Author Reg Jones

Reg Jones was head of retirement and insurance policy at the Office of Personnel Management. Email your retirement-related questions to fedexperts@federaltimes.com.

Q: I work for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. In November, I will have 20 years’ service in law enforcement and will be 49 years old. If I decide to retire right there and then, do I have to wait an extra year to collect benefits? Can I retire at age 49 with 20 years of law enforcement plus 4 years of active-duty military service? A: No, you can’t retire on an immediate annuity at age 49. You’ll have to wait until age 50 to retire under the special provision for law enforcement officers. You could, of course, resign from…

Q: I need clarification of a fine point about calculating the amount of a service credit deposit for a four-month period of temporary service back in 1979 when no retirement deductions were withheld. I know that I would have to pay 1.3 percent of basic pay plus interest. My question relates to the definition of “basic pay.” Would basic pay be the pay I earned during the four months I was a temporary employee ($2,300), or would it be the annual pay rate for a person working at my grade in 1979 ($8,366)? A: The deposit would be 1.3 percent…

Q: I read your recent article, “Dispelling the myth of an above-the-law Congress.” Another “myth” circulating is that years ago, members of Congress exempted themselves from paying income tax on their congressional salary. True or false? A: False.

Q: If you are the retiree with survivor benefits and the survivor dies first, what forms do you need to fill out? Do you inform Medicare? Do you change health benefits from family to single? What form do you fill out to remove the survivor benefits? A: All you need to do is call the Office of Personnel Managment at 888-767-6738 to report the death of your spouse. A benefits specialist will guide you through the process and provide the forms your need.

Q: I was retired medically from the Army with less than 20 years of service. My health improved enough for me to work at the U.S. Postal Service. I was then called back to active duty to complete my 20 years of service, serving an additional three years and eight months. I returned to the USPS in 2005. I retired from the Army with a military pension and Veterans Affairs Department disability of 50 percent. Can I still receive my military pension and VA disability and buy back only those years I returned to active duty to get credit for…

Q: I am a 29-year federal employee, with the first 16 of those years in congressional staff service. For the first three years of my employ, congressional staff could opt to pay neither CSRS nor Social Security. Being young and underpaid, I chose that option. Today, after being determined as FERCCA eligible, I am covered by CSRS Offset. During the FERCCA review and election period, I was provided with estimates of my projected retirement in 2013. The calculation for CSRS Offset factored in the unpaid contribution years from the early 1980s, but actuarially reduced the benefits by the amount of…

Is military service creditable for civilian retirement purposes? Both current employees and military members who are considering working for the federal government e-mail me looking for answers to that question. Creditable military service is: * Active duty in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps or Coast Guard; after June 30, 1960, in the Public Health Service commissioned corps; or, after June 30, 1961, in the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration commissioned corps. * Time as a cadet in the Army, Air Force or Coast Guard academies or as a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy. * Active duty or…

Q: I have an appointment letter with specific dates listed for a qualifying nonappropriated-funds employment from the U.S. Army at the Army Youth Activities camp in 1964. I have confirming information from microfiche records that have been officially certified that list the same employer (U.S. Army AYA Camp) for the same quarter as the specific dates listed in the appointment letter, and at the same pay specified in that letter. What else is required by regulation for verifying this service? These two documents taken together seem sufficient. A: The only requirement is that you provide convincing evidence that you performed…

Q: I am a Civil Service Retirement System optionally retired rehired annuitant. Because I am under CSRS for retirement, is my salary as a rehired annuitant subject to Social Security withholding? A: As a pure CSRS rehire, you aren’t subject to Social Security deductions unless you were hired as a senior official. If you were, you’d be covered by CSRS Offset, and Social Security deductions would be mandatory.

Q: My father retired from federal civil service in 1974. At that time, he elected a survivor annuity for my mother with a base of $1,300. Initially, the Office of Personnel Management took out about $175 a month from his annuity for the survivor annuity, and of course this went up annually via cost-of-living adjustments, the same way his regular annuity did. He passed away in 2009. The OPM has calculated the survivor annuity for my mother, and she is receiving $789 a month net, reduced by $153 for insurance, which leaves $636 a month. Over the 35 years of…

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