Q. I retired as a CSRS Offset employee in 1997 at age 50. Since federal retirement, I worked in the private sector paying Social Security on those wages. At age 62, OPM reduced my federal annuity by about 25 percent but hasn’t adjusted my annuity since, even though I’ve contributed near the maximum into Social Security during the eight years since. I see nothing indicating that the offset ratio is a one-time event. What recourse do I have?
A. You don’t need a recourse. The reduction in your annuity was a one-time event. It represented the amount of Social Security benefit you earned while a CSRS Offset employee.
5 Comments
The offset employee should know that his Social Security payment may continue to increase if he is adding higher earning years to his top 35 year Social Security record. And conversely his federal annuity will not be further reduced.
Absolutely true, and worth sharing with other readers.
An offset of 25% of the CSRS annuity sounds high. I read an earlier answer you gave a few years back and from that I thought that to determine offset you take your total years of CSRS offset service, divide it by 40, and then multiply that product by your estimated Social Security benefit at age 62. Is that right?
Yes, that’s the formula. However, because the writer didn’t indicate how long he had been a CSRS Offset employee, there was no way to verify the amount of the reduction. I accepted that because it wasn’t relevant to the question he asked.
Thank you.