Q. I need to know the percentage I contributed toward my pension as a retired law enforcement officer ( I retired in 2008), and what percentage the government contributed. A. When you retired, the amount of your own contributions was reported on the package sent to you by OPM. You could also find it on your final pay voucher. To find out what your agency contributed, you’ll have to get that from your former agency. The amount depends on your retirement system and, in the case of FERS, varied over time.
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 am a FERS retiree. I receive a special retirement supplement. Is this taxed? I have not gotten anything except my 1099R from the CSA. A. Although the special retirement supplement is designed to approximate the Social Security benefit you earned while employed under FERS, the money comes from the CSRS Retirement and Disability Fund. As such, it is taxed in the same way as the rest of your annuity. A portion of that total is nontaxable while the rest is taxable. To find out what the nontaxable portion will be, go to www.irs.gov/pubs/irs-pdf/p721.pdf and read the IRS’ Tax…
Q. I am a FERS employee with seven years of service. I was told at our retirement seminar that we could not draw more than two federal pensions. I will retire from the Air Force reserve in three years, and in another 10 years can retire from my GS position. We were told that if we elect to get the military retirement and the civil service retirement, we could not get Social Security. Is this correct? A. No. You will be able to receive your reserve retired pay, your FERS annuity, and a Social Security benefit based on all your…
Q. I’m still struggling with my military buyback time. I will be 58 in June; my service comp date is July 9. I’ll have 40 years of service, which includes my 3 years 11 months of military time and intend to retire by the end of December, which would give me another five months plus my sick leave. I have approximately 24 quarters paid into Social Security and to buy back my military time will cost me almost $5,000. I do plan on probably working part time but my question is, if I do not ever seek Social Security payments…
Q. I am currently a FERS employee in the GS system. This is my situation: I had 15 years of active-duty time, at which time I left the Navy and have continued in the Reserves. I started in the GS system, bought my military time back (about $18,000 for 15 years active duty) and in 2011 will have five years as a GS employee to total 20 (military + FERS years). My question is: Can I choose to take a deferred retirement in 2011 if I no longer want to stay with the federal government and pick up that pension…
Q. In regard to President Obama’s proposal related to health reform, will federal employees’ dependents parents who do not have health insurance, could they be added into the FEHB with an additional fee? Anything new related to extending FEHB for dependent children over 22 years old ? A. No and Yes.
Q. Is the federal government offering any buyouts for the employees under the old retirement system? A. No, it isn’t, and under current law, it can’t. It can only offer buyouts to those who meet the qualification requirements, regardless of their retirement system.
Q. In November 2003, I was forced to retire involuntary because of a reduction in force by the Department of the Navy and I received an annuity. Three months after, in March 2004, I was rehired by the Department of Defense. When I started the new job with a new agency I received a letter from the agency stating that because I was a rehired annuitants I would continue to receive my annuity but my salary would be reduced by the amount of annuity that I had received and the deduction was effective March 2004. Now, after six years of…
Q. I have recently retired under CSRS-Offset at 68 with 23 years of substantial earnings under Social Security. Before I retired I was receiving Social Security Survivors Benefits from my spouse work record in private industry. Will the windfall elimination provision affect the Survivors Benefit? A. The windfall elimination provision doesn’t apply to Social Security survivor benefits. The government pension offset does. However, because you were covered by CSRS Offset for at least five years, it doesn’t apply to you. Your survivor benefits won’t be affected.
Q. I currently have 34 years, starting under CSRS and switching over to FERS when that was offered (so about 10 years under CSRS). I plan on working another three years and retire when I am 57. I resigned after my first three years and withdrew my money. If I don’t pay this money back, what difference would that make in my retirement? How will they figure CSRS and FERS? A. Your CSRS component will be figured using the standard CSRS formula: 0.01 x your high-3 x 5 years of CSRS service, plus 0.0175 x your high-3 x five years…