Q: I am starting a general service job soon, but am getting some conflicting messages about how much leave I will accrue. I am a member of the U.S. Army Retired Reserve – with about 14 years of active duty time. I will not receive military retired pay for another 12 years. Will my active duty time be creditable for leave in the civilian system? A: Yes, your active duty time will be considered to be creditable service for determining your annual leave accrual rate. It won’t be used in determining your years of service for retirement purposes or in…
Author militaryonline
Q: Will you please explain when the “earnings test” on the Social Security Supplement takes effect for Federal Employees Retirement System employees? What will be the effective date when the supplement is reduced and/or halted if you’ve exceeded the earnings limit? How are your after-retirement earnings reported, how often and to whom? Will the supplement be reinstated if your after-retirement earned income returns to below the earnings limit? A: For a good overview of how the Social Security earnings limit applies, including how things are handled if you retire in the middle of a year, go to www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10069.html. The Social…
Q: I am on medical retirement from the National Guard. Do I have to retire from my federal job? A: A: If you are a military reserve technician who is required to maintain a specific military grade in order to continue in your civilian employment, the answer is yes.
Q: I am 54 years old and just recently returned to the federal government. I have been placed in CSRS Offset and my time is running out to determine if I want to go to the Federal Employees Retirement System. I previously worked for the federal government for 10 years between 1982 and 1992, under the Civil Service Retirement System and have 22 years of substantial earnings in the private sector. Which retirement system would be the best choice based on my background? Also, do CSRS Offset employees earn Social Security substantial earning credits on their years, while employed with…
Q: Does service as a Peace Corps volunteer count toward the one year probationary period for federal service? A: No, an individual’s initial career appointment becomes final only after he has successfully completed a one-year probationary period. This period begins on the effective date of the appointment and ends one calendar year later.
Q: I am currently a 52-year-old Department of Defense Education Activity employee with 23 years in the Army National Guard (six years active). Can I buy my six years of active duty time if I will be receiving a reserve pension when I am age 60? A: Yes, you can.
Q: I worked for the Defense Department (Long Beach Naval Shipyard) from 1980 until 1990. I had a retirement fund which I paid into. When I left the shipyard in 1990, I took out my retirement fund in a lump sum. Am I eligible for any benefits from the government besides the retirement fund I paid into. I am now 63 years old. Can you explain to me how that works. Since I started working in 1980, I believe I must have been under the Civil Service Retirement System, I worked as a GS-4 for three years, then I transferred…
Q: I provide financial services to federal employees and have been posed with a question I have not had before. My client has recently retired under Federal Employees Retirement System and has been an Army reservist for 20-plus years. Will his reservist earnings count against his FERS supplement earnings test? If he is called to active duty, are there any other considerations? And lastly, am I correct in understanding that military or reservist retired pay does not count as earnings against the FERS supplement earnings test? A: The Social Security earnings test applies to earnings from wages or self-employment. Having…
Q: If you were a Federal Employees Retirement System dual status federal technician in the Air National Guard and were non-retained at age 50 with 28 years of service (discontinued service retirement), can you qualify for disability retirement if you have a disabling condition? Or must you take the standard FERS 1 percent high-3 retirement? A: If you are involuntarily separated from technician service after reaching age 50 and having 25 years of service, you are entitled to an immediate annuity, which would be computed using the standard FERS formula. If that separation is due to a disability that disqualifies…
Q: I am currently in a law enforcement position, as a Federal Employees Retirement System employee, and I am covered under the special group of employees Firefighters, Law Enforcement Officers, and Air Traffic Controllers retirement. I am considering, after 10 years of service, a lateral transfer to a GS-13 position, with the Defense Department (non-law enforcement) with more potential for promotion and a significant decrease on my commute. Since I paid an increase of .5 percent to FERS for 10-plus years, why doesn’t the 1.7 percent transfer in government to government services? A: Under the law, only those special category…