Q: I have heard that five years of service is required to be eligible to receive a FERS annuity. I am 61 years old and have been a GS employee for one year. I plan to buy back my four years and seven months of service in the Navy. My question is this: can I retire with an annuity after working two more years (total of three years of active GS service) and get an annuity based on my creditable service of seven years and seven months (military time plus active GS time)? I read on a private website dedicated…
Q: I am one of many applicants who have passed all pre-employment requirements for a federal job under FCIP. (written exam, polygraph, drug test, oral board interview, etc.) I’ve been in the running for this position for more than a year. What happens to all of us current applicants who are ready for hiring? OPM says they’ll probably just drop all of us, which would mean we would have to start all over again. The federal government has spent a significant amount of money to get us to this point. Why can’t we just get into the FLETC under career…
Q: I recently began federal employment after serving 10 years of active duty in the Air Force. I am buying back my time in one lump sum at the end of this month. However, I have been toying with the idea of returning to active duty in two or three years. If I return to active duty and retire from the Air Force, what happens to my deposit? Also, if after retiring from active duty, I return to federal employment, what effect would the original buyback deposit have on my potential civil service retirement? A: If you left your contributions…
Q: If one does not believe their contributions to CSRS retirement is reflected correctly, where would you go to have it checked out? I have been in touch with my local retirement office but they cannot answer my questions. What my pay statement reflects and what EBIS shows are two different figures. I do know numerous years ago, our finance office changed and I don’t think the figures reflect my pay contributions before the change. A: According to OPM, “Active employees should speak with their Human Resources Office and payroll offices if there are any inconsistent deductions between pay statements…
There seems to be a lot of confusion about what part unused sick leave plays in your annuity. The short answer is: The more you have, the bigger its role. Before we get into the details of how sick leave can enhance your retirement benefit, let me clear up two common misunderstandings: First, sick leave can’t be added to your service time to make you eligible to retire. Second, it can’t be used in determining the amount of the special retirement supplement (SRS) available to some Federal Employees Retirement System retirees. The SRS is based on actual years and full…
Q: I am considering applying for disability due to a psychiatric condition. Does FERS disability retirement permit me to live outside of the United States while I receive my benefit? I would return for medical exams as required. A: There is no bar to your living outside of the United States or its territories. You may also receive your disability annuity payments there, as long as you aren’t living in one of the blocked countries. Currently, the blocked countries are Cuba, Cambodia and North Korea.
Q: I am a federal employee under CSRS. I will be affected by a reduction in force by the postal service and will be offered a buyout if I leave by the end of May. Can I apply for unemployment compensation until I find another job outside the postal service? A: If you aren’t eligible to retire when you leave, you may be entitled to unemployment compensation. If you are eligible to retire and do so, then it’s unlikely that you would be eligible. Since each state sets the criteria for unemployment compensation, once you have been separated, you’ll need…
Q: I am an employee at a VA hospital under the TCF program. I am a TCF intern, so I am on a special pay pate. With the elimination of the FCIP program that hired me, I have been converted to a permanent employee. Before the conversion I was getting paid an additional locality adjustment on top of my special pay rate, but now I am getting my special pay without the locality adjustment. Am I supposed to get an additional locality adjustment on top of my special pay, or should I only be receiving my special pay rate without…
Q: I have 20 years of full time service. I want to stay employed and plan to go part time. Will this have a serious negative impact on me? A: How significant it will be depends on the number of part-time hours you work and how long you do that. Go to www.opm.gov/retire/pubs/handbook/C055.pdf and scroll down to the FERS section. There you’ll find the method used to compute an annuity that includes part-time service.
Q: I will turn 53 on June 10. My SCD is June 5, 1978. I have 33 years of federal service. I worked for the Air Force for the first 29 years. Then I was transferred to Defense Logistics Agency. We were told at that time that nothing would change. I have heard that the Air Force is submitting a survey in May asking how many federal Air Force employees would be interested in an early out. How might I get an offer for an early out? During the past years I missed out on two early outs, one because…