Q. My husband (age 56) and I (age 53) are reaching the time when we are considering retirement and want to clarify a few things. I am covered under CSRS with 33 years of service. I have worked other jobs but I do not have enough credits to be eligible for Social Security. He is National Guard and will retire with over 30 years of service. He is also a government technician covered under FERS and will be eligible for Social Security. We are both retiring with survivor benefits. I know my husband’s Social Security would offset my CSRS. Will…
Browsing: CSRS annuity computation
Q. I’m a CSRS employee with more than 41 years of service and plan to continue my federal employment well beyond 41 years. I understand that CSRS employees contribute 7 percent of their salary into the retirement fund and that the government matches that 7 percent contribution into the fund. I’m told that, after completing 41 years, 11 months of service, I will reach the maximum annuity benefit of 80 percent. At that point, the 7 percent retirement contributions will continue to be taken from my pay and placed into an interest bearing account to be refunded when I retire.…
Q. I am a FERS employee with 32 years of service credit. I was in CSRS for 5 years, 10 months and 28 days. I left the government but came back 3 years later as a FERS employee. When I retire I will have 28 days of CSRS service credit and 25 days of FERS Service Credit. Will 7 days of my excess sick leave (56 hours) be applied to my remaining days of 23 to give me an extra month toward retirement?
Q. I am CSRS and making a decision about whether or not to take out survivor benefits. The rule used to be you if you take out survivor benefits and your spouse dies, you had the lower annuity the rest of your life. The rule now is if you take out survivor benefits and your spouse dies, your reduced annuity can revert to full annuity. If I decide to take out survivor benefits based on the current rule and they reverted back to the old rule, would I have an opportunity to opt out of the survivor benefits since my…
Q. I am retired from the Postal Service under CSRS and get the maximum annuity. What happens if I become eligible for Social Security? (I work a part-time job two days a week.) Right now I have 28 credits. Should I make sure I do not get 40? What happens if I am eligible and do not apply for it? Would that prevent me from losing any of my annuity? I want to make sure I do not mess up or reduce my pension from civil service.
In my last two columns I described the kinds of active duty service in the armed forces that are potentially creditable in your CSRS or FERS annuity, and what you have to do to get that credit. This time I’ll quickly go over the rules governing the computation of CSRS and FERS annuities for most federal employees. That way you’ll be able to see what the difference would be between a pure civilian annuity and one that includes credit for active duty service for which you’ve made a deposit. Eligibility rules Under CSRS, you can retire immediately if you are…
Q. I just read a question on your site about a son getting a possible payout from what is left of his mother’s CSRS retirement when she passed away. I’m confused. If this is the case, meaning there is a death benefit when the CSRS employee passes, why would anyone select a survivor benefit?
Q. I am 60 years old with a USPS pension (CSRS). I have earned 40 credits with side jobs to collect Social Security at age 62. My wife is 56. Can I get Social Security using her work record to increase what I get? Mine is $330/month before WEP. Please let me know the best scenario for me.
Q. I was eligible for subject retirement at age 62 on Feb. 19, 2012, but I didn’t apply for it and am now applying at age 65. What will happen to the annuity I could have taken during the three years I was eligible but did not apply for?
Q. I have over 41 years 11 months creditable service under CSRS. I also have unused sick leave to take me over the 80% max threshold. I used the chart to convert sick leave hours into months and days (rounding up). Does sick leave just get added to the credible service years, months and days, or is it done separately? Also if it is added to the credible service and the days are dropped, does that mean that I can potentially lose up to a month of sick leave days? If so, should I begin taking sick days when I…