Q. I am a CSRS Offset employee who retired in 2007 from the Postal Service. I just turned 62 and the Office of Personnel Management started reducing my annuity due to eligibility to SSA. I also applied for Social Security. After receiving one full check, they too have reduced my check under the windfall elimination provision for the same exact amount as the OPM reduced it. Is this possible?
A. The reduction, yes. Whether it should have been for the same amount, I don’t know. Let’s go over the rules. First, because you were a CSRS Offset employee, at age 62 your CSRS annuity was reduced by the amount of Social Security benefit you earned while a CSRS Offset employee. Second, because you were receiving part of your annuity from CSRS — a retirement system where you didn’t pay Social Security taxes — and had fewer than 30 years of substantial earnings under Social Security, you were subject to the windfall elimination provision.
