Q: I recently read that the GPO/WEP repeal issue was tabled for 2010 and somehow attached to the health care bill. Do you have any current information on this? A: No action has been taken on that bill. And no, it didn’t get attached to the health care bill.
Author militaryonline
Q: I am a federal military technician that developed a “condition” while on military orders. The military is retiring me at 30 percent disability due to it occuring while on active-duty orders.OPM is retiring me under a special law provision for federal military technicians that lose their positions because of nonretainability in the military due to a commensurate condition .Will I be eligible to receive military retirement and federal technician special law retirement. I did not buy back my four years of active-duty service. A: You would be classified as having retired on disability from your military technician position. You…
Q: I am a federal firefighter (GS-081) facing an involuntary early retirement. I am 48 and have 27 years of service. My Agency is offering severance packages to those folks who can’t retire early. Do I have the right to accept a severance package? And if so, how will it affect my involuntary early retirement? A: If you were eligible for a reduced annuity under a voluntary retirement authority, you wouldn’t be entitled to receive severance pay.
Q: Under the OPM regulations, it is my understanding that a federal employee can take up to 12 weeks of paid sick leave each year to care for an eligible family member. If a federal employee is 10 weeks or so away from being eligible for retirement and has an emergency family medical situation, is he allowed to take the last 10 weeks of employment as paid sick leave up to the date that they retire? A: The law provides that an employee can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave. OPM regulations allow an employee to take up…
Q: Upon entry into civil service, I bought into FERS, paying for 24 years of my active-duty military service. This consisted of four years of academy time and 20 years of commissioned active-duty time. I now realize I would significantly increase my total retirement pay by keeping my military retirement and only converting my four years of academy time to FERS in order to retire with MRA + 10. Is it possible to now change my election from a total buy-in and conversion to only paying for my four years of academy time and get a refund for the rest…
Q: Suppose a CSRS employee has more than two months unused Annual Leave and plans to retire soon. I understand employees can get a lump sum payout for unused A/L. Yet it seemed one can alternatively request permission to take two months of A/L starting at the time he wants to quit and officially retire after spending the A/L. In that way, he sacrifices the lump sum payout to gain two extra months of service credit which boosts his CSRS pension. Self-calculations indicate that is a significant boost, but it seems most people opt for lump sum. So there may…
Q: I have completed three periods of military active duty. Each period was separated by years from the other two. I made a military deposit for two of the three periods. One source told me that this was not permissible; that if I didn’t buy back all periods, I would get a check back after retirement for the 2 I bought back, and would receive no military credit. Another employee told me that this was nonsense, and that it was my choice to buy back two of the three periods, and that I would get credit for the military time…
Q: I saw your answer to a letter to a CSRS recipient saying OPM will only check once to determine if they are eligible for a Social Security benefit. This is for a retirement before reaching age 62. What I would like to know is if this “checking” is during the year a person is 62 or on the day of their 62nd birthday, or whenever they “catch up” with checking on this, which could be years later? Also, and when they do this, is the person being checked on notified that they have done this “checking”? A: As I…
Q: I am covered by CSRS and my wife is covered by Social Security retirement. If she dies first, I would collect very little in survivor benefits from Social Security due to the offset rules. However, if I die first, are her Social Security benefits affected by my CSRS survivor benefits? Her projected Social Security pension is about $1,000 per month. My projected CSRS pension is about $6,000 per month. A: If you were to die first, she would be able to receive both a CSRS survivor annuity and her own Social Security benefit, with no reduction in either.
Q: I am 57 and started working civil service in 1995. Can I take retirement at age 60? How much will I draw? I am a Gs 6. At 60, I start my reserve retirement. Will I be penalized? At 62, I will file for Social Security while there is some left. Can I draw all three? A: You could retire under the MRA+10 provision. However, your annuity would be reduced by 5 percent for every year you were under age 62. If you waited until you had 20 years of service, you could retire on an immediate unreduced annuity.…