall under FERS. If I’m offered an early-out and I accept and then turn around and take another federal position, what are the ramifications? If I’m given a Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay for leaving, I realize that I will have to pay that back before starting my job. Will I be able to collect that if I hold another federal job, or does that discontinue once I start the federal job? A. Your annuity would stop and you’d just be a regular employee. You wouldn’t be able to retire…
Q. I have 17 days of unused sick leave. I do not want to give it back when I retire. Is that calculated as 17 working days or 17 calendar days? A. Neither. Unused sick leave days (and days of actual service that don’t add up to a full month) are converted to annuity days. That’s done by dividing 2,087 (the number of hours in a work year) by 360 (12 30-day months). As a result, an annuity day is about 5.79 hours long, and an annuity month about 174 hours long. Only full months are used in an annuity…
Q. I was in the Air National Guard full time for 14 years. Now I work for the Postal Service and have been there 16 years. I bought back my military time and had the 30+ years funded. Then, I received a letter from USPS human resources that my military time was not federally creditable, and they returned my buyback money. The post office is saying I was paid by the state and not by the federal government. I really wanted to be a part of the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority this month, but this has become a mess. If…
Q. My father was a federal employee for more than 40 years. When he died, he had the highest civil servant rank possible. My mom died 15 months ago, and my dad died in September at the age of 86 after being retired for 24 years. He was receiving monthly annuity payments of over $6,000 a month until he died. We just received paperwork about a possible lump sum that would be whatever was left in his annuity that was not paid out in monthly payments. What is the likelihood that there is a lump sum left? Typically, do federal…
Q. I am a 57-year-old FERS employee with 29 years and 11 months of civilian federal service, five years of active-duty military service and 31 years of military reserve service (I plan to retire from reserve duty at 60). I want to know how my retirement from civilian federal service will be computed. I bought back the active-duty military service. A. Your FERS annuity will be computed using the standard formula: .01 x your high-3 x your years and full months of service (including actual service and active duty service for which you’ve made a deposit).
Q. I have been re-employed under CSRS since Jan. 22, 2006. I have more than 30 years of civilian government service and I am over 55 years old. I am going to retire a second time next month. My annuity continued during my re-employment, it was withheld from my pay for the entire re-employment, and I paid into CSRS at 7 percent of the total amount (pay plus withheld annuity). It is my understanding and that of my personnel office that I will get a re-determined annuity based as if I had never retired. I want to make sure all…
Q. I retired almost three years ago from a nonappropriated fund instrumentality of the Defense Department, at which time I was advised not to set up a spousal annuity for my husband because he worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs and would be getting his own retirement. It was explained to me that a person could not receive his or her own government retirement and a spousal annuity from a government agency at the same time. Is this true? My husband is planning to retire this summer and he has been advised that he can set up a spousal…