Q. I am a career employee with just over three years of civil service. I bought back 10 years of military service. If I am affected by a reduction in force before I reach five years of civil service, would I still be eligible for a deferred annuity when I’m 60? If I don’t qualify for FERS, does that mean I wasted the money spent for the military buyback?
A. You would need to have five years of actual FERS service to be eligible for a deferred annuity. If you wanted to return to government service, you could leave your contributions in the retirement fund. If you weren’t planning to do that, you could ask for a refund of your contributions, which would be paid to you with accrued interest.
