Q: My spouse is a civil service employee and is planning to retire within the next eight months. He is 64 years old and will be 65 in March. He could have retired at age 55 but did not because of personal reasons. His health is beginning to fail him now, and he cannot continue to work in his current capacity. He worked more than 10 years at other companies before joining the civil service. He can receive full retirement benefits from the Civil Service Retirement System, but he is also eligible for a very small Social Security check, they…
Browsing: CSRS annuity computation
Q: I served in the Air Force from 1971 to 1977. In 1977, I joined the Air National Guard. I retired from the Air National Guard in 1991 with 20 years of military service. In 1977, I also got a job with the federal government as a civilian employee under the Civil Service Retirement System. In 1986, I paid back my six years of active-duty time I spent in the Air Force into CSRS. I am planning to retire in 2011 from the federal government with 40 years creditable service in CSRS (this includes the six years of military time…
Q: In previous responses, you indicated that when a lump-sum payment is made, federal and state income taxes and Medicare will come out of the payment. You also indicate Social Security can be taken out. As a Civil Service Retirement System employee, I do not pay into Social Security, so does that mean that no CSRS retirement payments will be taken out? Also, the lump sum will be close to $80,000 and should be paid in my last paycheck; are there any limitations on payouts? A: Social Security deductions would only be made for those who are covered by Social…
Q: What interest rate is applied to excess retirement contributions under the Civil Service Retirement System when the principal is refunded in July 2010? A: Interest rates for excess contributions are applied annually. For excess contributions made during 2010, the interest rate is 3.125 percent.
Q: I served in the Air Force from 1971 to 1977. In 1977, I joined the Air National Guard. I retired from the ANG in 1991 with 20 years of service, including the six active-duty years. In 1977, I also got a job with the federal government as a civilian employee under the Civil Service Retirement System. In 1986, I payed back my six years of active-duty military time to receive credit for them under CSRS. I am planning to retire in 2011 from the federal government with 40 years of creditable service in CSRS, including the six years bought…
Q: I will be retiring in May 2011 at age 55 with 34 years of service in the Civil Service Retirement System. Four years of that time is added on from my military time, for which I did not make a deposit. If I work enough, will I be able to collect Social Security at age 65, not at 62? I only have 23 Social Security credits right now. A: If you retire before age 62 and won’t eligible for a Social Security benefit at that age, your CSRS annuity won’t be affected. However, if you become eligible for a…
Q: I was employed in temporary positions with the federal government from 1971 through 1986. During that period, I accumulated 10 full-time years of federal service during which I paid in only to Social Security because temporary federal employees were not allowed to partcipate in the Civil Service Retirement System. My first permanent federal appointment was in December 1986, at which time I enrolled in the Federal Employees Retirement System. My understanding is that for the approximately six years I worked prior to 1982, I will receive 90 percent of the CSRS annuity calculation without making a re-deposit. However, I…
Q: I am under the Civil Service Retirement System and plan to retire Dec. 31. I have already paid my military deposit on my 20 1/2 years of service; my civil service time is 33 years and nine months, which would give me more than 54 years of service at the time of my retirement. That is well beyond the 41 years and 11 months required for the 80 percent maximum retirement benefit. At my time of retirement, it is my understanding that the Office of Personnel Management will automatically refund the excess retirement contributions I will have made for…
Q: This question is in reference to your Dec. 15, 2009, article, “It’s not too late to retire in 2009, or plan for 2010 or 2011” I am planning to retire in 2011; a co-worker is planning to retire in 2010. As per your article, it looks like the planets are lining up, as the leave year and calendar year will end at the same time. Both of us are Civil Service Retirement System employees and work for the U.S. Postal Service. The 2010 leave year ends Jan. 1, 2011. In the Postal Service, we can carry over 560 hours…
Q: My father retired from federal civil service in 1974. At that time, he elected a survivor annuity for my mother with a base of $1,300. Initially, the Office of Personnel Management took out about $175 a month from his annuity for the survivor annuity, and of course this went up annually via cost-of-living adjustments, the same way his regular annuity did. He passed away in 2009. The OPM has calculated the survivor annuity for my mother, and she is receiving $789 a month net, reduced by $153 for insurance, which leaves $636 a month. Over the 35 years of…