Q. I have a few years to go but have been looking at my retirement options. I started working for the Veterans Affairs Department in 1992, then joined the Army under the Military Employment/Reemployment Rights Act in 1995. I returned to VA in January 2000. At that time, I bought back my military time. Now I’m looking at my qualifications for the special retirement supplement. I can find numerous examples of people that were in the military prior to their federal job. It appears that the time can count for their FERS retirement, but not for the supplement. Since my…
Browsing: Military service deposits
Q. Have military retirees ever had to waive their military retirement pay just to accept a federal job?
Q. I was recently awarded a 40 percent military disability retirement retroactively back to 2005. I am a federal employee who previously paid more than $8,000 to buy back my military service time toward FERS retirement. Now that I am a military retiree, I am not eligible to buyback my military time. My human resources point of contact said the military buyback cannot be refunded until separation or FERS retirement. Can I receive a refund of the $8,000 military deposit prior to my FERS retirement?
Q. I retired from the Air Force Reserve with 20 years. I am a civil service employee with nine years of service, but four years of that service are from active-duty military service that I bought and paid in full. I will be eligible for military reserve retirement at 60. When I decide to retire at 63, will I be eligible to receive my civil service retirement and keep my military reserve retirement, or can I receive both?
Q. I was active-duty Air Force for three years and eight months, then medically retired with a service-connected disability of 30 percent. I receive a monthly pension from the Air Force and also the Veterans Affairs Department. Now I am a FERS employee with 25 years of civil service. If I buy back my military time to have it credited toward my civil service time, will I lose by monthly Air Force retirement and VA pay?
Q. I have left the government with 12 years of service and bought military time of 10 years. I am now 59 years of age. I am under FERS. Can I apply for retirement this year (I’ll be 60) to receive retirement pay without penalty? I don’t want to have pension reduced or penalized under 62. I was also in the Navy Reserve and got activated for almost a year. I heard that my retirement age would be reduced 90 days. Does that mean my retirement starts three months before my birthday? My birth month is September. What month can I apply?
Q. I am a dual status technician. I have 27 years of federal service. I am being put out of the military on a disability retirement due to a service-connected medical issue. I am 50 years old. Will I be able to collect my military disability and also receive my fed tech retirement? I noticed on my 199 Form that it has the following statement in Section V: “The disability disposition is not based on disease or injury incurred in the line of duty in Combat with and enemy of the US and as a direct result of armed conflict…
Q. At age 60, I will be eligible for FERS and Air Guard retirement. I bought back two years and four months of active Air Force time. Will I receive my full Air Guard retirement, which includes those active-duty points? Or, since I bought those points back, will they be deducted from my Air Guard retirement? Also, at 62, when I am eligible for Social Security, will I draw full FERS, full Air Guard and full Social Security?
Q. I just retired from federal service with 23 years plus four years military bought back. I am starting a job with the Teachers Retirement System of Texas, in which I do not pay into Social Security. How will this affect my Social Security benefits later, when I start to take them? Let me ask two examples: 1. I am 51 now. If I choose to work for TRS for 12 years, retire and take a partial retirement from TRS (vested after five years) along with my FERS retirement, and then want to start taking Social Security payments at, say,…
Q. I am retired military with 20+ years of active-duty service serving in a full-time competitive service position under FERS. Eleven months of my military time is counted as “creditable military service” since it was served in a qualifying campaign. My service computation date for leave was adjusted by 11 months for the creditable time. Should my SCD for reduction in force also be adjusted based on this time?