Q: I’m under the Civil Service Retirement System plan. I would like to know if the retirement contributions, taken out of our checks every payday, have anything to do with the amount of money we will receive when we retire, or is it based on our high-3 and the number of years we have in, including military time? A: CSRS and Federal Employees Retirement System annuities are defined benefit plans. As such, they are not based on the amount employees and agencies contribute to the retirement fund. Instead, they are based on formulas that include a multiplier (or multipliers), the…
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Q: I plan on retiring on Jan. 1, 2011. I am eligible to retire on Oct. 1, 2010. I am a Civil Service Retirement System Offset employee. I will have 30 years, 3 months of civil service and will be 60 years, 3 months of age. I have 240 hours of use-or-lose annual leave, and I will also have gained another 200 hours for the year. If I retire on Jan. 1, 2011, can I receive payment for my unused annual leave? I believe by doing this, I will receive a large lump sum payment and won’t be taxed until…
Q: Is there a cap on how much sick leave can be applied to calculating a pension? Is there a 2,087-hour limit? A: No, there isn’t any cap on how many hours of unused sick leave can be applied when calculating an annuity. However, for the time being, Federal Employees Retirement System employees will only get credit for one-half of their total hours, while Civil Service Retirement System employees will continue to get full credit.
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…