Q. I am 64 years old and have nine years in CSRS. Four years were 1972 to 1976. At that time, I took my retirement out, then another seven months in 1985-86. I was reinstated in the federal government in February 2008, working for the IRS under seasonal but worked full time. I transferred in September with no break in service, accepting a position for the Defense Department. My service computation date gives me Feb. 4, 2004, under FERS. I signed up for Federal Employees Health Benefits at that point. I want to retire, but I need to take my…
Monthly Archives: February, 2013
Q. Could you show the math in calculating how much I could expect to receive every month? I want to retire at 56 because I was born in 1958. I’ll have 15 years of service at that time. I earn approximately $50,000 a year. A. Because you were born in 1958, your minimum retirement age is 56. If you retired with 15 years of service, the formula for computing your annuity would be: .01 x your highest three consecutive years of average basic pay x all your years and full months of service. However, because you’d be retiring under the…
Q. I’m having a problem locating the rule or regulation in OPM that states that annual leave can’t be denied due to budgeting cost. Your help would be greatly appreciated. A. There is no rule or reg that states that. Instead, the Office of Personnel Management makes it clear that “An employee may use annual leave for any purpose, including vacations, rest and relaxation, and personal business or emergencies. An employee has a right to take annual leave, subject to the right of the supervisor to schedule the time at which annual leave may be taken.”
Q. I am a 69-year-old female FERS retiree, covered under parts A and B of Medicare and Blue Cross/Blue Shield basic for federal employees. I also have my spouse insured on this plan. My spouse is a military retiree, so we have Tricare for Life, and he also has parts A and B of Medicare. I would like to change to the less expensive BC/BS health insurance, but I want to keep the doctors we currently have. Is there a possibility I would have greater out-of-pocket expense with the standard BC/BS? I would like to take the difference in premiums…
Q. What is the mandatory retirement age to retire from the federal government? I just turned 52 years old and will have 28 years of federal service in June. How many years can I work to reach the mandatory retirement age? What happens when I reach the mandatory retirement age and I decide not to retire at that time? A. With the exception of special category employees, such as law enforcement officers, firefighters and air traffic controllers, there is no mandatory retirement age for federal employees.
Q. In a Jan. 21, 2013, entry, you wrote: “There is no reduction beginning with the month in which you reach full retirement age.” Are you saying, after full retirement age, no matter how much money you earn, you will get your full Social Security pension amount with no deductions? A. Yes.
Q. I’m a FERS employee with 23 years of service and I’ll reach my minimum retirement age in July. If a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority is offered and separation is required before July, do I forfeit the special retirement supplement, or is it just delayed until I reach MRA? A. FERS employees who accept a VERA before they reach their minimum retirement age will begin receiving it when they reach their MRA.
Q. I was asked to return to my previous position as a rehire annuitant. I pursued the offer by applying for the announced position. I was then selected for the job but only offered a Step 1 in my retirement grade level. At the time of my retirement, I was a Step 6. The hiring official tried hard to convince the third line manager to approve my special qualifications with no avail. In the end, I was offered a lower salary than I had at the time of my retirement. Fair? Any rights? A. As a re-employed annuitant, you at…
Q. I worked the first three months in 2011 (January, February, March) then retired. Social Security says it overpaid me. And it did. But how much? The Social Security wage figure it uses includes the pay period ending Jan. 1, 2011. The wages earned were the last two weeks of 2010 with the pay period ending Jan. 1, 2011. Is this a correct calculation for the 2011 Social Security wage? A. Like the Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security Administration bases its determination on when the earnings are received, not when they are earned.
Q. My husband, who is 98 years old, worked for the Postal Service in Chicago from 1937 to 1942, then joined the Army to fight in World War II. He took a leave of absence from the Postal Service until the war ended and returned to the Postal Service in 1947 and worked until 1948, when he entered graduate school under the GI Bill. He did not take a refund of his CSRS contribution. Is he eligible for a pension? A. If what you say is true, he may very well be eligible for an annuity. To find out, he’ll have to…