Q. A federal employee under CSRS becomes eligible to retire with 30 years of employment in December. Also, that same individual earns a step increase in late December. If that individual decides to retire in January 2014, will the 1 percent pay raise for federal workers be calculated in his/her retirement salary along with the higher salary? If yes, please explain.
Browsing: High-3
Q. I want to retire at age 57 with 28 years federal service and receive my health benefits but defer the annuity until age 62. Is that possible? My co-workers say I should work until age 59 with 30 years federal service and begin collecting all benefits then. What would the difference in the benefits be?
Q. I may be a little confused, under CSRS, as to when I should retire: Nov. 30, 2013 or Jan. 12, 2014. I heard Social Security and retirees will get a 1.5 percent cost-of-living adjustment Jan. 1. My agency may only get a 1 percent COLA in January. But, for my annuity, would the calculation for the high-3 years with that 1 percent make little difference? I chose Nov. 30 because it is the last day of the pay period and within that one-to-two-day window at beginning or ending of the month as recommended for CSRS retirement processing. I wanted…
Q. I plan on retiring Jan. 11 or Feb. 22. With the 1 percent raise starting in January, wouldn’t it be better to wait until the February date to get the max from my 240 hours of use-or-lose leave, or would it not make a difference?
Q. I am 56 with eight years of service. With a reduction in force, would I qualify for a deferred annuity at 62? If so, is the formula still .01 percent of high-3 x eight years? Also, what about my health insurance? Would this be lost, or could I reapply at 62?
Q. I am 47 years old with 20 years in the Postal Service and am planning on separating soon. Will I be eligible to keep with my current insurance? How/where do I find how much more my premium will be? Will I get my 400+ hours of annual leave in a lump sum? How long does that take to process? (I can stay employed longer if the lump sum would still be applied to this year’s income for tax purposes.) Would I be eligible for any pension at age 59½? Would my seven months of unused sick leave count toward it?
Q. My husband is a government worker under FERS. He filed for Social Security disability and received his first check on Sept. 28 for August 2013. He was told that his FERS disability retirement of $3,114 would be reduced by 100 percent because he is receiving SSD. What does that mean? Would his SSD of $2,092 also be reduced? If he is awarded workers’ compensation, can he elect to receive that and stop the FERS disability and the Social Security disability?
Q. 2011+2012+2013 equates to three years of the unchanged salary for federal employees. For many of us, then, salary during that period would be considered when calculating the high-3 average assuming those are the highest. Recently, I asked human resources for a copy of my 2013 pay scale and was told because the budget has not been approved, there is no 2013 pay scale, that we are operating on a continuation of the 2012 pay scale. If that’s true, for a person retiring this year, assuming these are the highest salaries of consecutive years of service, will current salary (2013)…
Q. I have 22 years for FERS service but resigned at age 42. 1. When will I be eligible for my annuity? 2. Can I begin taking money earlier? If so, what is the penalty? 3. Do I still calculate my benefits as 22 percent of my high-3, provided I begin withdrawals at age 62?
Q. I’m 49 years old and I have 18 years in with the post office. I’m under FERS. I want to get in my 20 years and then I want to leave the post office and open up a catering business. When I leave the post office, will I be able to draw on my 20 years at retirement age of 62 or will I lose the time I have in and end up with nothing for leaving early? If I get anything, how will I know how much I can expect to get?