Q. I will have 30 years with the Postal Service on Dec. 24. I have 450 hours of annual leave. If I were to take a voluntary downgrade — which would reduce my pay rate substantially for my last six months before retirement — would my annual leave buyout be calculated solely at my new lower rate? Or would it correspond to my pay rate when it was earned?
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Q. I am on military leave without pay on presidential recall orders. I was promoted to GS-12, Step 1 a few months prior to being mobilized on military orders. If I’m involuntarily extended on military orders for three years then return to my civilian employment and request deferred annuity, would my high-3 be based on GS-12 Step 1 that I held for a few months prior to being mobilized? Based on my career GS level, can you tell me my current high 3? 2000-2006 = GS-8, Step 6 2007 = GS-7, Step 8 2008 =GS-5, Step 10 2009 =GS-7, Step…
Q. I understand that credited sick leave will not influence how the high-3 is calculated. But will credited sick leave count toward annuity calculation in meeting age or service requirements to receive the 1.1 percent factor? If a person has 19 years and six months day-for-day in FERS and adds/applies eight months of unused sick leave, will this qualify for the 1.1 percent calculation factor (high-3 x .011 x 20 years two months)?
Q. I’m 49, with 26 years in the NAF retirement program. I won’t be accepting a transfer of function outside my commuting area, so I’ll be involuntary separated. Based on everything I’ve read in AR215-3 3-25, I should be eligible for both discontinued service retirement and severance pay. Severance pay would be authorized in my case since my immediate annuity will be reduced 12 percent based on my age (2 percent for every year I’m away from 55). I’m now hearing that the following paragraph would prevent me from receiving severance pay: AR215-3 3-25 h. “Exclusions from severance pay. Severance…
Q. I need your help in calculating my future annual or monthly annuity. I’m 57, birth year 1955. I’m waiting until I’m 62 to ask for my monthly annuity. I was hired in 1995 into the GS system. I left in 2008. Would my high-3 be my GS salary? It was averaged out using 1 percent of my high-3 to $560.48 x 15 years creditable service = $8,407.20 annual annuity divided by 12 months, which would be $700.60 a month. Is this correct? Am I still eligible for this monthly annuity, even though I left federal service? I have not…
Q. I started work at 16 during the summer to help pay for college. From 1966 to 1974, I made very low incomes but contributed to Social Security. Then I worked for the Forest Service and became a CSRS employee for five years. I resigned and got a refund on my retirement because I did not think I would work there again. But because I had five years in, the Forest Service says I still have a vested interest in CSRS and will pay me $202/month for that vested service when I retire. Between 1990 and 1999, I stayed home…
Q. My husband was killed in a motorcycle accident after working 16 years for the Department of Defense. I have been receiving a survivor’s annuity since his death. Is the annuity part of his retirement that he had accrued, or is this part of a death benefit? I received a death benefit at the time of his death. Is the annuity taxable income? Is the annuity his retirement that he had earned before his death?
Q. I am retiring under CSRS offset. In 2007, I worked as a temporary employee for four months. During that time I paid FICA, but not the additional 0.8 percent toward my retirement. OPM states that I need to pay the full 7 percent to get full credit toward my retirement. Given that the CSRS offset contribution is 7 percent, divided by 6.2 percent toward FICA and 0.8 percent toward CSRS, wouldn’t paying an additional 7 percent be a double payment toward FICA? Shouldn’t I just be liable for the 0.8 percent deposit? If I must pay a full 7…
Q. I’m a 100 percent disabled veteran, effective April 2008, with war-incurred injuries. In 2010, I applied for disability retirement while working for the Postal Service with 14 years of service and did not buy back my military time. The Office of Personnel Management calculated my high-3 on my postal salary alone. Should they not have calculated my Veterans Affairs Department compensation income from 2008, since it was a war-incurred injury that led me to retire? Is there a statue that protects vets who have war-incurred injuries? And does OPM allow special compensation for this matter?
Q. I am a veteran of the armed forces and a civilian federal firefighter of Hawaii and have about 13 years government time under FERS. While on duty in 2010, we were in route in the fire engine and an oncoming vehicle lost control and collided with the fire engine, causing substantial injuries to myself and the crew. The majority of the kinetic energy was absorbed by me because the point of impact was where I was seated. I sustained injuries to my lumbar area in my lower back and injuries to my left limb, for which I’ve undergone a…