Q. I am a CSRS retiree. I worked 40 years and nine months while deducting retirement contributions from each check. I have been retired for seven years. The total contributions were near $84,000. Is all this amount used up starting with my first retirement check, or is it reduced gradually over years at a given rate? When I die, after, say, 10 years of retirement, will there be any money available to my survivors?
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Q. I was injured on the job while working for the federal government and spent 26 years as an annuitant under the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs. Recently, I was terminated from OWCP as being recovered from my work-related injury and retired under CSRS as a disability retiree. When I received my first retirement check, I noticed that federal taxes had been deducted. Is this correct? I had thought that disability retirement annuities were not taxable. Will these tax deductions end at some time in the future, perhaps at my minimum retirement age? I will be 68 years old in…
Q. I resigned from federal service in July 2011. I have 15 years of service and am 53. I was a FERS employee. I’m trying to figure out what my retirement will be. My understanding is that I can start drawing my pension when I’m 56. I also understand there is a 5 percent penalty for each year under 62, meaning if I started taking my pension at 56, it would be reduced by 30 percent. It is also my understanding that the way to figure out what my pension would be is to use .01 x high-3 x years…
Q. I plan on retiring at age 65, when I will have completed 15 years of federal civilian service. I have also paid the deposit on six years and four months of active-duty military service. Can I add the active-duty service to my 15 years of federal civilian service to qualify for the 1.1 percent of high-3 average salary for each year of service formula for those Age 62 or Older at Separation With 20 or More Years of Service?
Q. I have more than 42 years of service, and I am still working. Each pay period, federal retirement funds are still being taken from my paycheck. Where are these funds going? Can I use them while still working?
Q. I was hired by the Department of Defense on a term appointment NTE on Feb. 18, 2011, which was extended beyond that date to my conversion to career conditional June 5, 2011. Does my term appointment count toward my three years to be considered a tenured career employee?
Q. I retired from the FAA in 2003 with 21 years of service, and I receive 50 percent of my base pay. I also am qualified for Social Security. I bought back my military service. I know my Social Security benefits will be lowered as I receive a pension from OPM. I am planning on taking my Social Security benefits when I turn 62. Will I still receive my 50 percent pension from OPM?
Q. I am a 55-year-old city mail carrier with 18-plus years of service. How much of a reduction from my full retirement funds would result if I retired at 57 with 20 years of service?
Q. I am in CSRS Offset and, this month, I have 26 years of federal service. I will turn 62 in June and am thinking about retiring this year. Once I retire, I will be eligible for Social Security. If I choose to wait until, for example, I turn 66, my understanding is, when I retire and start collecting my CSRS (offset) pension, the Social Security I would be entitled to (at 62) will be deducted from my pension. Is the offset/reduction figure set by a formula, or is it dollar for dollar? If I choose to take Social Security…
Q. I retired in 2010 with 40 years of service, including four years of military service (1972-1976) that I did not pay back. While I am 62 and don’t qualify for Social Security yet, I recently received a notice that I now qualify for survivor benefits. Will this affect my CSRS annuity? Second, is the one-time Catch 62 check at age 62 in law or process? My concern is that if it is process, then it could easily be changed because of the budget situation to check every year after age 62 or when you start to draw Social Security…