Browsing: Special category employee retirement

Q. I am a Defense Department firefighter with 20 years in service. I also have four years of military time, which I bought back. I want to leave DoD fire and work in another federal office that is also covered by FERS. I am 42 years old. I want to leave now with 20 years of firefighter time and work in another federal office for five years. Would I still qualify for an immediate annuity once I have a total of 25 years in federal service even though 20 were as a DoD firefighter and five were inside another federal…

Q. I am a special category employee retiring this month with 30 years of service. I will be 55 in April. My minimum retirement age is 56. I know means testing of the special retirement supplement begins when I am 56, but how, mechanically, does it work? Do I get a letter on or near my 56th birthday asking me what my earned income was during the previous year? Or do I get such a letter on or near my 57th birthday, asking the same question about the previous year (the year I turned 56)? Or does the Office of…

Whoopee! You just got a 1 percent pay raise, the first increase in several years. It may not sound like much, but in the long run it will pay off. That’s because once you meet the age and service requirement to retire, it’s your length of service and high-3 that will determine what your annuity will be. Your high-3 is an average of your highest rates of basic pay over any three consecutive years of creditable civilian service, with each pay rate weighted by the length of time it was received. That three-year period starts and ends on the dates…

Q. I am a federal firefighter under FERS. When I reach age 57, I will have 20 years of service. 1. Can I resign from the Forest Service without drawing my retirement? 2. Can I then collect my firefighter retirement at age 62 or later? 3. Can I resign from the Forest Service and move to another government position?

Q. I am trying to understand the special retirement supplement. I am under FERS. I plan on retiring from a position of air traffic controller at my mandatory retirement age of 56 with 33 years and four months of service (I was born in 1962). I have been told by a few people that because I am forced to retire at age 56, the special retirement supplement will not be means tested. Is that correct?

Q. On May 21, you answered a question: “As a rule, FERS retirees don’t receive cost-of-living increases on their special retirement supplements, nor do they receive them on their annuities until they reach age 62. Note: Special category employees, such as law enforcement officers and firefighters, and disability retirees receive COLAs regardless of the age at which they retire.” My statement for Jan. 1, 2014, reflects a partial COLA (retired March 31, 2013) on the annuity but not on the SRS. Do special category employees such as law enforcement officers get COLAs on the SRS?

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