Q. I retired from the Marine Corps (active duty military) in 2004 after 22 years of honorable and faithful service. I have been with the civilian federal government side for six years now as a FERS employee. I am 49 years old with a total of 28 years of government service. When and at what age would I be eligible for retirement? A. Unless you make a deposit for those 22 years of active-duty service and waive your military retired pay, you won’t get any credit for that time. As it stands, you have only six years of creditable service…
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. Are Post Office appointments excepted service? Also, is USPS service creditable for purposes of Service Computation Date and retirement? A. While the U.S. Postal Service is a separate entity, its employees generally receive the same benefits as other federal employees. For example, they are covered by CSRS, CSRS Offset or FERS and can participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefits and Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance programs and the Thrift Savings Plan. As a rule, your service computation date wouldn’t change if you took a job with the Postal Service, and the age and service requirements to retire would…
Q. I am a FERS employee and have been employed for 25 years with federal service. I am 50 years old. My minimum retirement age is 56. If I choose to take deferred retirement now, at what age will I begin receiving an annuity? How will my annuity be calculated? A. You can’t elect to take a deferred retirement now. You can resign from the government and apply for a deferred annuity at a later date. Because you have at least 20 years of creditable service, you could apply for a deferred annuity at age 60.
Q. I plan to retire in July of this year. In order for my spouse to continue to receive FEHB if I die before him, do I have to elect survivor benefits or can he pay monthly for the payments? What is the minimum survivor benefit if I select it? A. You are required by law to provide a full survivor benefit for your spouse unless he or she agrees in writing to a lesser amount or none at all. If you are covered by CSRS, a full survivor annuity is 55 percent of your basic annuity before any deductions.…
Q. To figure how much the windfall elimination provision will affect one’s Social Security benefit, it is necessary to know the amount of the “noncovered pension.” How does one figure this amount? Is it simply a percentage? For example, if I worked 12 years as a CSRS employee (noncovered) and 24 years as a CSRS Offset employee covered by Social Security, is the noncovered portion of the CSRS pension simply 33 percent of the full pension or is there a more complication formula? A. I think you’re making hard work out of this. Your CSRS annuity will be calculated using…
Q. I work for the Air Force in Germany (YA-02/GS-13). In a recent question/answer on your Web site, it was stated locality pay would start for “affected employees” in 2010. In my situation, would I be an “affected employee?” It further states the locality pay will be phased in. In 2010/2011, overseas employees would only get one-third/two thirds of the locality pay. Will we still be getting some type of post allowance/COLA so that we don’t end up getting paid less than we did in 2009? Why are overseas employees going to be tied to the “rest of the U.S.”…
Q. Question: As a military retiree, if I buy back my military time, will my military retirement pay stop or will it then continue until I completely retire from federal service? Details: I served on active duty from 1982-2002, and retired with an honorable discharge. I began receiving my military retirement pay. I then entered federal service as a GS-14, and I am under FERS. I do not have a disability. I have been told that if I buy back my military time, my retirement pay will immediately stop. My research shows that the military retiree pay would continue until…
Q. What is the “special retirement supplement benefit?” If you cannot explain it completely & concisely, where I can find everything there is to know on this subject? A. The special retirement supplement (SRS) is paid to FERS employees who have reached their minimum retirement age (MRA) and retired on an immediate annuity. It approximates the amount of Social Security benefit they earned while employed under FERS. It is paid out of the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund until age 62, when they become eligible for a Social Security benefit. The SRS can be reduced or suspended if a…
Q. I have a follow-up question to your response of March 1 regarding a FERS retirement supplement question, which states in part that: “When your earnings in one year exceed the earnings limit, your special retirement supplement will be reduced in the following year.” What if you earn over the limit in the year you turn 62? You won’t be receiving the supplement in the following year, so it can’t be reduced. And, if I understand correctly, the reduction can only be applied to the supplement (and not the “regular” FERS annuity). Does that mean that for all practical purposes…
Q. I am 59 years old, and will be eligible for Medicare as of May 1 because of a disability. At present I am covered under my husband’s insurance through FEHBP (my husband is now deceased). Do I need to enroll in Medicare Part B, and if I do, then does my health insurance change? Will I become Medicare Primary and what FEHBP offers as a supplement or can I continue to keep my existing plan? A. It’s up to you to decide whether to enroll in Medicare Part B and pay the required premiums. If you do, Medicare Part…