Q: I read your Q&As and found the answer I was looking for, but with one variable missing. I see that active-duty years cannot count toward the 25-year retirement from federal firefighting without being called to active duty while in a covered position. What if all of your active-duty years were as a firefighter — does that make a difference? My question comes from the fact that my Total Workforce Management System early retirement date would only be possible if my active years counted. I have bought back my years. A: No, it doesn’t make a difference. Your active-duty time…
Browsing: RETIREMENT
Q: I am retired from 24 years of active-duty military service. I also receive Concurrent Retirement Disability Pay from the VA. If I work as a GS employee for five years, I understand that makes me eligible for a small Federal Employees Retirement System pension at age 62. At age 62, would I be eligible for my military pension, CRDP, FERS pension and Social Security? Would there be any offset to any of the payments? A: We are only qualified to answer questions dealing with federal civilian benefits. That said, after as few as five years of creditable civilian service,…
Q: My husband has contributed $60,370 to the Civil Service Retirement Fund. He was employed by the Postal Service from Jan. 26, 1980, to Dec. 19, 2007. After writing to the Office of Personnel Management for a possible refund, we were informed he’s eligible for deferred annuity at age 62. This year, he will be 57 years old. He will not be seeking another federal job. We don’t know if we should just ask for a refund and roll it over into an IRA or just wait for his deferred annuity when he’s 62 in 2015. Can you tell me…
Q: I am a 45-year-old federal law enforcement officer with 20 years of 1811 service. If I separate from federal service, will I receive a federal annuity, Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan and survivor benefits when I reach the minimum retirement age (MRA)? If not, would I have to re-establish myself as an 1811 for a year and then “retire”? A: If you leave government after completing 20 years of covered service, you can apply for an immediate, unreduced annuity when you reach your MRA. At that time, you’ll be eligible to receive the special retirement supplement that represents the…
Q: I had 6.8 years of my military service used in determining my service computation date (SCD) of March 4, 1987. As a reserve officer on active duty, I retired after 32 years of service (National Guard, Army Reserve, Active Guard Reserve combined). I retired in March 1993 and began work as a Federal Employees Retirement System employee in November of the same year. I am wanting to retire July 31 (I was 66 — full retirement age — as of Jan. 1). I have received conflicting information on what my final FERS retirement annuity is made up of, i.e.…
Q: Is there a place at the Office of Personnel Management where I can forward a copy of my divorce decree and request an estimate of how much of my annuity will go to my former spouse? I have the retirement estimate from my human resources office and can provide them an amount of my total annuity. A: You can forward your divorce decree to the Office of Personnel Management, Retirement and Benefits Service, Court Orders Section, 1900 E Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20415. However, OPM won’t provide you with an estimate.
Q: I’ll be retiring in the near future with Civil Service Retirement System. I have been told that after I retire, I can work as an intermittent employee. I have read that my pay would be reduced by the amount of my annuity during the time I work. How is that calculated? Is my annuity paid on a “per day” basis, a weekly basis or a monthly basis? If I work 15 days in a month, would my monthly annuity get cut by half, or considering that 15 days is three weeks, would it be cut by approximately 75 percent?…
Q: I know a new law was passed so federal retirees could return to part-time federal employment without having their retirement annuities affected. I have not seen any details from the Office of Personnel Management on how this is done and recorded if an agency wished to do so. Do you have any information on this? A: The National Defense Authorization Act for 2010 included a provision that allows Civil Service Retirement System and Federal Employees Retirement System non-disability retirees to be re-employed on a limited basis and receive both their full annuities and the unreduced salaries of their new…