Q: I am an employee under the Civil Service Retirement System Offset program, and I plan on retiring at age 64. I know my annuity will be reduced for the period of time I was an offset employee. I have dealt with the local Social Security Administration office and I am concerned; they had no idea what the offset is. Does the Office of Personnel Management deal with SSA experts for the offset? A: OPM and the Social Security Administration have a file-matching system that allows OPM to accurately reduce a CSRS Offset annuity by the amount of Social Security…
Browsing: Benefits
Q: I will be 59 years and 8 months old with 37 years, 7 months of federal service on my target retirement date of Dec. 31. I only earned 33 quarters of Social Security; to earn more credit on Social Security, can paid annual leave be considered as Social Security income for the year 2012, because the paid annual leave is not included as Civil Service Retirement System income for the year 2011? If so, what is the procedure to report it as Social Security income? And will this only be applied at the end of the year of retirement,…
Q: I am getting ready to retire. I worked for the government from 1968 to 1972, then worked in the private sector and earned my 40 quarters in Social Security. I returned to work for the federal government in 1984 as a Civil Service Retirement System Offset employee. I was told that because I earned my 40 quarters from the private sector that my government annuity would not be reduced: I will get a full government annuity and a full Social Security check. Is that right? A: By law, your CSRS annuity will be reduced at age 62 by the…
Q: I am considering retiring this year while I am 60. I understand I am entitled to the FERS special supplement, and I have been given an estimate of that amount. I am also a widow and could draw Social Security on my husband at this time. What I would like to do is draw the supplement till I am 62, the normal age a person is eligible for SS, and then start drawing on my benefit at the reduced rate until I am full retirement age of 66. At which time I would like to switch to my husband’s…
Q: I recently discovered that I would probably lose part of my anticipated Social Security benefits to the WEP because I lived and worked in Canada, as a Canadian citizen, before moving to the U.S. and later becoming a U.S. citizen. If I retire at my full retirement age, I will have 25 years of substantial earnings/contributions to U.S. Social Security, and will also receive payments from the Canada Pension Plan. The latter will total just more than $500 per month. Will my wife’s Social Security benefits, based on my earnings because she did not work the requisite number of…
Q: I am 58 years old, and I started work for the government in 1981. I have 30 years of service as a Defense Department civilian employee and four years as an active-duty service member. I am under the Civil Service Retirement System and plan to retire at age 62 with 38 years of total service. I have not bought back any of my active-duty time. What impact will that have on my retirement annuity and what impact will that have if I decide to take another job after I retire? A: Because you were first hired before Oct. 1,…
Q: I just received notice from Social Security that my benefits check may be reduced because of the windfall elimination provision. I retired under the Civil Service Retirement System Offset program Oct. 31, 2010. My time in service under CSRS was approximately five years, nine months. I withdrew the money that I put in after each job because at the time I did not expect to retire from civil service. My last withdrawal from CSRS was from the period of May 1981 to December 1982. I returned to government work in May 1984 and was placed in the CSRS Offset…
Q: My wife passed away five years ago at age 54. She had many years of working and adding to Social Security. I am recently retired under the Civil Service Retirement System. I was told that I will not be able to receive any of my wife’s contributions to Social Security. Is that true? If so, will that law ever be changed? A: Any Social Security survivor benefit you are entitled to based on your late wife’s work record will be impacted by the government pension offset. The GPO will reduce that benefit by $2 for every $3 you receive…
Q: My wife could receive an offer to retire early sometime this year because of budget cuts. She is 57 years old and has 27 years of federal service under the Federal Employees Retirement System. She will receive the FERS annuity supplement supplement until she is 62. Will she have to start taking her Social Security benefits at age 62 because she is receiving the annuity supplement, or can she hold off taking her Social Security until a later date? A: While the special retirement supplement ends at age 62, there is no requirement that a retiree apply for a…
Q: I requested retirement calculations for mid-2014 and recently learned that after I left the government in September 1984, the retirement money I withdrew would have to be repaid in order to receive the benefits for that money. I withdrew $3,700; repayment with accumulated interest would be more than $22,000. I returned to the government in March 1987 under the Civil Service Retirement System Offset program. I thought I read that if a person who receives money under CSRS can also receive full Social Security benefits (no windfall) if that person has enough credits with Social Security (approximately 30 years).…