Q: I am a Federal Employees Retirement System employee who started as a civilian federal employee in 1989 after 5½ years of active-duty military service. I am 49 years old. I am trying to figure out if it would make sense to buy back my military time. Is there a retirement age gap between when it would be a good idea and when it would not be? I am currently a GS-11 and the buy-back amount would be a little under $6,000. I also retired from the Army Reserve back in 2000. A: I can’t tell you whether you should…
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 you think the Postal Service will offer another buyout anytime soon? I have 31 years, with military time. A: I haven’t heard anything that would suggest that the Postal Service plans to do that and, unfortunately, I can’t predict what it might do in the future.
Q: When I retire, I will have 2,203 hours of sick leave. I am under Civil Service Retirement System Offset. I believe 2,087 hours is the equivalent of one year of service when I retire. So when I retire at age 58, — at 30 years, 6 months of service — I will get an extra year added to my time, so I will have 31 years, 6 months of service that will apply for purposes of calculating my retirement annuity. Is this correct? My husband works a nine-hour schedule that gives him one day off every week. Does the…
Q: I recently retired from the Postal Service under the incentive/buyout offer. If I seek another government position, will I be required to pay back the buyout money I received? A: Yes. If you received a buyout and later accept a paying job with the federal government within 5 years of the date of the separation on which that buyout is based, including work under a personal services contract or other direct contract, you must repay the entire amount of the buyout to the agency that paid it to you before your first day of re-employment.
Q: Did I overpay to get credit for my military service? According to a Government Executive newsletter article (Jan. 15, 2010, issue), Federal Employees Retirement System employees were supposed to pay 3 percent of the base pay they earned during military service in order to get retirement credit for that service, while Civil Service Retirement System employees were to pay 7 percent. I paid at the 7 percent rate in 2002 although I was a FERS employee at the time. Specifically, although I began as a federal employee under CSRS in 1976 after my military service, I voluntarily switched to…
Q: I was told by my physician that I will probably have to go on temporary disability. Is this allowed as a Federal Employees Retirement System employee? If this happens, will I have to use leave during this time, and if not, would I still get my regular wage? A: The federal government doesn’t have a short-term disability benefit. To be eligible for disability retirement, you would need to have a disabling condition that 1) prevented you from performing useful and efficient service in your current position or another position at the same pay level in your commuting area, and…
Q: I am a federal employee covered under the Federal Employees Retirement System, and at age 49 will have just over 30 years of service with my military time that I bought back. Can I retire without penalty by postponing or deferring my annuity until my minimum retirement age of 56 years and 2 months, and reapply for the Federal Employees Health Benefits plan for my spouse, and draw on my Thrift Savings Plan, as well? Do I defer my annuity or postpone my annuity under this scenario? What is the better of the two options, or should I not…
Q: Please clarify/elaborate on your response concerning a lifetime limit of 3,120 hours for rehired annuitants working without an offset in annuity payments. I am employed by the Defense Intelligence Agency, under the Federal Employees Retirement System as a contract specialist (GG-1102). DIA’s human resources department has informed me that I can continue to work as a rehired annuitant for up to five years without any offset in my annuity. I have had this same information provided by the Air Force human resources department. Is there a special exemption for GG-1102 positions, given that there is an accurate shortage of…
Q: I’m 48 years old, with prior active-duty military service of six years, as well as 7.5 years of prior FLES Federal Employees Retirement System service. I have been out of the federal workforce for several years and have a recent offer to return to the federal government. The personnel specialist at the VA facility, where the job offer has been extended, could not tell me if my prior 7.5 years of federal LE retirement service would be credited at the special LE calculation rate (1.7%) per year (x high 3) in the event of my future retirement from said…
Q: I retired on Federal Employees Retirement System disability about 5 years ago. I then went to work part-time for a private company and have been there for 3 years. I have ALS, a neurological disease that is progressive, and I will die from it within the next couple of years. I can no longer work at my private company. My private company is encouraging me to use their long-term disability insurance and retire. I feel a bit strange about taking advantage of the private insurance when I already receive FERS disability. Is there anything illegal about taking two disability…