Author militaryonline

Q. I’m retired from the government and receiving a Social Security benefit. I’m thinking of taking a job in the private sector. How will that affect my Social Security benefit? A. If you are under full Social Security retirement age, your Social Security benefit will be reduced by $1 for every $2 in earnings from wages or self employment that exceed the annual limit, which is $17,640 in 2019. In the year when you reach your full retirement age, your benefit will be reduced by $1 for every $3 you earn over a different limit, which is $46,920 in 2019.…

Q. I am a federal retiree on Medicare parts A and B, and I also have Geha — a standard option that covers parts of my prescription costs. I was thinking about getting Medicare Part D just to be safe. I was told that if I sign up for Medicare Part D, then Geha will drop me. Is this a fact?

Q. My wife in the 1980s, for about two years, worked full time as a registered nurse at the VA in West Haven, Connecticut. My understanding is that she may be entitled to some sort of retirement-related benefit (albeit small) as a result of working there. She shared with me that some tax was deferred to another federal mechanism — for lack of a better term. Any thoughts on where to start looking?

Q. I am hoping to leave service at 59 years old with 25 years of service. I was planning to postpone my annuity start date until I was 60. My understanding is if I postpone and do not defer my annuity, I could resume as if I just left service. I would be entitled to health insurance and my supplement until age 62; if I deferred I would be ineligible for either. I believe the words “postpone” and “defer” are not the same, though are similar in meaning. Do I need to meet my minimum retirement age to qualify for a postponed retirement?

If you have spent time in the military, you may be entitled to credit for that time in the computation of your Civil Service Retirement System or Federal Employee Retirement System annuity. To be eligible, you must have done one of the following: Served on active duty in the armed forces, which are defined as the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps or Coast Guard and, after June 30, 1960, in the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service or, after June 30, 1961, in the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration; Served as a cadet in…

In my last column (read it here) I wrote about the age and service requirements for Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) employees to retire. In this one, I’ll focus on Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) employees. FERS age and service requirements to retire Immediate retirement Age 62, with 5 years of service. Age 60, with 20 years of service. Minimum retirement age (MRA), with 30 years of service. MRA, with 10* years of service. Early retirement Age 50, with 20 years of service. Any age, with 25 years of service. Deferred retirement Age 62, with 5 years of service. Age…

It’s that time of year, when employees start thinking hard about retiring. If you are one of them, you need to know the two factors that determine if you’ll be able to do that. The first is age. The second is years of service. In this column I’ll go over the rules for Civil Service Retirement System, and in the next one, Federal Employees Retirement System. CSRS requirements: Immediate retirement Age 62, five years of service. Age 60, 20 years of service. Age 55, 30 years of service. Early retirement Age 50, 20 years of service. Any age, 25 years…

Last time, I focused on the basic rules governing deposits and redeposits for Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and CSRS Offset employees, pointing out how these could increase their annuities when they retire. This time, I’ll do the same for Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) employees. Deposits The term “nondeduction service” is used to describe federal government employment where you didn’t make any contributions to the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund. Unlike the CSRS law that gives credit for that time in determining an employee’s total years of service, the FERS law doesn’t. If you don’t make a deposit,…

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