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.…
Browsing: RETIREMENT
Q: Please advise whether government employees who are retired will receive a cost-of-living adjustment for 2011, since Social Security recipients won’t get an increase for next year. A: Because cost-of-living increases for retirees track the increase in Social Security benefits, federal retirees won’t get a COLA increase in 2011.
Q: I’m a disabled federal retiree drawing a federal retirement. I paid into Social Security while on National Guard status for 30 years. I’m currently working and paying into Social Security and will have enough quarters to draw Social Security payments at age 62. I understand there is an offset that will apply to my retirement. I have received a Social Security statement every year; my past statement shows I will draw around $750 at age 62. Is this my retirement amount after the offset, or do I need to reduce this amount by the offset amount? If that’s the…
Q: My husband was federal technician and served in the Air National Guard. The military discharged him because of health reasons. So he lost his federal technician job. He now receives Civil Service Retirement System disability benefits. He applied for Social Security disability. Social Security counts his CSRS disability as a public disability, so his benefit is offset and his payment is reduced to $31.00 a month. Now that he is over age 55, can he change his CSRS retirement to a CSRS annuity or discontinued service retirement? Social Security stated that if he is receiving a CSRS annuity or…
Q: How many weeks’ notice is a federal employee retired to give prior to retirement? A: There is no minimum notice requirement in law or regulation. However, courtesy and prudence suggest a minimum of a few weeks. I mentioned courtesy because a supervisor needs to know that you are leaving so he can plan a redistribution of work among those who are left and, where possible, begin the search for a replacement. I mentioned prudence because failure to take the time to shepherd your retirement application through you agency before leaving could result in long delays before you receive your…
Q: After reading all the horror stories about the windfall elimination provision and Social Security demanding payback of erroneous payments, I’m writing to verify my Civil Service Retirement System Offset and WEP reductions. I have 22 years of CSRS service, from 1973 to 1995, put in 13-plus years of nonfederal work, and then was re-employed with the federal government as a CSRS Offset employee in 2008. I plan to retire at 62 with 27 years, 8 months of federal service, with about five years of that under CSRS offset. My personnel office says that I am not subject to the…
Q: I plan to retire Jan. 3. At the end of this year, I will still have 40 hours of “use or lose” leave. Will I be paid for that leave in my final lump-sum annual leave payment, or will I forfeit this leave? A: In 2011, the leave year end date is Jan. 1. If you retire after that date, any unused annual leave in excess of 240 hours would be lost. You would receive a lump-sum payment for those 240 hours.
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: Is the Federal Employees Retirement System supplement (Social Security) sent to retirees as a separate payment, or is it combined with the annuity? A: The special retirement supplement is included in a retiree’s monthly annuity payment.
Q: My “high-3” years are not my last three years. I am thinking of retiring in June, and I have read that your last three consecutive years are your high-3 years. My highest three years, salary-wise, were 2003 to 2005. Will they use those years or my last three? A: An employee’s high-3 is always the highest three consecutive years of average salary, no matter when they occur in a career.