Q. I am retiring from the VA when I am 62. I hold the insurance for myself and my husband, and I am able to keep family health benefits when I retire. My husband is two years and nine months younger than I am. When I reach 65, can I still keep GEHA insurance until my husband reaches 65 and can start drawing Medicare on his own? I do not want him not having heath insurance when he is 62. I heard someone say that at 65 I could do Medicare Part A and keep my government health insurance, and…
Monthly Archives: February, 2013
Q. I am a FERS employee, and I’m considering buying back my service time; I retired after 23 years in the Army. I am 49 and have five years of federal time as of 2013. Would it be in my best interests to buy back my military time toward federal retirement, and what would be the effects? A. Here’s the upside: If you make a deposit to get credit for your active-duty service, you’ll have 28 years of creditable service. If you retire at your minimum retirement age (56), you’ll have 35 years of service and your annuity will be…
Q. I am fully covered under the Social Security Act (48 quarters of coverage). I also am covered with 33 years of postal service under CSRS and am 62. Can I get my Social Security benefits? I keep hearing that my CSRS benefit will be offset. Then I have heard that I am entitled to my full CSRS pension and only 40 percent Social Security benefits. What is correct? A. The latter is closer to the truth. Because you’ll be receiving an annuity from retirement system where you didn’t pay Social Security taxes, your Social Security benefit will be subject…
Q. I am a GS-12 FERS eligible employee with five years of service and am 46. I receive a military retirement of $21,684 per year for 20 years of service and plan to work an additional 10 years until age 56, for a combined total of 40 years with (if) converted military retirement credit, which would be based solely on your actual years of FERS service. According to my calculations, a FERS retirement at 56 would provide $32,000 per year (40 years x .01 percent x $80,000), minus a 30 percent reduction of $9,600 due to the age penalty, leaving $22,400 yearly.…
Q. I am a GS employee who was fully employed by my agency from 1992 to July 2004 and then involuntarily recalled to active duty (reservist), title 10, for two years. I am still affiliated with the agency and have an active SF-50. I am also still on active duty, but on voluntary orders with a five-year limit. Can I buy back my Title 10 military service for a FERS employee while on LWOP-US or annual leave while on voluntary military orders? The result would be 14 years of federal service, to include two years of military service and 12…
Q. I will retire under CSRS and will maintain my FEHB insurance and Medicare Part A. What are the advantage and disadvantages of obtaining Medicare Part B? A. The disadvantage is that you have to pay the premiums for Medicare Part B. The advantage is that it works with your FEHB coverage to reduce your out-of-pocket costs for medical, clinical lab service, home health care, outpatient hospital service and blood. You’ll have to review what the two plans offer and see where they overlap, reinforce each other or fill gaps.
Q. I am a 57-year-old federal employee with 11 years creditable service under FERS. Earlier in life, I became disabled as a result of a line-of-service duty incident after 15 years as a California law enforcement officer. I receive a lifetime industrial disability retirement (tax-free) from the California Public Employees’ Retirement System. I intend on retiring in five years, at 62½. Will I be subject to the windfall elimination provision due to my law enforcement employment outside of the Social Security system? Does my disability retirement play any role in reducing my Social Security entitlement? By my calculations, I will…
Q. Our installation is offering a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority/Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay. My service computation date is in November 1988, and I will be 52 this May. I have 15 years of part-time employment. A majority of these years were at 40 hours, biweekly. Approximately three to four years were 48 hours, biweekly. How can/do I calculate my estimated retirement pay, other than contacting ABC and requesting calculation? I’m afraid they will not be able to provide info before the deadline to apply for the VERA/VSIP. A. You’ll find out how to do that by going to www.opm.gov/retirement-services/publications-forms/csrsfers-handbook/c055.pdf and…
Q. I will be retiring in June and am trying to compute the number of federal tax exemptions, etc., that I take. I looked through my notes from my last federal retirement planning class and saw that I jotted down that the amount withheld for survivor annuity from one’s monthly pension is a pretax item. I thought it would be smart to obtain verification or validation rather than assume I heard and recorded this correctly. If the survivor annuity withheld is subject to federal income tax at the time of withholding, then the portion withheld should be nontaxable when the…
Q. I have worked for the Veterans Affairs Department as a civilian for more than five years. My wife always handled the health care insurance under her company’s program, so I never took advantage of mine. We are now in our 18th month of divorce and I would like to go on my health care program under my benefits at VA. My human resources department says I need a divorce decree to be able to get coverage. My wife is about to lose her job, so I am worried that I may be without coverage. What should I do? A.…