Q: I am a federal law enforcement employee with 20 years covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System FERS plus five years worth of military buyback time. I have six more years before I will face mandatory retirement at my 57th birthday. I want to transfer to a non-LEO position with another federal agency so I can keep working. Please confirm that if I do transfer to a non-LEO position with another federal agency that I can keep working past 57 and not face mandatory retirement, and that my 20 years of FERS LEO service will transfer over at the…
Browsing: Special category employee retirement
Q: I’m in a 6C law enforcement covered position and will be reaching 20 years of service in that same position this coming January. I will be 46 years old. As soon as I reach 20 years, can I transfer out of the LE series to an administrative job (no 6C coverage) and still have my complete enhanced retirement benefits when I decide to retire 10 years from now? A: Yes, you can.
Q: I retired from federal service in 2006 under the law enforcement retirement provision. I have since been re-employed by the government with a waiver for a temporary law enforcement position that allows me to receive both my annuity and the full salary of my new job. I have been informed that when my temporary position ends, the Office of Personnel Management will recalculate my retirement. Are there are any special provisions that would apply to my situation due to being re-employed with a waiver? Because I have not been contributing to retirement in my temporary position, would the recalculation…
Q: For those covered under the law enforcement provision of the Federal Employees Retirement System, is the Social Security earnings test applied toward funds received from their Thrift Savings Plan if those amounts exceed the earnings test for the special law enforcement officer/firefighter Social Security supplement after their minimum retirement age? A: No. The Social Security earnings test only applies to earnings from wages or self-employment.
Q: I will have been in federal law enforcement for 25 years as of April 2011. I will be 46 years old at that point. In my first 15 years of service, I was in a covered law enforcement position. The next two years, I was in a law enforcement position that was not covered. In last seven years, I again have been in a covered position. Will I be eligible to retire in 2011 at the age of 46, or do I have to add the two years I was in the uncovered position onto the 25 years? A:…
Q: I am covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System’s law enforcement retirement plan. I have 11 years in as a law enforcement officer plus three years of federal service as a non-LEO. I am 48 and am considering retirement to go back to school. I may return to federal service at some point, but not as an LEO. I would be retiring without having 20 years of service or reaching my mandatory retirement age of 57. I know there are benefits to retiring as opposed to resigning (especially as an LEO), but what are the major pension pros and…
Q: I work for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. In November, I will have 20 years’ service in law enforcement and will be 49 years old. If I decide to retire right there and then, do I have to wait an extra year to collect benefits? Can I retire at age 49 with 20 years of law enforcement plus 4 years of active-duty military service? A: No, you can’t retire on an immediate annuity at age 49. You’ll have to wait until age 50 to retire under the special provision for law enforcement officers. You could, of course, resign from…
Q: If I was in a law enforcement-covered position for eight years, then took a noncovered position for seven years, then moved back to a covered position, what time would count toward the LEO-covered retirement? I was told that as long as you had served three years in a covered position, you were vested and your service would continue in the special-category retirement as long as you had no break in federal service. A: As long as you are in a primary law enforcement position for the requisite period of time and have a total 20 years of covered service,…
Q: I am 56 with 28 years of service. I owe a deposit for two years of that service when I was under FICA (1979-80) and CSRS (1981-83). When I left, I withdrew my CSRS retirement funds. Will I have to make that deposit to get credit for that two years of service if I retire under a FERS Involuntary Discontinued Service Retirement? I am considering this option because I am newly disabled and can’t work a full day, but I’m not sure if I would qualify for FERS/SS Disability. A: As a FERS employee, the only way you can…
Q: My mother worked part-time for the Veterans Affairs Department, less than 30 hours a week, from 1986 to 1992. She was Grade 4. In 1992, she retired at age 63. No one ever mentioned the possibility of a FERS annuity. Is she eligible? She worked at least five calendar years. She is now 81. If she is eligible, would she be able to get the annuity back until 1992 when she retired? In a lump sum? How would she apply? A: The good news is that your mother will be eligible for a deferred annuity, which will be retroactive…