Q. I have 33 years of service under FERS at age 55. I will not reach minimum retirement age until December. I would like to submit my retirement packet now. Is there a waiver I would qualify for to avoid the 5 percent-per-year penalty or that would waive the next 11 months to MRA? A. Since you’d be retiring under the MRA+10 provision, there is no provision in law or regulation that would allow for a waiver of the 5 percent-per-year penalty. Because you have at least 20 years of service, the penalty would apply to age 60.
Monthly Archives: January, 2013
Q. I just retired under CSRS and my last day at work was Jan. 3. For purposes of the high-3, how is the three-year period defined? Three true calendar years? Three calendar years limited to 365 days each? A total of 1,095 calendar days (three 365-day periods)? My salaries were: 1/4/10 to 1/30/10 = $92,992 1/31/10 to 1/28/12 = $99,239 1/29/12 to 1/3/13 = $102,074 Specifically, Feb. 29, 2012, was a leap year’s extra day and, being at my highest salary, my working that day should benefit the high-3 figure. If Feb. 29, 2012, did not exist (or does not exist in the…
Q. I am 59 and a CSRS Offset employee with 33+ years of CSRS coverage and am at the top of the GS-15 payscale. About 21 of those years were under CSRS Offset, so I know the deduction will be somewhere around 52.5 percent of my Social Security earnings. I am exempt from windfall elimination provision because of more than 30 years of Social Security coverage. I am concerned that if I retire Jan. 3, 2014, my final paycheck and my lump sum for leave will add another year to my number of years covered by Social Security and raise…
Q. I’m planning on retiring Sept. 1 at age 56 with 25 years and 30 days in the Postal Service. I haven’t been offered early retirement. Will I be eligible for the special retirement supplement? A. Because you’ll be retiring under the MRA+10 provision, your annuity will be reduced by 5 percent for every year you are under age 60. Further, you won’t be eligible for the special retirement supplement.
Q. I am retired military with 27 years in. Since that time, I have been a civil servant and am coming up on my 10-year anniversary under FERS. My service computation date is Aug. 10, 2003. I am planning to resign from my civil position Dec. 31, prior to my 62nd birthday. (I was born Dec. 11, 1952.) I plan to ask for a lump-sum check for my unused accrued leave. But it looks like I will not gain anything for having been such a healthy individual and that my many days of sick leave will simply go wasted. Is…
Q. I am a CSRS employee who has worked for the government for 40 years. I also have 27 credits for Social Security. I work for my husband as an accountant for free. If I start charging him and take payments under a 1099, how many credits do I have to earn to get Social Security payments on top of my CSRS benefit when retire? A. In 2013, you’d need to earn $1,160 to get one Social Security credit, $4,640 to earn four credits. It would take you over three years to collect the 40 credits you’d need to be entitled to a…
Q. If a FERS employee is eligible for a deferred retirement (30 years qualifying service but not yet at minimum retirement age) but is involuntarily separated (instead of resigning) and receives severance pay upon separation, can he still file for and receive a deferred retirement later upon attaining his MRA? Also, is it true that a deferred annuity is not subject to reduction if applied for at MRA when the employee had at least 30 years of service? A. Yes and yes.
Q. I served for 13 years and four months in the active-duty Air Force after graduating from a service academy. After taking a job in the airline industry, I continued serving in the Air Force Reserve for another 10 years. I turned 60 in March and started drawing reserve retirement pay in April. I am considering employment as a Federal Aviation Association air safety inspector when I retire from my airline job, perhaps this year. I’ve been told by a friend at the FAA that all of my active-duty time plus my time at the service academy will count toward…
Q. I am facing mandatory retirement from a covered law enforcement position after 25 years. I would like to take a noncovered position in a different job series that’s nonlaw enforcement. Can I collect my full retirement? How would my retirement be affected? A. You could either retire and begin working in another position or transfer to another position and continue working. In the first case, the salary of your new position would, in most cases, be offset by the amount of your law enforcement officer annuity. In the second, you would continue to be a salaried employee. You could…
Q. My husband and I are both military retirees and have had Tricare for over 38 years. When my husband turned 65, he had to sign up for Medicare and take Part B to retain Tricare for Life. He also dropped off of the Federal Employees Health Benefits plan and then retired from his civilian federal government job and I changed to single coverage on FEHB under me (I am still working as a civilian federal employee). I am considering retiring this year and want to know if I need to add him to my FEHB for him to have…