Q. I am a federal employee now working stateside but have worked overseas where my maximum annual leave carryover amount was 360 hours. My local human resources officer and comptroller are telling me that any time I drop below 360 hours of annual leave on the books, within a given leave year, my new maximum leave carryover amount will be the lower amount that I have on the books (which is below 360 hours). But some employee handbooks/desk guides seem to imply that as long as you are at 360 hours at the end of the leave year, you will…
Q. I am 50 years old with 29 years of FERS service. Would I be able to retire with 30 years of service and start receiving my retirement when I reach my minimum retirement age without a penalty? A. No. Unless your agency offered you an early retirement opportunity, the earliest you could retire would be when you reach your MRA.
Q. I am making plans to retire at the end of this year. I am eligible for Tricare, and I have been enrolled in a Federal Employees Health Benefits plan or Tricare my entire career. I was enrolled in Tricare Prime last year, but I enrolled in an FEHB plan this year to be able to carry FEHB into retirement. However, I would like to “suspend” FEHB as soon after retirement as possible to take advantage of the less expensive Tricare Prime option. I am assuming I will not have to wait until open season to suspend my FEHB coverage.…
Q. I am unmarried and under CSRS Offset. I have no children. What happens to my CSRS pension if I am deceased and have no spouse or dependent children? Do the benefits die with me? A. Your retirement contributions will be refunded and made a part of your estate.
Q. I’ve been in FERS for 26 years. I’m waiting for an early-out, but if that doesn’t happen I was thinking of bidding on a part-time or nontraditional job with fewer than 40 hours a week. How would this affect my retirement based on the high-3 average used to calculate annuity? My minimum retirement age is 56, so in 2014 I will have 28.7 years. Will I be penalized if I retire then? Will it be 5 percent for every year under 62? A. Your high-3 will be based on the average annual rate of basic pay during your highest…
Q. I am a 53-year-old FERS employee who requested to buy back my military service time through payroll deductions. The intent was to retire at 62 from federal service, at which time the years of military service would have been completely bought back. Now, my agency is offering Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments. I am tempted to accept one and opt for a delayed retirement. I don’t believe the VSIP would affect my projected future retirement benefits (please verify that). However, must I continue to make monthly payments to the Office of Personnel Management to complete the buyback prior to age…
Q. I am a federal employee under CSRS and can retire at any time. If it is now taking an average of 133 days to process retirement claims, do you have to leave while your claim is in progress? Also, will I receive checks or one check for the more than four-month waiting time? How does one survive for four months without any income? It used to be that if you retired by the 3rd of the month, you’d receive your first check the following month. A. Your retirement application can’t be sent to the Office of Personnel Management until you have…
Q. I am a career federal employee with almost 41 years of service and plan to continue my federal employment well beyond 41 years. I understand that the maximum retirement benefit for CSRS employees (excluding sick leave credit) is 80 percent and to achieve that level requires 41 years, 11 months of credible service. Since CSRS employees contribute 7 percent of their salary into their retirement fund, what happens to the 7 percent contribution after completing 41years, 11 months of service and reaching the maximum benefit of 80 percent? A. When you retire, any excess contributions will be returned to you, with…
Q. I am an active-duty E-9 with a retirement date of July 1. With terminal leave and permissive temporary duty, I will be leaving the service in April. Am I eligible to start work in April if selected for a GS position? Are there any restrictions to going to work for a government contractor while on terminal leave? A. Yes, you can go to work as a civilian government employee during your period of terminal leave. I don’t know if that’s true if you go to work for someone else. You’ll have to check with your personnel office.
Q. I’ve heard there is some sort of tax break (deduction/credit?) that may be claimed if you earned less in your first year of CSRS retirement than you earned while working. Is this true? Local tax filers are unfamiliar with this, but then there are few federal retirees in my area. How do you claim this? Any specific tax form, etc., to use? I retired in June 2011. Would I claim it on 2011 tax year (half-year retired) or 2012 (first full year in retirement)? A. While there is no such tax break for either CSRS or FERS employees, there…