Q. I have 31 years with the Postal Service, four years military. Started with USPS in March 1982. Also a disabled vet. I am confused with the payback issue regarding my military service from 1974 to 1978. I opted not to pay back and, according to everything I am reading, if I do not qualify for Social Security at 62, there will not be a deduction in annual annuity. However, I note that in the CSRS and FERS Handbook, it states the following: “If nondeduction service was performed before Oct. 1, 1982, and deposit is not made, the basic annual…
Browsing: SURVIVOR BENEFITS
Q. I am more than 58 years old and voluntarily resigning from my position with the Veterans Affairs Department. I have 20 years of creditable FERS service and plan to postpone the start of my annuity and my retirement until my 60th birthday. I plan to submit the Form 92-19 two months prior to my 60th birthday, which will be in October 2014. In the interim, I will be obtaining my health insurance through my spouse, but I have plans to regain our family health/life insurance (held less than five years) at the same time I start my annuity, which…
Q. I have selected a retirement date of June 28, 2014. I will be 59½ years old with 33½ years of government service. I have been FERS my whole career. If I were to marry after retirement, what is the policy for covering my future spouse on my Federal Employees Health Benefits? If I choose to want a survivor benefit for my future spouse, is it possible to change from a self-only pension to one with survivor benefits?
Q. I am a retired Postal Service FERS employee. I took the early-out in February with reduced pension. I am going to marry a Postal Service CSRS employee retired on postal disability. He has little Social Security time, which he is not collecting. We would like to know if one of us will lose our postal pension. If so, how much and why?
Q. I am married to a retired federal employee. I have been covered on her health insurance for well over five years. She’s getting ready to have Medicare as her primary insurance and Blue Cross/Blue Shield (FEP) as her secondary coverage. Will this change anything for me on my BC/BS coverage? Will I still have the same coverage although my wife’s BC/BS is her secondary coverage?
Q. I retired in 2003 after 32 years as an air traffic controller. I will reach age 65 in August 2014. My wife will not reach age 65 until March 2017. I am enrolled in the Blue Cross of Idaho Federal Employees Health Benefits plan. I have questions about Medicare. 1. If I sign up for Medicare, I understand it become my primary provider. Will my FEHB premiums be reduced, or will they stay the same? 2. Will my wife continue under FEHB until she reaches age 65? 3. Do you have any literature concerning the transition to Medicare from…
Q. My wife died and I remarried. I took out a survivor annuity for her when I remarried. What is the “second reduction”? I just received a letter from the Office of Personnel Management telling me that if I want the survivor annuity, there would be a second reduction for three years. If I should die before that time, would she still receive the annuity?
Q. My husband is 65 and planning to retire from the federal government the first of the year. He just signed up for Medicare A. We were planning to keep the Federal Employees Health Benefits Blue Cross coverage at $300 per month for both of us. We would rather not pick up Part B because of the cost. We have been advised by several agents not to pick up Part B. We were told we would “lose our open enrollment” status if we picked up Part B now. What does that mean? If down the line in a couple of…
Q. In 1997, I retired from the federal government at age 58. I will soon be 74. When I became eligible for Medicare, I chose only Plan A, since most of Plan B would have duplicated my Blue Cross/Blue Shield benefits. My wife is 59, and went on Social Security disability in 2008. She chose only Plan A of Medicare for the above stated reason. Now, I am rethinking my situation. If we were to apply for Plan B, would we be required to pay the 10 percent annual penalty for each year because we chose not to take Plan B? If so, that would…
Q. I was employed by the federal government between 1978 and 1985. Both my first wife (as my dependent) and I were insured by the government plan. I worked in private business from 1986 to 2007, divorcing in 1997. I remarried in 2001. My second wife’s benefit plan was more extensive, and her plan covered me as a dependent for the past 12 years. I am still covered by her plan as a secondary. In 2007, I returned to the federal government, but did not take the Federal Employees Health Benefit plan, as I was still covered by my wife’s…