Q: What advantages, if any, are there for a retired federal employee whose primary residence is Thailand to enroll in Medicare? I am 68 years old, receiving Social Security benefits, and I am enrolled in the Blue Cross federal employee plan. A: Because Medicare generally does not cover health services you get outside the United States, it depends on whether you will be a permanent resident of another country or will be returning periodically to the U.S. At a minimum, you should enroll in Medicare Part A (hospital) because that coverage is free. You already paid for it through payroll…
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: Do biweekly or yearly pay cap limits apply to restored Base Closure and Realignment Leave? A: No, they don’t.
Q: I am considering retiring, but need to know whether there is a specific form I must complete in order to continue my Blue Cross and Blue Shield insurance after retirement? I have had BCBS for over 5 years. A: No special form is required. Your coverage will continue seamlessly without your doing anything other than your checking the box confirming your eligibility on the Application for Immediate retirement: Standard Form 2801 (Civil Service Retirement System) or 3107 (Federal Employees Retirement System).
Q: Is the Special Retirement Supplement check taxable each month? A: The Special Retirement Supplement is included in your annuity payment and is taxed at the same rate.
Q: In your Jan. 25 article “New year, same COLA,” you say that the Social Security withholding stays at $106,800, and that “if you are a Federal Employees Retirement System or Civil Service Retirement System Offset employee, any amount you earn above that amount won’t be subject to the 6.2 percent Social Security deduction.” However, I am a GS-810-14, Step 10, Forest Service employee under CSRS Offset and the National Finance Center withholds Social Security from my paycheck for the entire year. Withholding from my paycheck doesn’t cease at the $106,800 limit. This seems contradictory to what the article states.…
Q: I’m curious about the rationale behind shift differentials counting toward a WG employee’s basic pay and high-3, but it doesn’t count for GS employees. Why is this? Is this an OPM regulation? Is there a way I can learn more about what I see as an inequity to GS employees because shift differential doesn’t count toward their high-3? A: Shift differentials for wage-system employees are provided for in law. Such a provision isn’t needed for general-schedule employees because these and other factors are included when determining their job grades.
Q: On www.ssa.gov/retire2/military.htm#2002 it states that between the years 1957 and 2001 Special Extra Earnings can be credited to your Social Security benefit for active-duty military service between the above mentioned years. Will this affect an adjustment to a CSRS annuity? My Post 56 payment was paid in full in 1986 to avoid interest payments. A: No, it won’t.
Q: I have six years of military service before I entered government service, and I have six years under FERS. I am 6C law enforcement with cover of 1.7 percent a year. Can I retire with 20 years of service, combining all those years, and defer my retirement without reaching my MRA? Can I retire with 20 years of service, combining all those years, and defer my retirement without reaching my MRA? Can I take a deferred retirement after 20 years plus a day and start collecting when I am 60 without been penalized 5 percent for every year that…
Q: I am a 65-year-old active CSRS federal employee. My wife is 63 and receives Social Security benefits. Am I eligible for a Social Security spousal benefit while I am still employed and not receiving a CSRS annuity? A: Yes, you are. However, when you retire, you will be subject to the government pension offset provision of law, which will reduce that spousal benefit by $2 for every $3 you receive in your CSRS annuity. In most cases, the GPO eliminates the Social Security spousal benefit.
Q: I am a federal firefighter who works a 72-hour workweek. This is the required hours that I work. As a GS-8, Step 9, I make $83,658 per year. However, my “High Three” would be based off of the firefighter base pay of $73,906. I know that the difference is overtime. However, the overtime is part of the required hours for a firefighter’s tour of duty. My question is, why is our retirement not based on the higher pay? Seeing that this is what we are really paid and not the so-called base pay of 73,906. If a federal employee…