Q. I am a FERS employee considering buying back my service time. I retired after 23 years in the Army. I’m 49 years old and have five years of federal time as of 2013. Would it be in my best interest to buy back my military time and put it toward federal retirement? What would be the impact? A. Here’s the upside. If you make a deposit to get credit for your active-duty service, you’d have 28 years of creditable service. If you retired at your minimum retirement age (56), you’d have 35 years of service and your annuity would…
Yearly Archives: 2013
Q. I plan to retire this year under CSRS. I am interested in obtaining a seasonal position with the Internal Revenue Service. I will not receive a buyout. How long do I need to wait to be re-employed by the federal government? A. You would have to be off the rolls for three days. FYI: If you take a federal job after retiring, the salary of your new position may be offset by the amount of your annuity. Before taking a seasonal job with the IRS, you’ll need to check with their personnel office to see if that rule will…
Q. I will turn 62 in March and was planning on retiring with 22 years of service under CSRS. A job opportunity may come available before then, and I’m trying to figure out my options. If I retired now, would there be a significant difference in my annuity because I haven’t turned 62? Should I consider a deferred retirement? If so, until when? Should I keep my federal health benefits even though the new job will have better coverage? I probably will only work there for about five years — the minimum time to become vested in the 401(k) plan…
Q. I will retire this year under CSRS. I lack three quarters to qualify for Social Security benefits. Will Social Security taxes be deducted from my lump-sum payment for annual leave? A. If you are a regular CSRS employee, you haven’t had any Social Security taxes deducted from your pay and you won’t have any deducted from your lump-sum payment.
Q. I am a 63-year-old Air Force civilian employee and have been employed since Sept. 2, 2008. With no break in service, I was employed by the Internal Revenue Service as a seasonal employee for approximately eight months since Feb. 20, 2008. Being a seasonal employee, I was not able to have Federal Employees Health Benefits. But I took out the coverage once I transferred over to full time with the Air Force. If I retire in February, would I be able to take my health benefits with me, or would I have to wait until September? A. The rule…
Q. I am an employee with the Postal Service. I have 35 years of service and am 56 years old. My position as an AMS Tech EAS-15 was recently abolished. I was offered an early-out but without any incentive money. I did not take it since I can voluntarily retire and no money was offered. The EAS-15 positions are being replaced with 56 newly created EAS-17 positions and 318 PS-7 APWU clerk positions. I expect there may be a class action about it. 1. Considering that I am already eligible to retire, I’m trying to determine whether it would benefit me to…
Q. I have been on FERS disability retirement from the Postal Service since November 1996. I turned 62 in October and received a letter from the Office of Personnel Management notifying me that my annuity was recalculated and what my new monthly annuity would be. My creditable service calculation is correct, but the high-3 doesn’t look right. FERS Publication RI 98-1 states, “The total service used in the computation is increased by the amount of time you were on the disability annuity roll and your average salary is increased by the FERS cost-of-living increase during the time you were on…
Q. I will be 56 by mid-January. My service computation date is May 13, 1992. I am a GS-13, level 8. I have received my 20-year pin (I bought back six years of Navy active-duty time) yet the payroll department at our Veterans Affairs medical center now tell me I only have 17 years. I left the VA system for private business in 2003 for three years, then came back to my previous position in VA. I left my FERS money in the system when I left. Would this make me eligible to retain those three years toward my retirement,…
Q. I’m a Postal Service employee under FERS, eligible for the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority. If I take the early-out, I’ll have 26 years and nine months of service and I’ll be 55 years of age at the time of last day of service. I’ll be 56 in June. I understand that if I take the early-out, I don’t have to have 30 years of service to get a percentage of the special retirement supplement, based on 26 years of service (that would put me at about 65 percent of what I would get from Social Security at age 62,…