Q: At the age of 54, I would like to retire. It is then when I will have 20 years as a federal civilian nurse. I will be retiring under the Federal Employees Retirement System. Once retired, I would like to work for the Forest Service part-time or seasonally. How will this affect my retirement? How will my retirement income be computed? Can I collect my FERS retirement while still working for the Forest Service? A: As a FERS employee, you aren’t eligible to retire. The earliest point at which you could do that is when you reach your minimum…
Browsing: RETIREMENT
Q: I am a federal firefighter (GS-081) facing an involuntary early retirement. I am 48 and have 27 years of service. My Agency is offering severance packages to those folks who can’t retire early. Do I have the right to accept a severance package? And if so, how will it affect my involuntary early retirement? A: If you were eligible for a reduced annuity under a voluntary retirement authority, you wouldn’t be entitled to receive severance pay.
Q: Under the OPM regulations, it is my understanding that a federal employee can take up to 12 weeks of paid sick leave each year to care for an eligible family member. If a federal employee is 10 weeks or so away from being eligible for retirement and has an emergency family medical situation, is he allowed to take the last 10 weeks of employment as paid sick leave up to the date that they retire? A: The law provides that an employee can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave. OPM regulations allow an employee to take up…
Q: Upon entry into civil service, I bought into FERS, paying for 24 years of my active-duty military service. This consisted of four years of academy time and 20 years of commissioned active-duty time. I now realize I would significantly increase my total retirement pay by keeping my military retirement and only converting my four years of academy time to FERS in order to retire with MRA + 10. Is it possible to now change my election from a total buy-in and conversion to only paying for my four years of academy time and get a refund for the rest…
Q: I saw your answer to a letter to a CSRS recipient saying OPM will only check once to determine if they are eligible for a Social Security benefit. This is for a retirement before reaching age 62. What I would like to know is if this “checking” is during the year a person is 62 or on the day of their 62nd birthday, or whenever they “catch up” with checking on this, which could be years later? Also, and when they do this, is the person being checked on notified that they have done this “checking”? A: As I…
Q: I am planning retirement at age 62. My spouse was on disability approved by Social Security before he passed away in 2007. I am on the FERS plan with a Service Comp Date of Feb. 15, 1998. My plan is to retire at age 62, on Sept 2. I have maxed out my Social Security after 25 years of service in the private sector. What is my eligibility status with my spouse’s disability and with my Social Security benefit? I have been told that I will receive my Social Security and my spouse’s disability benefit, which I desperately need,…
Q: Is there a special retirement calculator for part-time Title 38 physicians? A: I’m not aware of any.
Q: I worked in a federal job for 28 years and accepted a bonus for early out and transition to a contractor that was taking over IT jobs. I worked for the contractor for two years and retired. I want to know if I can qualify for rehiring with the government and, if I was offered a position, how would that affect my retirement pay and salary? A: If you accept a paying job with the federal government within five years of the date of the separation on which that buyout was based, including work under a personal-services contract or…
Q: I am receiving compensation for Loss of Wage Earning Capacity from the federal Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs. I expect to receive this compensation for the rest of my life due to a severe and permanent injury. Even though I was approved for federal CSRS Disability Retirement through the Office of Personnel Management, I never have, or expect to, receive any pension annuities because I choose OWCP compensation in lieu of any disability pension annuities. I will also be eligible to receive Social Security retirement benefits in the future due to other employment. When I apply for these benefits,…
Q: I have 37 years of service under the CSRS and I am thinking about retiring in 2011 when I am 59 years old. I have more than 40 quarters of work completed with Social Security. Can I receive a Social Security benefit when I retire at 59, and how much will it be for a GS-13/10? A: No, you can’t. The earliest age you could receive a Social Security benefit would be 62. When applying for a Social Security benefit, there are two points to keep in mind. First, that benefit will be a reduced one if you are under…