Q. I worked for the Postal Service from late 1979 until about 1991. I had a lot of personal and work-related problems and was also given a letter of termination. I decided to quit. I also tried to pursue a disability, but I dropped that because of stress and depression.
I withdrew my retirement to pay an accumulation of four months of bills and rent that I was behind in. I vaguely recall reading that there was a buyback of retirement. Is this true? I am applying for Social Security benefits. I am only 58, but, due to health concerns, am not able to work. I have 31 Social Security credits and need 40 for full benefits. If I could buy back those years of retirement, I would have the full number of credits. I honestly don’t know how all this works.
A. If you took a refund of your retirement contributions when you left, you wouldn’t be entitled to any retirement benefit nor could you redeposit that money, plus interest, to get credit for that service unless you returned to work for the government. If you left your contributions in the retirement fund, you’d be eligible for a deferred annuity at age 62.
