Q. I was active Army for two years and Army Reserve for 14 years. I bought back the two years. Can I also compute and buy back the annual active training including service/months in schools? If so, do I have to show orders and honorable discharge from the Reserve? I am a civilian employee for the Defense Department with 13 years of actual employment.
Browsing: Creditable service: CSRS
Q. Will I be able to draw Social Security if my husband is retired military and retired CSRS? I have work for more than 30 years paying Social Security tax and have been told I can’t draw. Will my husband be able to draw because he has paid Social Security tax as a self-employed contractor?
Q. Are there penalties for leaving/retiring 22 months before I turn 55? I am CSRS with more than 30 years. Would I have health insurance? I’m thinking I would lose 4 percent of the full retirement.
Q. I am a FERS-covered firefighter with a retirement date of Dec. 30. I have been on the job since Dec. 30, 1984 (at retirement, I will have 29 years and one day) and I am 49. I have easily met the FERS firefighter retirement requirement of 25 years, any age. I know the mandatory retirement age is 57 (I don’t need to concern myself with that). I have been informed to be prepared for three to four months (potentially up to six months) before I would receive a “full/normal” retirement check. I have recently started a small business which…
Q. I plan to retire in 2014 with a CSRS pension. Will my spouse’s Social Security benefits be reduced when I begin to receive my CSRS pension? I do not have sufficient quarters to qualify for Social Security. My wife has never been employed by the federal government and has only held jobs in the private sector where she has paid into Social Security. She meets the eligibility requirements to receive Social Security benefits, and she intends to apply to receive her Social Security benefits this season.
Q. I am a CSRS Offset employee with 30 years of service at age 55. If a Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay is offered and I’m accepted, can I use that money to buy back time — first year of federal service and two years of term employment in middle of my career (FICA-covered only) — to use toward my pension? I understand the years only paid to FICA apply to my total number of years but not toward my pension benefit.
Q. I am a former CSRS employee with 15½ years of service. I left the service in 1993. I need to apply for deferred retirement. Is there any benefit in waiting? I am applying for a federal position that does not close for several months and am wondering what happens once I start collecting my deferred retirement? Should I wait to apply for my deferred retirement? What happens if I take a federal job in a year? I also took a refund of part of my CSRS deductions in 1983 (money was from 1977 to 1983) when I moved to…
Q. I retired in 2008 with 33 years credited, of which three were in the military. I never bought back my military time. I am almost 59 now and have 35 quarters of Social Security banked. I understand that if I get over 40 before I turn 62, my pension will be affected. Most of my Social Security quarters earned were either military (in the 1970s; wasn’t much) and part-time work. So I do not have much money vested in Social Security. If I get 40 quarters and my pension is offset, how can I figure how much that will…
Q. I am working as a contractor in the PEIR Group for MSHA doing highly confidential and complex work. The position is supposed to convert to a government assignment in the coming months. What is the best strategy or documentation to use to negotiate for years of credited service for my industry expertise that makes me uniquely qualified for this work?
Q. I’m a CSRS Offset employee (58 years old) contemplating retirement in 2½ years with more than 41 years of service (plus over 1,400 hours of sick leave). Eight of the aforementioned years are active military. I plan to buy back those eight military years of service. Will buying those eight years of military service neutralize the reduction I face at age 62? I have also been employed for the past 13 years with a worldwide retailer and plan on continued employment with this retailer until age 62. Is it true that my CSRS service pension would not be affected…