Q. 1. I have three years of active duty in the Army from 1976 to 1979. I have been a federal employee in the Indian Health Service for 2½ years. I am at GP Grade 12, Step 3. I receive a basic pay and a locality pay. My service computation date for leave is May 8, 2008. My retirement plan is FERS and FICA. FLSA category is exempt. I have recently learned that I can buy back my military time in active duty, but I do not understand what this means. What exactly am I buying back, and how is…
Browsing: Creditable service: FERS
Q. At 19, I was recruited and placed into a civilian Defense Department position as a cooperative education student. I would be placed on leave without pay during periods when I was attending college and not working. This continued for five years. My start date was June 1980 and I finished my degree in August 1985. My service computation date is April 1982. Is there an option to buy those LWOP periods to bring my SCD to 1980?
Q. My wife and I are both federal employees nearing retirement. What are the pros and cons of deciding not to have a spousal annuity for either one of us since we will have our own benefits, including our own Thrift Savings Plans and Social Security?
Q. I have read on your site where, in some instances, military retirees are told when they retire from there civilian job, they will be required to waive their military retired pay. At times, they are told they can receive both pensions. I am a National Guardsman with 24 years on active duty. I plan on accepting a federal position (GS). If I leave active duty and revert to M-Day (weekend duty) in the National Guard, buy back my years in the federal system and work for five to eight years until age 56½, will I be able to collect…
Q. If a fed changes agencies or takes a new position and has less than five years of service when making that change, would they be shifted to the new 4.4 percent contribution since they would be hired after 2014 into their new agency/position? Is the five-year rule meant for noncontinuous service, or does it apply to continuous, as well?
Q. I am a FERS employee working for the Department of Agriculture. I have been offered a job outside of the government and am trying to see the pros and cons of leaving. I am a FERS employee with a service computation date of Aug. 17, 1986, and am 46 years old. If I apply for Voluntary Early Retirement Authority, what would the disadvantages or advantages be?
Q. I was hired by a federal agency while on terminal leave from the Army. Is this creditable service toward retirement from the federal agency?
Q. I am a FERS federal employee and I turn 62 in March. Can I draw my Social Security at 62 (worked in industry for 27 years and have been a federal work for 15 years) and still keep working for the federal government? I would like to work until I am 66 to get a higher amount of retirement from the federal government. I realize I would have to pay taxes on the Social Security since I would be making more than what is allowed and it is considered income and I would get a reduced amount for the…
Q. 1. How are the days of active-duty service calculated? 2. Is that a one-to-one credit added to years of service? 3. Can you buy it back after you retire and adjust the annuity accordingly? 4. Can you buy back portions of it? 5. Can you pay in installments? 6. What percentage of military pay per year would you get in retirement? For CSRS, it is roughly 2 percent based on high-3; would it be calculated on actual salary back then or adjusted for inflation? 7. Any chance for a retroactive payment once established? 8. Will I lose any benefits…
Q. Does my wife have to sign up for Medicare? If so, when does she have to sign up? And, if my wife does not sign up for Medicare, will she incur any penalty? Scenario: I am a working FERS employee and my wife still works. She is not a government employee. I have self-and-family Federal Employees Health Benefits coverage. I am not yet age 65. My wife will turn 65 this year.