Q: My uncle’s ex-wife has been receiving half of my uncle’s retirement annuity since he retired. She never remarried and is now claiming that she can pass on her portion of the annuity when she dies. She wants to leave the annuity to her church. Can she do this? A: No, she can’t. Her survivor annuity will end with her death.
Author Reg Jones
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 suffered a stroke on the job with the U.S Postal Service, and I recieve disabilty pay from the USPS. I also applied for and recieve disabilty pay from Social Security. When I had the stroke, I had enough sick leave to hold me over until I was approved for Federal Employees Retirement System disabilty pay. Social Security gave me the back pay. Do I have to pay this money back? Also, will my FERS disability pay be reduced since I get Social Securirty disability pay? A: Yes, your FERS disability annuity will be affected by your Social Security…
Q: I’m a WG-9, Step 3. We just recently received the 2010 cost-of-living adjustment. However, it was not retroactive to January 2010 like the GS COLA adjustments were. Will this automatically be retroactive, or is this COLA effective the date the president signed the order? A: Wage system and GS employees don’t receive cost-of-living adjustments. They receive pay increases. While the increases for GS employees are usually effective on the first pay period beginning on or after Jan. 1, wage system increases are based on wage surveys conducted at different times of the year and vary by locality.
Q: I’m confused by what I’m reading regarding forfeiting military retirement pay. In some cases, your answer states the individual will not lose his military retirement pay if he buys back the time. Other answers say that the individual must waive his military retirement. Do only the 20-year active-duty retirees forfeit military retirement pay? I’m a reservist who will retire in three years at my 20-year total service mark, 11 of which were active duty. I’ve been offered a GS position that I am considering. I would like to receive credit for those 11 years, and it appears that my…
Q: I am a Federal Employees Retirement Service employee and bought back many years of military service. Since Sept. 11, 2001, I have been called back to active service enough times to get an immediate military retirement (22 years) as a reservist. What will this do to my FERS retirement? I have paid all my military time in FERS. A: It won’t make a difference. You’ll be able to receive both your FERS annuity and reserved retired pay with no reduction in either.
Q: I am a former federal employee. I joined federal service in 1981. I worked with the Immigration and Naturalization Service before transferring to the State Department in July 1982. I came in under the Civil Service Retirement System. In 1985, I was automatically transferred to the Federal Employees Retirement System without my knowledge. Some employees who were transferred to FERS received a refund for their CSRS benefits. I never received a refund, and now I am under FERS. The Employee Benefits Information System is not showing that I contributed to CSRS. Can you please let me know if I…
Q: I am a employee with the Transportation Security Administration and my wife is an employee of the U.S. Postal Service. I am covered by her health plan. Can I also have insurance through TSA as a secondary policy? A: No, you cannot.
Q: I was a federal employee for 23 years in the legislative and judicial branch. I spent about a year and a half of that time as a congressional staffer. About two years of my time at the judiciary were part time (four days a week). I left federal service at age 43. I was under the Civil Service Retirement System and left my money in the system when I left. I could go back to work for Congress for a few years. I understand that I would have to go into the Federal Employees Retirement Service. What would be…
Q: I am a Title 38 Veterans Health Administration part-time registered nurse and will be going full time my final three years. I will be retiring with 31 years of service at age 58. Are my part-time years computed on a prorated basis for my retirement annuity? A: Without getting into agonizing detail, your period of part-time service will be treated as if it were full-time service when determining your eligibility to retire; however, because you were less than full time, when computing your annuity, that period will be prorated. For example, if you had 30 years of service and…
Q: I went to a Civil Service Retirement System seminar recently and an interesting question about retirement calculation came out during your Q-and-A: What I fail to follow was the first two options (of three) you mentioned regarding the basic life insurance choices. First, if I opted to keep my basic life insurance at its current level, would that mean that the insurance’s face value would remain the same for me as when I was employed through the rest of my retirement years? I would then assume that I will still continue to pay the same premium on basic life…