Q. I am reading the article, “It is not too late to retire in 2009 or plan for 2010 or 2011.” I understand that federal employees should retire by the last day of the month to get their annuity starting from the first of the following month. Example: Federal system employee can retire on Dec. 31, 2009. The annuity will start from Jan. 1, 2010. However, the pay period ends on Jan. 2. The employee will lose annual leave for Friday and paid leave on Saturday and Sundays? Though those days will be paid much less under the annuity. Is…
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 was an active-duty firefighter in the Air Force. Does that time count towards the special computation for retirement of LE/FF/ATC? I am currently not a FF in the federal system but am a federal employee. A: No, it does not. It would only count if you were a firefighter who was called to active duty and then returned to your firefighter position.
Q. Can anyone explain why retirees are not included in the 2 percent cost-of-living allowance for 2010? Is it because the President is pro union and retirees are not covered by the union? As far as I know, this is the first time retirees were excluded from annual COLAs. It would seem to me that retirees are more in need of the COLA than currently employed full-time employees. A: There are two pieces of law involved here. The salaries of employees are governed by the pay comparability act, which compares the salaries of federal jobs with those in the private…
It’s not too late to retire in 2009, and it’s not too soon to at least begin planning to retire in 2010 or 2011. For this year and the next two years, the calendar is working in favor of many of you. Let me explain. As my regular readers know, my position is that there is no one best date to retire. However, each of you can pick the best one for you if you know how. First, you must figure out if you are ready to retire. To do that, you have to answer three questions: Do you meet…
Q: Can you apply for Social Security disability after you have retired under the Federal Employees Retirement System from the Postal Service, or should you have applied for disability under Social Security before your retired? Also, does Social Security request your medical information from your doctors, or do you have to get this information to them yourself? A: If you are applying for disability retirement under FERS, you have to apply for Social Security disability benefits. If you don’t, the Office of Personnel Management won’t process your application. If you are retiring on a nondisability annuity, you may apply for…
Q: What would happen if someone wants to retire on Aug. 31, 2010 (service date), but his sick leave will give him three months’ credit. Can he retire three months early with the same annuity? A: No. Unused sick leave never qualifies anyone to retire. It’s only credited after you meet the age and service requirements to retire.
Q: Is Base Closure and Realignment restored leave taxable when distributed? My CPO is telling me yes but cannot cite any regulation. I recall from an earier question you answered that you said that BRAC leave had already been taxed when earned and therefore no withholding would be imposed on the payout. Can someone give me the chapter and verse? Our installation closes in 2011, and many of us have built up large BRAC balances. A: I think your memory is playing tricks on you. Annual leave isn’t taxable when it’s earned, nor is it taxable when restored. Annual leave…
Q: Is the time spent at a service academy creditable for civilian retirement if the employee did not graduate? There has always been an assumption that if the individual did not graduate from the academy that the time was not creditable for civilian retirement purposes. Nowhere can a reference be located with a mention of graduating. I’ve exhausted just about every reference possible and the closest thing that I can find is Section 1115 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, which authorizes federal employees to receive retirement “credit for service as a cadet or midshipman at…
Q: I am a GS-1811 law enforcement officer covered under the early retirement provisions of 6(c) and a Civil Service Retirement System employee. Can my four years of active-duty military service, for which I have made a redeposit into CSRS, be used to reach the 35 years (or 80 percent max annuity under CSRS) of total credited federal service (i.e., 31 years of actual federal LEO civilian service plus 4 years of military service equal 35 years of service annuity)? A: Your first 20 years of law enforcement service will be calculated using the enhanced formula: 0.25 x your high-3…
Q: I’m currently 62 years old with 29 years in federal civil service (Civil Service Retirement System), three years of prior military service and a service computation date of March 28, 1977. I plan to retire in 2010 and may have the opportunity to continue as a part-time employee. If I am re-employed by the federal government (possibly on the same job), would I be in the CSRS or the Federal Employees Retirement System? In addition, I have 25 credit hours with Social Security and need 15 more hours to make up for the 40 credit hours requirement to be…