Q. At age 55, with 24 years and four month’s service under FERS, I accepted the U.S. Postal Service offer of Voluntary Early Retirement, effective Aug. 1, 2009, because of my eligibility to start receiving my OPM Special Retirement Supplement (SRS) upon reaching the minimum retirement age (MRA) in July 2010. Since retiring nine months ago I have received no information about my SRS from the USPS or OPM. In all of the vast amount of available information on the SRS, I have found no instructions on if, how to or to whom I must apply for it. Since I…
Browsing: Special retirement supplement
Q. If retiring under FERS under the age of 62, is one obligated to take the Special Retirement Supplement if you anticipate having another nongovernment job that will earn a relatively high salary? A. The Special Retirement Supplement is automatically added on to an earned annuity. I’m not aware of any way you could decline to receive it, not that I can think of any reason why you’d want to do so. All that happens if you exceed the Social Security earnings limit is that your SRS is reduced by $1 for every $2 you earn above the limit.
Q. Will my FERS supplement be taxable income? A. Yes
Q. I am a FERS retiree. I receive a special retirement supplement. Is this taxed? I have not gotten anything except my 1099R from the CSA. A. Although the special retirement supplement is designed to approximate the Social Security benefit you earned while employed under FERS, the money comes from the CSRS Retirement and Disability Fund. As such, it is taxed in the same way as the rest of your annuity. A portion of that total is nontaxable while the rest is taxable. To find out what the nontaxable portion will be, go to www.irs.gov/pubs/irs-pdf/p721.pdf and read the IRS’ Tax…
Q. I am now eligible as a CSRS/FERS hybrid for a maximum pension for my previous service, since I am over 62. I understand there is no more actuarial adjustment (higher annual benefit) after age 62 for delaying receipt. My last employment was about 20 years ago. If I take my annuity and am later rehired, I understand that I cannot have my high-3 and high-5 years recalculated unless I serve more than 5 years. However, what if I just don’t take my annuity? Aren’t I then eligible for redetermination for each year of re-employment? Is there any age at…
Q. My understanding is that the Supplemental Retirement Annuity (or payment) that FERS retirees may receive when they are eligible to retire before age 62 is subject to an earnings test. My question is what happens if you retire during the middle of the year — do the earnings for work during the year you retire, but before your retirement date, reduce your SRA, or is the earnings test applied only to the work performed after your retirement date? A. No, they don’t reduce it. They fall under the Social Security “first year” rule.
Q. I will be eligible to retire at age 60 with 20 years and five months in January 2012 as a FERS employee, because of Parkinson’s Disease that is slowly progressing and under my neurologist advice will prevent me from working any further. I would like to know how the Social Security Special Retirement Supplement (SRS) is calculated and if my military pension and purchasing a TSP annuity with a small partial withdrawal will have any effect on that supplement. Also, by doing so will it decrease the amount of Social Security when I reach age 62? A. You can…
Q: If one is drawing a FERS annuity and receiving the special retirement supplement, how do any earnings in excess of the earnings limit get paid back to the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund? Does one write a check at the end of the year? A: When your earnings in one year exceed the earnings limit, your special retirement supplement will be reduced in the following year. The reduction cannot be more that the total amount of SRS you received during the year when the excess earnings occurred.
Q. I know that federal employees under FERS who have 30+ years of service at the minimum retirement age (MRA) are eligible to retire and receive an immediate annuity as well as the Social Security supplement until they reach eligibility for Social Security under normal circumstances. My question is: Who is actually paying this supplement? A. The purpose of the special retirement supplement is to provide a bridge between retirement and when a retiree first becomes eligible for a Social Security benefit. The SRS is paid out of the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund. The amount needed to cover…
Q. What happens to the special retirement supplement if I worked until age 62? … even though I am eligible to retire at age 56, with 31 years of service? Do I lose the SRS completely? It would total about $106,000 between ages 56-62. A. The only purpose of the special retirement supplement is to help a FERS retiree bridge the gap between his retirement and his eligibility for a Social Security benefit. It you work until age 62, you won’t get it or need it. Note: Even if you were to retire before age 62, began receiving the SRS, and had earnings…