Q: If offered a buyout, can an employee quit or resign from federal employment even though the employee is eligible for an immediate annuity? Can the buyout payment be extended into the next calendar year, or can the employee choose to retire early in a new calendar year and accept the buyout? How long after accepting a buyout can an employee who left federal employment, under conditions other then retirement, be rehired into federal service? A: If you are offered a Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment, the fact that you are eligible to retire would have no affect of your accepting…
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Q: When you retire from a federal agency and become part of the Office of Personnel Management, does the former agency have any input about your current retirement after you have left? In other words, can it make changes to your retirement annuity or benefits? A: Only if your former agency forwards information to OPM that would affect your annuity or benefits; for example, a debt that had not been repaid to the agency which would need to be deducted from your annuity. However, since your agency would have certified your retirement application when it sent the file to OPM,…
Q: I am in CSRS Offset, retiring in November at age 58 with 30 years at the time of retirement. If I choose to re-employ, how will my annuity be affected by my new Social Security earnings? A: Since you won’t be eligible for a Social Security benefit until you reach age 62, you won’t be affected by the Social Security earnings limit. You can earn as much as you want until then without it affecting your CSRS annuity. However, if you are re-employed by the federal government, as a rule the salary of your new position would be offset…
Q: I worked for IHS for five years under FERS. I left federal employment for four years and rolled by FERS pension into my new employer pension plan. I used my TSP funds to purchase those years of service. I have recently started back to work at IHS in the same position I left. Can I re-purchse those five years of federal service that I had rolled into the last employer pension? I took that pension and rolled it back into the TSP account already. So I no longer have retirement benefits with the previous employer. A: Yes, you can…
Q: I plan to retire in 2011 under CSRS. There is a new part-time job in my postal facility which is 12 to 16 hours. Can I apply for this job after I retire? This is a permanent part-time position with benefits. Will this affect my CSRS retirement? Will I be covered under FERS? A: Your salary would be offset by the amount of your annuity. Therefore, in all likelihood, your annuity would be greater than the salary of a part-time position, which would mean that your salary would be zero. If you were rehired, you’d be a CSRS Offset…
Q: I worked in a federal job as a temporary employee from October 1979 to January 1987. I paid only Social Security since temporary employees were not allowed to participate in CSRS. I was hired as a Career-Conditional FERS employee in June 2010. I am looking to pay a deposit to get credit for my years of temporary service. Can any of that service give me a CSRS annuity component even though I never participated in CSRS? A: No.
Q: I am a formal Federal employee and was under the CSRS program, I had 27 years service and cashed out my funds in my CSRS account and I did not retire. I was a re-instatement status. I am now re-employed with the federal government again under the CSRS offset plan. Can I pay back the funds I cashed out? A: Assuming that you took a refund of your retirement contributions after February 28, 1991, you can redeposit that amount plus accrued interest and get full credit for that time in you annuity computation. Even if you didn’t you’d still…
Q: With the impending increase to our FERS contributions, can anyone opt out of FERS? A: There isn’t any impending increase in FERS contributions, only proposals. Whether anyone would be able to opt out if such a change were made would depend on the wording in the law. However, such a provision would be highly unlikely.
Q: I am 48 with 18 years of government service in Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Postal Service. I am on a two-week leave of absence due to stress and would like to resign without filing action so that I may find other government employment. I have never been in negative leave status and have successful evaluations. What is the longest unpaid absence I can take so that I may try another type of employment while on unpaid leave status? A: If you didn’t report to work, you’d be considered to be absent without leave. If you didn’t report to…
Q: I am about to retire from the National Labor Relations Board. My agency has asked if I would perform hearings and other tasks that could not be accomplished by any local person due to specialized qualifications and experience. Is there a procedure for me to collect my full annuity and get paid by an hourly rate with no offsets or reductions? A: Your agency would have one of two avenues to pursue if it wants to bring you back on board and waive the normal offset to your annuity. It could ask the Office of Personnel Management to approve…