Q. I am a reserve solder with 29 years of active duty and have six years until I am eligible for mandatory retirement. Upon completion of my current deployment, I will likely go back to a government civilian job. My understanding is that I can buy back all my years and do an additional 5-plus years of civilian service and retire with both checks intact. I can collect my military retirement when eligible and still work in a civilian capacity until I completely retire from the workforce. Is that correct? A. Only active duty service which meets the definitions found…
Browsing: FERS
Q. I’m a FERS employee and plan to retire at minimum retirement age, which is 56. However, I’ll have fewer than 30 years of service. Is the 5 percent per year penalty based on each year short of 30 years, or is it based on each year short of age 62? A. The MRA+10 provision allows FERS employees to retire at their minimum retirement age with fewer than 30 years of service. If you retire under that provision, your annuity will be reduced by 5 percent for every year (or 5/12 of 1 percent per month) that you are under…
Q. I have been working under FERS. I plan to retire in 13 years at age 67. Before coming to work for the government, I worked in the private sector and paid into the Social Security system for over 30 years. Will I receive both a full FERS and a full Social Security benefit when I retire? A. Yes. You’ll receive a FERS annuity based on your years of FERS-covered employment and, because you will have reached your full Social Security retirement age, a Social Security benefit based on all your Social Security-covered employment.
Q. I’m a FERS employee who submitted the paperwork to retire. Now I’m having second thoughts. Can I cancel my FERS retirement application? A. Unless your agency has a valid reason for turning you down, it must accept your request to withdraw your retirement application. If it does, it must provide that reason in writing. Valid reasons for turning down your request would include 1) the fact that someone has already been selected to fill your position or 2) your position is being abolished and no other position exists at your pay and/or grade in the local commuting area for…
Q. I’m retiring with four months of sick leave, bringing my total time in FERS to 32 years, 1 month at age 65. In the interest of increasing final annuity, I have been using annual leave, rather than sick leave, for medical appointments and when ill. In retrospect, it seems I did not accomplish much, and that using sick leave as intended and preserving annual leave to increase lump sum payout might have been a better strategy. Correct? A. Maybe, maybe not. There are too many variables. While unused annual leave will be paid out at the hourly rate you…
Q. I am a FERS retiree who elected a 25 percent survivor annuity for my husband. If he dies first, will I get a refund of the amount my benefit was reduced? A. No, you won’t. However, your own annuity would be increased to what it would have been if you hadn’t elected a survivor annuity.
Q. I was 56 years old with 33 years total government service and retired regular FERS then applied for Social Security Disability Insurance and was approved with back pay after the first 6 months of my retirement date. I only got $685 of my special retirement supplement because several of those years was active duty, which I repaid within the first 36 months of my career at the U.S. Postal Service. Now I am wondering what will happen to my annuity when I turn 62 and my SRS is eliminated. A. At age 62, your special retirement supplement will end;…
Q. I’m a FERS employee who is thinking of retiring and wondering if there is anything that precludes me from retiring one day and coming back to work as a federal employee the next? A. If you met the age and service requirements to retire on an immediate annuity, your annuity would continue; however, the salary of your new position would be offset by the amount of that annuity. Further, any lump-sum payment for unused annual leave you received would have to be returned to your former agency. Note: If you received a buyout payment, that money would also have…
Q. I’m a FERS employee who is eligible to retire at age 56 with 32 years of service. However, I’m planning to work until age 62. What happens to the special retirement supplement? Do I lose it completely? A. The special retirement supplement is designed to bridge the gap between when you retire and age 62 when you are first eligible for a Social Security benefit. If you retire at 62 or later, you won’t be entitled to that benefit.
Q. I’m a FERS employee who is planning to retire in December of this year. When is the best day to do that? A. Because you are a FERS employee, you’ll 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. 21, you’ll have satisfied that requirement and be entitled to any annual and sick leave you earned during that pay period. If you retire after that date but before Jan. 1, you wouldn’t have worked for a…