Q. Both my wife and I will be retiring the last work day in January 2016. If the spouse for whom a survivor’s annuity benefit is chosen predeceases the other spouse, does the other spouse then get their annuity restored to the full amount? Also, I understand that a survivor’s annuity must be elected in order for the survivor to maintain FEHB coverage from its spouse. Is it correct that the election can be for less than a 55 percent annuity (e.g., CSRS)?
Browsing: spouse benefits
Q. I receive an annuity and collect Social Security. My husband passed away in July 2015 and I applied for spousal benefits from Social Security. I was denied because of my annuity. Is there a limit on the amount of annuity you receive? I am going to lose everything because I am not entitled to even part of his Social Security, which in the beginning was supposed to be $500. I was told I could have collected when he was alive. Now I will get nothing because I have an annuity. What I can do? I have a mortgage, house bills and credit cards. I feel…
When you began working for the government, you filled out a designation of beneficiary form. If you die, that form will settle the question about who is entitled to receive any benefits based on your employment. If you don’t remember who you designated, you need to go to your personnel office, dig the form out of your official personnel file and make sure that whoever you designated back then is still who you want to receive those benefits in the event of your death. While you can designate anyone to receive the proceeds of your Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance…
It’s time for a little history lesson. Not just because it’s fun to run a rake through the past, but because it can put things in perspective and clear up misunderstandings. When I began working for the federal government, the U.S. tax code held that the retirement contributions deducted from your pay would be tax-free when you retired and began receiving an annuity. That’s because those dollars had already been taxed when they were earned. Only after those previously taxed dollars ran out did you begin receiving the government’s money. And that money was 100-percent taxable. The payout of the…
Q. I’m a CSRS retiree. Can my wife keep the survivor benefit, plus her own social benefit when I die? A. Yes.
Q. I am a postal employee in the CSRS pension plan. I’m 64 with 33 years service. If I die before I retire, will my wife get the 55 percent of what my pension would be as if I was retired? Would she be eligible for the survivor benefit as if I would have been retired?
Q. In the FERS retirement system, do I have to be married at the time of my retirement to obtain a spousal annuity benefit, or can I get married after I retire and then change my status to spousal annuity? If I am married at the time of retirement and obtain a spousal annuity and later my spouse dies, can I change to the higher nonspousal annuity?
Q. Ten percent of retirement earned (i.e.30 years at age 55 = 56.25 of the high three) must be paid to give a wife the full survivor benefit. What if the wife is 12 years younger? Is it still 10 percent?
Q. My husband retired under CSRS, and I expect to retire under FERS in a few years. When he retired, he elected survivor benefits for me, and I will do the same for him. What will be the rate the survivor will receive: only their benefit or their benefit plus the survivor portion? The answer will make a big difference in how comfortable we can live in retirement, before and after one of us passes.
Q. I am CSRS and presently employed be the Air Force. I paid my military deposit in full, and as I will never have Social Security quarters, I would like to have it refunded back to me. Although OPM cannot quote the regulation, they said that if I was still making payments on it I could request a refund but because it is paid in full I cannot. Can you quote the regulation that states that? Can you quote the regulation that says that I can have this refunded!