Q. My mother died while working for the Postal Service at age 60. My father is a survivor annuitant receiving a pension and paying for health care premiums under the Federal Employees Health Benefits plan. My father is turning 65 and eligible for Medicare. Does he have the option of declining Part B and carrying over his current FEHB health care for his lifetime?
Browsing: spouse benefits
Q. Recently, a colleague and I were reading your Dec. 2 article “Don’t let these 5 mistakes disrupt your plans.” Your statement on number 5 (not accounting for the government pension offset) leaves us wondering. We are under CSRS and retiring this month. Her husband is still working and will be eligible to draw Social Security benefits when his time comes to do so. Your statement indicates that when he draws Social Security, her CSRS annuity will be reduced. REALLY? I know that if he draws Social Security and dies, she eligible to receive his Social Security, but her pension with…
Q. I am 59 years old. I receive a civil service retirement from my former spouse, approximately $24,000 per year. I work in the private sector and have paid into Social Security for 40 years. I will be accepting a position in the federal government and plan to work for five years and pay the maximum I can into CSRS. I hope that, after five years, I am eligible for a small retirement from the government in addition to Social Security and my former husband’s retirement. Is this correct, or will there be caps to the amount that I can…
Q. With respect to a recent post on Medicare Part B, just a quick follow-up to help me see the answer. In the previous post, the person was a retired male under age 65 covered by self and family in the Federal Employees Health Benefits plan, so his working wife, age 65, has health coverage and doesn’t need Part B per your previous response since she is both working and covered. 1. When the male, who is retired, turns 65, does he have the option to carry the FEHB coverage past 65 so he doesn’t have to sign up for Part…
Q. I’m a retired federal employee (CSRS). My wife and I both have federal health insurance. My wife is still working (self-employed) and will be turning 65 this year. She went to sign up for Medicare and was told she had to also sign up for Medicare Part B or be penalized even though we have health insurance through Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Social Security Administration said if I was still actively federally employed, she would not be required to take Part B and there would be no penalty. Another person she spoke with from SSA said she is not required…
Q. I have been enrolled in Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance since 1983 and plan on retiring this year. In 2010, I added life insurance coverage for my spouse. Does the five-year rule apply for eligibility upon my retirement?
Q. My husband was still employed by civil service aboard New River Air Station, N.C., when he passed away. I was told by human resources in Norfolk, Va., that I could buy into survivor annuity (FERS). My husband was short three years of retirement, and I can make a deposit of $12,522.36 to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service to qualify for survivor annuity through FERS, and I would receive $783 a month. DFAS has calculated what he earned during his military career. I am receiving $1,215 a month in Dependency and Indemnity Compensation. I am confused because the Norfolk…
Q. I am a FERS employee with a CSRS spouse who is retired. When I retire, in the event of my death, will her retirement pay be reduced when she gets my Social Security monthly survivor benefit? She has no Social Security eligibility.
Q. My wife is 65 and is retiring under FERS from federal service at age 66 (in one month). I resigned under FERS two years and three months ago while not old enough for Medicare but was self-employed for the past two years, now employed by a nongovernment contractor. I had Federal Employees Health Benefits coverage separate from my wife’s FEHB coverage while employed in federal government service. My wife had her own coverage until I quit federal employment, then she started FEHB family coverage to cover both of us. She had Medicare coverage simultaneously for part of the last…
Q. I am a retired CSRS employee with survivor benefits for my wife. She is FERS and will retire this year. If I die, will my survivor benefits affect/reduce her FERS and/or Social Security benefits?