Q. I am currently on approved Leave Without Pay due to a work injury and I am receiving federal compensation benefits. I am nearing regular retirement age and I am concerned about my high-3 retirement calculation. I have been on LWOP for 3 years. Will the salary I would have earned during these years be used in my calculation? I also understand that a new law may increase by retirement calculation for lost TSP contributions. A. As long as you are on LWOP and receiving compensation, that time will be treated as if you were still on the job, both…
Browsing: FERS annuity computation
Q: Regarding your answer concerning retirement and locality pay: I will retire under the Federal Employees Retirement System with 30 years in February 2012. Does locality pay count as part of your high-3? A: Yes, it does.
Q: I will be retiring soon with more than 42 years of service. I have 8 3/4 months of saved up sick leave using the formula of 174 hours equals one month. I have earlier this year taken a few sick days. Can I convert the days I took to annual leave so as to restore my sick leave and give me nine months of sick leave to help increase my pension? A: You’ll need to check with you agency to see if they would be able to adjust your leave records and substitute annual leave for the sick leave that you actually…
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…
Q: I am a federal employee under the Civil Service Retirement System. My wife was a Federal Employees Retirement System employee who left the government after 10 years (1985 to 1995). Is she eligible for a pension, and, if so, at what age? Should I leave her contributions in the retirement system or withdraw them? A: Because your wife had at least five years of creditable service and left her contributions in the retirement fund, she will be eligible for a deferred annuity at age 62. That annuity will be based on her length of service and her highest three…
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.
Q. The Defense Authorization Act was signed in October 2009. When does this act go into effect and do current FERS employees retiring in 2010 have this option? A. The provision allowing FERS retirees to get credit for unused sick leave applies to those employees retiring on or after Oct. 28, 2009, the date the law was enacted.
Q. I’m a FERS employee who is planing to retire in December of this year. When is the best day, Dec 30, 31 or in January 2011? A: As a FERS employee, you have to retire no later than the last day of a month to be on the annuity roll in the following month. If you retire at the end of business on Dec. 31, you will have satisfied that requirement and also completed a pay period. Therefore, you would be entitled to any annual and sick leave you earned during that pay period, and paid for any annual…
Q. I am reading the article, “It is not too late to retire in 2009 or plan for 2010 or 2011.” I understand that federal employees should retire by the last day of the month to get their annuity starting from the first of the following month. Example: Federal system employee can retire on Dec. 31, 2009. The annuity will start from Jan. 1, 2010. However, the pay period ends on Jan. 2. The employee will lose annual leave for Friday and paid leave on Saturday and Sundays? Though those days will be paid much less under the annuity. Is…
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…