Q: Are the Federal Employees Retirement System and special retirement supplement annuities subject to federal income tax? If they are, and your FERS annuity is greater than $15,000, will the special retirement supplement be reduced? A: The special retirement supplement is subject to federal (and, where applicable, state) taxes. However, your special retirement supplement would only be reduced if you had earnings from wages or self-employment. The Social Security earnings test doesn’t count other sources of income, such as annuities.
Browsing: FERS annuity computation
Q: I am 65 years old and have applied for and expect to receive Federal Employees Retirement System disability retirement benefits. In October, I will turn 66 and will begin receiving Social Security retirement benefits. Will my FERS disability benefits be reduced by my SS retirement benefits? A: Because you are already age 62 or older, if you are approved for disability retirement and have fewer that 20 years of service, you’ll receive your earned annuity based on the standard FERS formula: 0.01 x your high-3 x your years and full months of service. If you have 20 or more…
Q: I am a 58-year-old physician with 16 years of military service from 1978 to 1994. I am taking a job with the Veterans Affairs Department. In the benefits booklet I received, there is a note as follows: “Physicians and dentists covered under Title 38 provisions must complete 15 years of creditable service in order to use Physicians/Dentists Special Pay as basic pay in determining the high-3 average salary used in the computation of a [Federal Employees Retirement System] annuity. If I buy into FERS for my 16 years of military service, does this count toward “creditable service,” or is…
Q: My father retired several years ago under the Civil Service Retirement System. At the time of his retirement, he elected to reduce his benefits to provide my mother with spousal survivor benefits. She died a number of years before him, but it does not appear that he ever adjusted his benefits after her death. He recently passed away, and I am the executor of his estate. Does the estate have a claim to the difference between the benefits he actually received and what he was entitled to receive in the years after her death? A: You’ll need to notify…
Q: I am a FERS employee, and I would like to know how OPM calculates the Supplement annuity (this is in addition to the FERS amount) for someone who retires with more than 20 years of service before their 62nd birthday. Do they base it on one’s salary or years of service? A: The special retirement supplement approximates the Social Security benefit you earned as a FERS employee. It is paid to those who retire after their minimum retirement age with 30 years of service, at age 60 or later with 20 years of service, and to those who are…
Q: I spent two years (2004-2006) working for the Veterans Administration at a work-study position in Buffalo, N.Y. Does this time count toward FERS retirement eligibility and annuity computation purposes? A: Not to my knowledge. However, I suggest that you raise this question with your local personnel office, which, if necessary, can check with OPM.
Q: My question is about how or if the years served at a service academy (the Air Force Academy, in my case) may be credited as years of active-duty service upon active-duty retirement. I understand that those years may be “bought back” if I am counting those years toward a civilian federal retirement under the Federal Employees Retirement System, but what about active-duty military retirement? May those years be bought back? A: A deposit into the civilian retirement system may be made to get credit for time spent at one of the military academies. Similarly, a deposit may be made…
Q: I am a federal firefighter (GS-0081). Prior to entering federal civilian service, I was on active duty in the Army for seven years and I am currently a National Guardsman. I will retire from the National Guard in three years. If I choose to buy back the seven years of active-duty time for my Federal Employees Retirement System retirement, will I have to forfeit the National Guard retirement or that portion of the National Guard retirement? A: No — if you make a deposit for your active-duty time, you won’t have to forfeit any part of your National Guard…
Q: I recently retired from the Bureau of Land Management as a Federal Employees Retirement System employee and have the opportunity to be hired on a temporary basis by the federal government as an administratively determined (AD) casual hire. My question is, as an AD hire, will my FERS annuity be offset or reduced by what I earn on incident assignments, or will I be able to collect my full FERS annuity, as well as the full AD salary? A: If you are being hired as an employee of the federal government, the answer is yes. The salary you receive…
Q: I am a federal law enforcement officer under the Federal Employees Retirement System. I have 23 years of service and can retire at age 50 just prior to completing 25 years. My human resources department did my calculations for me (I have tried to estimate my own for the last few years) and I have a question about one item. They computed the average of my high-3, gave me the numerical figure and took out money for health and life insurance. Then they added $400 for a FERS annuity. Now here’s the problem: A co-worker claims that is our…