Q. I plan to retire in January. I worked 25 years and bought back five years of active-duty military time, so I will have 30 years for retirement as of September. I read somewhere that the five years that I bought back military might keep me from getting the special retirement supplement. Is that true? I planned to retire, and the supplement was part of my plan. Do I have to have 30 years of working to get the supplement?
A. The five years of active-duty service for which you made a deposit won’t affect your entitlement to the special retirement supplement. However, they won’t be included when your SRS is calculated. That’s because the SRS is paid out of the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund, not the Social Security Fund. When you reach age 62, you’ll be entitled to a Social Security benefit based on all of your Social Security covered service.
