Q I retired voluntarily from Federal Employees Retirement System on July 31, 2009, for health reasons with plans to change to FERS disability later. I was told by the Office of Personnel Management that there would be no benefit for me to file for FERS disability since I retired voluntarily. I applied for Social Security disability and was approved on April 23, 2010, with benefits beginning in December 2009 (I was found to be disabled on June 10, 2009). Do I still have to return the supplement from August 2009 to November 2009? Also, can I receive Social Security disability…
Browsing: Special retirement supplement
Q: I am a Federal Employees Retirement System employee in an 1811 covered position and have been a civilian employee for eight years. I was hired when I was 43 (I’m currently 52). If I retire 12 years from now as an 1811 under the LE retirement provision, I will be 63 years old. Will I be eligible to get the special retirement supplement until I qualify for full Social Security benefits? Full Social Security benefits in my case will be when I reach the age of 66 years, eight months — three years and eight months after I will…
Q: I am a federal law enforcement officer under the Federal Employees Retirement System. I have 23 years of service and can retire at age 50 just prior to completing 25 years. My human resources department did my calculations for me (I have tried to estimate my own for the last few years) and I have a question about one item. They computed the average of my high-3, gave me the numerical figure and took out money for health and life insurance. Then they added $400 for a FERS annuity. Now here’s the problem: A co-worker claims that is our…
Q: I am under the Federal Employees Retirement System and currently have 8-plus years of federal service in a covered position (1811, with an age waiver). I am 52 years old. I would be 63 when I retire under the special provisions for law enforcement employees. I retired from military with 20 years of service and plan to “buy back” my military time for FERS retirement purposes. After I buy back my military time, and if I decide to retire with only 15 years of federal service (approximately eight years from now; I will be 60 at the time and…
Q: If you were to retire at the end of the year, and received your annual leave balance the following year, would this affect your special retirement supplement? A: No, it will not.
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. What is the “special retirement supplement benefit?” If you cannot explain it completely & concisely, where I can find everything there is to know on this subject? A. The special retirement supplement (SRS) is paid to FERS employees who have reached their minimum retirement age (MRA) and retired on an immediate annuity. It approximates the amount of Social Security benefit they earned while employed under FERS. It is paid out of the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund until age 62, when they become eligible for a Social Security benefit. The SRS can be reduced or suspended if a…
Q. I have a follow-up question to your response of March 1 regarding a FERS retirement supplement question, which states in part that: “When your earnings in one year exceed the earnings limit, your special retirement supplement will be reduced in the following year.” What if you earn over the limit in the year you turn 62? You won’t be receiving the supplement in the following year, so it can’t be reduced. And, if I understand correctly, the reduction can only be applied to the supplement (and not the “regular” FERS annuity). Does that mean that for all practical purposes…
Q. I am a FERS employee and want to retire at age 56. Do I get my Social Security Supplemental and FERS retirement also? A. Yes, if you have reached your minimum retirement age and have the right number of years of service to retire on an immediate, unreduced annuity. On the other hand, if you are retiring under the MRA+10 provision (minimum retirement age with between 20 and 29 years of service), you wouldn’t be eligible to receive the special retirement supplement.
Q. I retired at age 55 in 2005 under the FERS system. I had switched from civil service to FERS back in 1997, so a portion of my postal pension is that FERS supplement until I reach age 62. However, subsequent to my retirement I am 100 percent disabled and receive Social Security Disability. My question now is, when I reach age 62, my FERS supplement will cease and I will not get any increase in my pension, since I am already getting disability. Is this true? Will my postal pension under the civil service portion increase any after reaching…