Q: I read something in Reg Jones’ column in the Oct. 4 issue of Federal Times that I would like more information about. The district office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in San Francisco, my employer, no longer has a personnel specialist. I was hired by EEOC in February 1993. I retired from the Navy Reserve in 1995, and have just recently begun to draw retired reserve pay at age 60. I plan to retire from EEOC at the end of 2014. I will be 64 years old and have 21 years’ civilian service then. Questions: May I make…
Browsing: Creditable service: FERS
Q: I am a reservist with 33 years of service, six of which were active. I purchased that time back before I became a Federal Employees Retirement System employee. I spent four years in the reserves that were not covered in my computation date. A typical year has about 50 points for reserve weekends, then active duty for training (two weeks) and occasionally longer schools and so forth. What periods of reservist time can be bought back? A: You can’t make a deposit to get credit for any reserve time, only periods when you were called to active duty. However,…
Q: I am a federal employee covered under the Federal Employees Retirement System. I am also paying Social Security taxes. Would I receive 100 percent of my retirement from both systems given that I retired at the stipulated age? Will my Social Security pension change my FERS pension? A: If you retire on an immediate annuity after reaching the right combination of age and service (62 years old with five years of service, 60 with 20, or at your minimum retirement age with 30), you’ll receive an unreduced FERS annuity and, if you retire before age 62, the special retirement…
Q: When a person on Federal Employees Retirement System disability reaches age 62 and a recomputation is done, are the cost-of-living adjustments added to the “high-3” salary from the regular pay schedule or from the annuity COLA schedule? My high-3 was $47,116 when I became disabled in February 2004, and I turned 62 in June 2010. I live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I was under the impression that COLA was determined by the GS schedule and locality pay. A: When you reach age 62, the time your spent on the disability annuity roll will be added to your actual…
Q: Thank you for your recent article on key dates for retirement in the Oct. 4 edition of Federal Times. I have a question that wasn’t completely answered by the article. I am a veteran with more than 22 years of active-duty service. I joined the Food and Drug Administration two years ago, so I am under the Federal Employees Retirement System. I turned 51 this year and plan to retire sometime between age 62 and 65. I will not have 20 years of service at age 60, but I certainly will have five years of service at age 62.…
Q: I am a 39-year-old federal employee. I have nine years of Federal Employees Retirement System-covered federal service. I also bought back eight years of Army service time two years ago. I am thinking of resigning my position and starting a small business. Would it benefit me to wait three years and reach 20 years of creditable service? And if so, what benefits will I be eligible for at my minimum retirement age? A: You wouldn’t be eligible for any benefits when you reached your minimum retirement age. With fewer than 20 years of service, you’d be eligible for a…
Q: From Oct. 28, 2009, to Dec. 31, 2013, half of of sick leave may be credited toward retirement time. Is that correct? If so, does a Federal Employees Retirement System employee who retires in that window receive payment for the other half of the unused sick leave, or is it just lost? Do FERS retirees receive full payment for unused vacation time? A: Any FERS employee retiring between now and Dec. 31, 2013, will only receive credit for half of his unused sick leave. The rest is lost. After that date, full credit will be given. All employees, whether…
Q: I have been working for the government for the past seven years under the Federal Employees Retirement System and expect to retire in 13 years at age 67. Prior to my government service, I worked in the private sector and paid into the Social Security system for 35 years. Am I to assume that I will be receiving both a full FERS and Social Security benefit when I retire? A: Yes. You will receive your FERS annuity based on your years of FERS-covered employment and a Social Security benefit based on all your Social Security-covered employment, not just that under…
Q: I am a civilian federal employee who started with the government in September 1986. Is it true that no retirement deductions were taken until Jan. 1, 1989? If this is true, how can I get credit for the two-plus years during which no deductions were taken? A: If you were hired into a position that required deductions from your pay, you would have been covered by Civil Service Retirement Offset (CSRS and Social Security) for the months preceding Jan. 1, 1987, when the Federal Employees Retirement System went online. Your CSRS Offset time would have been converted to FERS…
Q: I retired from the Navy after 20 years of service. I was on active duty for eight years and then on reserve active duty for 12. I am 47 and receiving retirement pay. Since I retired as a reserve (my DD 214 shows component/branch as “U.S. Navy-USNR”), can I buy back my time and put it toward my Federal Employees Retirement System retirement? A: You may make a deposit for any period(s) of active-duty service. If you do, that time will be used in determining your length or service and in your annuity calculation. Making a deposit for that…