Q. I am a postal employee with self-only coverage. My wife works in private industry and has her own self coverage. Do I need to convert to family coverage and add my wife five years before I retire to keep her on my health insurance? Also, where can I find answers to questions like this?
Browsing: SURVIVOR BENEFITS
Q. After 25 years of service, I was approved for OWCP disability. Now, 15 years later and at age 68, I am still receiving the annuity. If I die still receiving OWCP benefits, will my wife receive survivor benefits from my CSRS service? Should I leave the money in the CSRS or draw it out?
Q. My father passed away at the age of 62 after 20 years with the Forest Service (most of those years as law enforcement.) He passed away just shy of two months after his retirement day and thus didn’t receive a single annuity check. I am his only survivor, and I’m trying to determining what the lump-sum payout will be. Is there any way to estimate what he paid in? He was set to receive roughly $22,000 year for 30 years. What percentage of that would his contribution actually be?
Q. My mother has never worked outside the home. Upon my father’s death, she will receive survivor benefits from CSRS and Social Security benefits based on his work record. I believe she will not be affected by any government pension offset because she has never worked. Is that correct?
Q. My entrance on-duty date is May 1971, and I was reading that employees stop getting the government contribution to their retirement at 41 years one month. Would this apply for part-time employees? If not (being optimistic), would they factor in the part-time years of service and add on the years to equate to this timeline? For example, for someone who worked 10 years at 20 hours a week, deduct five years and continue contribution till the total 41 years one month are completed. Also, is there a ratio of how many retirees elect to take out an insurance policy…
Q. I retired from the Department of Housing and Urban Development on Jan. 3, 2007, after working there for 33½ years plus 1½ years of credit for accumulated sick leave. I elected to provide full survivor’s benefits to my wife. Can I determine what my annuity would have been had I not elected to provide full survivor’s benefits to my wife? I know this information was provided to me before I decided to retire, but I cannot locate those documents.
Q. My husband worked for the government for 25 years under CSRS and receives a pension. When he retired, we applied for spousal benefits because I had no qualifying employment. He then went to work in the private sector and will complete his 30 years of substantial earnings for Social Security next year. When he retires, he will receive another pension from his private job. As we understand it, we should not be affected by the windfall elimination provision. However, we are confused by the government pension offset. Will he not be entitled to draw his full Social Security at…
Q. I am a CSRS retiree. I retired in 2007 and remarried in 2008. I have no obligations to any former spouse, etc. I never thought about getting my new wife survivor benefits. Can I still acquire survivor benefits for my wife after all this time? I get nowhere with OPM; either they do not know or they go get me an answer and say they’ll get back to me and I never hear from them again.
Q. I am 57 and a recent CSRS retiree. My husband is 67 and receives Social Security. He has Medicare Part A and is covered under my Federal Employees Health Benefits insurance plan. He is in the eight-month period after my retirement to enroll without penalty in Medicare Part B. Can he suspend his coverage in the FEHBP to enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan? Then I could change my FEHBP enrollment to self-only, which would reduce our insurance costs. Or is suspension of FEHB only an option for annuitants? A. He can’t suspend his coverage under the FEHB program.…
Q. I will be retiring at the end of this year with 37 years and 10 months of service. I am a CSRS employee who will be 57 years old in September. My annual annuity would be $81,958 a year. I will have a little over $200,000 in my Thrift Savings Plan account. Is it smartest to take the spousal annuity or take out a life insurance policy on myself to sustain my wife once I pass away? My annual annuity will be reduced by around $7,900 a year if I choose the spousal annuity. Which would be the wisest?