Q: I am a Federal Employees Retirement System employee. I’m planning to retire in 2011 with 12 years of service at the age of 60 years, 4 months. I would like to know if I am eligible for a special supplement from Social Security. Also, am I subject to a penalty of five percent? A: No, you won’t be eligible for the special retirement supplement. No one who retires under the Minimum Retirement Age+10 provision is eligible for the SRS. Yes, your annuity will be reduced by five percent for every year (5/12 percent per month) that you are under…
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: My wife has been a Civil Service Retirement System employee for almost 36 years; I am new to the Federal Employees Retirement System, having been employed under it for approximately 1.5 years. I have been under my wife’s Federal Employees Health Benefits plan since March 2008. I am 56 years old. If we elect to each go single coverage during the open season, will I get credit for the two years toward the five that I need for retirement purposes? A: Yes, you will.
Q: I retired from the Army after 24 years, then went to work for the Postal Service for 24 years before I retired from there. After retirement, I put in for disability from the Army, and was awarded 20 percent. They take this 20 percent out of my pay and give me another check for the 20 percent that they took out, which is tax-free. My question is, should I also be getting that 20 percent from my Postal Service retirement check? And what about 20 percent from Social Security? A: No and no. You didn’t retire on disability from…
Q: Is the provision in the new health care law for children 26 years old or younger to be on their parents’ health plan to be delayed until Jan. 1, 2011 for those in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, rather than the quoted six months after signature by the president? A: To quote the Office of Personnel Management, “The effective date of this provision is the first day of the plan year that is six months following enactment of the law. For the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, that means January 1, 2011.”
Q: I have gone to two retirement seminars and both of the contract speakers told me that my retirement computation formula is the same as for firefighters and law enforcement. Is that true? A: Yes, that’s true.
Q: I read your Q&As and found the answer I was looking for, but with one variable missing. I see that active-duty years cannot count toward the 25-year retirement from federal firefighting without being called to active duty while in a covered position. What if all of your active-duty years were as a firefighter — does that make a difference? My question comes from the fact that my Total Workforce Management System early retirement date would only be possible if my active years counted. I have bought back my years. A: No, it doesn’t make a difference. Your active-duty time…
Q: I worked for the Postal Service for 15 years and resigned, but came back to work for them 13 months later. The year I came back, they were switching over to the Federal Employees Retirement System but I had the choice of FERS or the Civil Service Offset. I chose the offset and retired in 2003 with 35 years of service. I just turned 62, and I applied for Social Security and was told that my check will be adjusted from $865 down to $575 a month because I’m receiving a $2,500 Civil Service Offset annuity. Does this mean…
Q: I am retired from 24 years of active-duty military service. I also receive Concurrent Retirement Disability Pay from the VA. If I work as a GS employee for five years, I understand that makes me eligible for a small Federal Employees Retirement System pension at age 62. At age 62, would I be eligible for my military pension, CRDP, FERS pension and Social Security? Would there be any offset to any of the payments? A: We are only qualified to answer questions dealing with federal civilian benefits. That said, after as few as five years of creditable civilian service,…
Q: If you were to retire at the end of the year, and received your annual leave balance the following year, would this affect your special retirement supplement? A: No, it will not.
Q: I am eligible for retirement unders the Civil Service Retirement System in 2012 at age 55 after 37 years of service. I carried health insurance since I began my career in 1975, until I dropped it and enrolled in my husband’s plan (not government) in the mid-1990s. I recently found out that my spouse’s plan will only cover me after his death for one year. This year, I enrolled in the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan (FEHBP) because of the five-year rule, and now I have to work some additional years after 2012 to account for this. My question…