Q. I’ve come to understand that excess retirement contributions can be had/applied in two ways for annuity purposes. One is a lump-sum return of same and the other can be applied toward my annuity over the 80 percent.
I’m a CSRS employee and will have almost 43 years of service in May. I also have more than a year’s sick leave on the books, which is another 2 percent, which puts me at 82 percent. If I chose to apply my excess to my annuity, how and what percentages would apply?
A. You would receive an annuity based on 42 years and 11 months of service (80 percent) plus however much additional annuity you would be entitled to based on your unused sick leave. Before your annuity was finalized by the Office of Personnel Management, you’d be given the option of receiving a refund of your excess retirement contributions or using that money to buy additional annuity that, like unused sick leave, isn’t subject to the 80 percent limit.
