Q. I am a Defense Department employee with 39 years of service under CSRS. How will sequestration, specifically the potential for 20 percent reduction in pay, affect calculation of my high-3? Will it be based on my salary per the GS tables or actual pay? If it is on actual pay, it seems as though it would be better for me to retire now rather than later.
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Q. I am 57 and was a civilian firefighter for the Navy in FERS with 13 years of service. I was medically retired in 2001 and have been receiving a disability annuity since. I remember being told or having read that when I turn 62, my disability annuity will revert to a standard retirement, reducing my pension. A couple of years after I left the federal system, I found part-time work to help add to my income, staying well under the 80 percent requirement, but over the last two to three years, my medical issues have worsened, and I am…
Q. I retired from CSRS with 30 years (U.S. Bureau of Mines closure). I started getting my government retirement the day after retirement because of forced retirement. I continued work in the private sector and, at age 66, started getting Social Security in October 2011. I had 26 years paid into Social Security and was hit with the windfall elimination provision. I was never told I could pay extra years into Social Security for some of the years that I was under CSRS until someone at the Social Security office in Pueblo, Colo., told me that. I do not know…
Q. I will be retiring from civil service under CSRS with 40 years of service. I will also be drawing my reserve retirement next year when I turn 60. I have three years and nine months of unpaid military service, and it would cost approximately $26,000 to buy back the service. I know when I turn 62, the Social Security windfall elimination provision will reduce my Social Security annuity. I have less than 20 years of significant earnings. I’m wondering if it is worth paying the $26,000 to buy back the three years and nine months.
Q. I am a FERCCA case. I was inadvertently placed in FERS when hired by my agency after eight years in the legislative branch. I have elected CSRS offset coverage. I have 28 years, eight months of creditable service and am eligible to retire now. My annual salary and high-3 are not likely to change in the next few years. Are CSRS offset annuities helped by length of service? Would it benefit me to work two or three more years?
Q. I am a 35-year CSRS employee in Kabul, Afghanistan [temporary change of station]. My organization approved a negotiated salary that increased my annual pay from $107,000 [GS-13, Step 7] to $115,000 [GS-13, Step 10]. My SF-50 for the change is dated Nov. 18. I am considering retiring Sept. 1, a little more than nine months past the SF-50 date but less than one full year. I am seeking a high-3 calculation of $107,000 + $107,000 + $115,000. Will I receive full [or 75 percent] credit for the nine-month period as a GS-13, Step 10? Or must I remain in…
Q. I am a CSRS employee who will be turning 55 in January. I will have 32 years of service. If I retire during the summer of this year, how much will I be penalized?
Q. I plan to retire at age minimum retirement age of 56, with 34 years of service and received an estimate of FERS annuity plus special retirement supplement. The estimate only shows deductions for federal tax and maximum survivor benefit election from the base FERS annuity but no deductions from the special retirement supplement. Can you verify that the special retirement supplement is not federally taxed?
Q. I made a lump-sum military FERS pension buyback as a new Defense Department civilian employee. Is there any tax filing implication or deduction for this?
Q. I have a government pension and will be retiring in the next couple of years. I understand that my pension will be subject to federal and state taxes. I also have 20-21 years full time under Social Security (an additional nine years part time under social Security but under the substantial earnings amount). My Social Security will only be approximately $6,000 per year. Would the Social Security be subject to federal and state taxes?