Q: I read your earlier article about Congress, and it cleared up some misconceptions, which I appreciated. However, stating that members of Congress can’t retire at the same level of pay after only one term wasn’t really the big question. What the American public is upset about is that they can retire at any level after only one term when people in the military, the federal government and the private sector have to work 20 to 30 years to earn a modest pension. This was not explained in your answer. They can still retire after only one term. It is…
Browsing: RETIREMENT
Q: Can a retired military member elect to buy back only a portion of his military time? A: If your active-duty service was continuous, the answer is no. If you were on active duty during separate, distinct periods of time, you can chose the period (or periods) of time for which you want to make a deposit.
Q: I resigned in 1994, withdrew my retirement of $20,000 from CSRS. At that time, my SCD was January 1974. Came back to civil service in 1996. At that time, I was given the choice of CSRS or FERS. I chose FERS. My SCD was recalculated to January 1977 with 10 years frozen service. I have two questions: Am I required to pay back the withdrawal in order for the 20 years (1974 to 1994) to count toward retirement? And what exactly is frozen service? Will it affect my retirement years? Right now,based on my SCD,I have 33 years. I’m…
Q: I transferred to the inactive Naval Reserve in August 1994 with 20 years of service, and I still draw retirement from the Navy. I work for the U.S. Postal Service (under FERS) and I am eligible to retire from the Postal Service in August 2012 with approximately 15 years of service. I know of one individual who claims to have combined his retirement from the Air Force with his retirement from the FAA several years ago. He was Civil Service when he retired from the FAA. What are my options at retirement from the Postal Service? Is there a…
Q: I will retire in August at the age of 67. My husband is 68 and works in the private sector. We are covered under my FEHB insurance. We have participated in an HMO for the past 10 years and are satisfied with the services we have received. We both have Medicare Part A, but not Part B. We have not used Part A because of my status as active employee. In one of your previous articles, you stated, “if you are enrolled in an HMO, which already covers most of your medical expenses, you may decide not to enroll…
Q: I am considering taking a government position and buying back active-duty time for FERS. If I do, when I hit age 62 and become eligible for the government pension, will it be reduced because of my Military Reserve Pension that I will draw at age 60? A: Your reserve retired pay won’t have any affect on your civilian annuity. You will be able to receive both without a reduction in either of them.
Q: I worked from 1972 to 1978 at the Department of Agriculture, then left to work for a private firm from 1978 to 1984. When I left, I took a refund of my retirement contributions. I didn’t work from 1984 to 1994 and returned to federal service from March 1994 to present and am covered by CSRS Offset. I am leaving federal service by the end of June. Am I eligible to receive any retirement benefits? I have 393.50 hours of SL and 303 hrs of AL and 24 hours of CT. I am 55 and will be 56 in…
Q: Prior to attending college, I worked for the federal government for a little more than a year as a CSRS employee. Years later, I became employed with the Department of Energy under FERS. I can’t recall whether or not I withdrew my retirement funds from the CSRS when I quit the government in 1979. If I did, can I repay those funds so that my USGS employment time counts toward my length of service? A: If you left your contributions in the retirement fund, that period of CSRS service will be treated as FERS service and you’ll be due…
Q: I made a deposit to FERS for 20 years of military service and have been working for the federal government for 10 years, which gives me 30 years of federal service. If I was to resign today, at age 50, would I continue to keep my military retirement pay until I reached my MRA (56) and could start drawing my FERS retirement? Will the FERS retirement consist of (10 years) Social Security Supplement, FERS, and TSP, or would I have to wait on the TSP? A: Having made a deposit for your years of active-duty service, if you resigned…
Q: Can a 56-year-old with 15 years in the federal system submit paperwork to retire? A: As a FERS employee, you could retire under the MRA+10 provision (minimum retirement age plus at least 10 but fewer than 30 years of service). However, your annuity would be reduced by 5 percent for every year you were under age 62. You could reduce or eliminate the age penalty by postponing the receipt of your annuity until a later date.