Q: I have 31 years in the Army, six years of which is active duty, and I’m still on reserve status. I’ve been working at a Veterans Affairs Department hospital for more than 20 years and plan to stay there until I have 30 years of service. I’m presently buying back the six years of active-duty time, and it is going to cost $12,000. First of all, is it worth it for me to buy back this time? I have heard when you retire from the federal government, you will only get either your federal retirement with your active-duty buyback…
Q: I retired at age 52 under a Federal Employees Retirement System law enforcement (1811) retirement. I am now 55 and am employed. I generally understand the earnings test that will apply to my FERS supplement beginning the year I reach my minimum retirement age, but I am not clear how it is calculated the first year. I will reach my MRA in 2011 at the age of 56. Are my earnings for the entire year of 2011 calculated, or do they only calculate the earnings after I turn 56? I have not been able to get an answer from…
Q: I was hired after 1983 to a nonmilitary position. I left federal employment with a 40 percent Federal Employees Retirement System disability annuity. I was recently approved for Social Security disability. It is my understanding that per Federal Law 5 U.S.C. 8452(a)(2) that my monthly FERS disability check will be reduced by 60 percent of my Social Security disability benefit. That doesn’t seem fair. Isn’t there a bill pending in Congress that repeals this? Do you know which bill I should refer to when I contact my Congressman? A: That’s the law and, to the best of my knowledge, no…
Q: I am planning to retire next year and I am attempting to make my Flexible Spending Accounts open-season decision. I know that if I have money left in my FSA and do not have enough expenses before I retire, I lose that money. However, I don’t know what happens in the reverse situation: If I have received payments that exceed the amount that I have had deducted from my payroll, what happens? An example would be if I elected $2,500 for the year, had paid in $800 from payroll deductions but already had received $1,200 in claims when I…
Q: I am a Civil Service Retirement System Offset annuitant hired in 1968. In 1985, our branch of government was taken over by the private sector. The private sector bought all of my federal service. In 2002, there was a reduction In force. I was eligible for an early retirement at age 51 and therefore receive two retirement checks: One for federal service and the other for my time purchased by the private sector. As a CSRS Offset employee, at age 62 I am subject to the Offset Social Security calculations but also have the same time purchased by the…
Q: What are the available annuity options for a federal employee with 19 years of service under the Foreign Service Retirement and Disability System (FSRDS) and an additional 21 years under the Civil Service Retirement System? A former spouse has an entitlement for the 19 years under FSRDS, and a current spouse has entitlement for the 21 years in CSRS. Is there an option for two separate annuity computations? Also, what are the various benefits included in a lump-sum payment from the Office of Personnel Management? A: If you don’t take steps to combine your service, you would be eligible…
Q: I understand Congress has a bill to allow federal employees, upon retirement, the ability to roll our unused annual leave into the Thrift Savings Plan. Has this been decided upon as of yet? A: No.
Q: I was hired in 1968 and had Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance deductions from the beginning of employment. However, in 1985 my branch of government was dissolved. As a result, the entire branch was transferred to the private sector (FHLBank). I would like to know what happened to the FEGLI deductions for those years of service. We were never refunded for those years worth of deductions. A: The FEGLI is a term insurance program. As long as you were employed by the federal government and paid your share of the premiums through payroll deduction, you were covered. When you…
Q: My father passed away at age 79 on Oct. 29. He and my mother divorced Jan. 31, 1985, and she never remarried. He remarried, but his wife passed away Jan. 26, 2009. He has two adult children from his first marriage. Would his former spouse be entitled to any benefits before his children? There is no beneficiary and no court order on file. A: She wouldn’t be entitled to any retirement benefits. Whether she would have title to any Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance benefits would depend on who he had designated as his beneficiary.
Q: I am a term employee in the Labor Department covered by Blue Cross/Blue Shield. My term ends Dec. 20. I am also a surviving spouse of a federal employee who was covered under the Civil Service Retirement System. I elected to not take health insurance under the annuity about 15 years ago. I would like to continue my current coverage; can my coverage be converted to the annuity coverage? I am a career status employee with approximately 13 years of federal service, 11 years under CSRS, and I elected not to be included in the Federal Employees Retirement System…