Q: I’m a single FERS. My MRA is 56 with 23 ½ years of service. I’d like to defer retirement until 60, which would be this December. I’d like to confirm the MRA +10. In essence I’d really be resigning from the government. My human resources department says they would complete a PAI and SF-50 with the reason for resignation, then I would file my papers directly to OPM in 2014, 60 to 90 days before I’d like my benefits to start. I could wait longer than 2014 if I had outside employment. My main question is, if I don’t…
Q: In Alaska we are transitioning to locality pay from COLA. The transition began in January 2010 and will be fully in effect in 2012 for high-3 calculations. Because of this move from COLA, we are in the process of gaining a substantial amount of high-3 earnings for our retirement calculations. How does OPM handle the average if one retires at the end of June 2012, just two and a half years into the transition period? I can see that one would use all of 2010 and then all of 2011, but that last 12-month period is the question. A…
Q: I am a National Guard Technician with eight years as a GS employee. Can I apply any of those years toward a “6c” retirement (such as a Special Agent position within DEA or customs)? I turn 37 in January and would like to apply for a Special Agent position but I will be older than their mandatory hiring age limit unless those National Guard years apply (I won’t be able to have 20 years of service before the mandatory retirement age of 57). A: No, your years as a National Guard Technician cannot be counted toward retirement as a…
Q: I am 58 years old and a CSRS employee with 33 years of service. During the past 30 years I have paid and accumulated 14 years of “substantial” earning under to Social Security. If I am still working when I am 62, can I apply for Social Security benefits without the WEP decreasing my payments? Is it correct that WEP only takes effect once the individual retires from federal service? A: While the windfall elimination provision doesn’t apply until you retire, if you apply for a Social Security benefit at age 62, you will be subject to the Social…
Q: I am a CSRS Offset federal employee with 18 years of service and I am now 53. I expect to retire at 65 with a total of 30 years of federal government service. Will my retirement be offset at the age of 65 with 30 years of service when I apply for Social Security? A: Yes, your CSRS annuity will be reduced by the amount of Social Security benefit you earned while employed under CSRS Offset. The total you receive will be the same, it will just come from two different places, OPM and the Social Security Administration.
Q: Most questions about WEP have centered around federal employees retiring under CSRS. I am a federal employee with 11 years of service under FERS. As a result, I have paid Social Security on my previously earned income. If I leave federal service now, I should get an annuity of 1 percent of the high-three, times the number of years of service. Figure about $11,000 per year. I am considering accepting a job with the United Nations in Europe. Based on the literature, the United Nations income is paid on a “net basis” with the “gross-net” differential going toward funding…
Q: Under FERS, after 2013 or 2014 (whenever you get full credit for sick leave), if you retire under MRA 10+, will the sick leave add on, or add service months to help reduce the 5 percent reduction per year? I am 54 with 20 years of FERS service. A: No, it won’t. While unused sick leave will be added to your years of service and used to increase the amount of your annuity, it won’t alter your age. You will still be penalized 5 percent for every year (5/12 percent per month) that you are under age 60.
Q: When I retire from the USPS under CSRS I plan to switch to self-only insurance. My husband will be going into the USPS under FERS. He plans on taking out family insurance because we still have a 20-year-old son that we plan to cover. From what I have read this is not possible. I don’t want to risk giving up my health insurance just in case something happens and my husband can’t work. One of us must take the family option because of my son. Can I have self-only while he takes the family option? If not, what would…
Q: I am a dual status employee in an excepted position with military affiliation with the Air National Guard as a condition of employment. If I elect to retire from my military position before the end of my enlistment and subsequently lose my civil service job, would it be considered a voluntary separation? I am eligible to retire from both and trying to determine if I am eligible to receive unemployment insurance benefits. A: Eligibility for unemployment benefits is determined by the state in which you live. You’ll need to talk with a specialist in your state unemployment office.
Q: I am a federal employee under CSRS. When I die, my spouse will get the full spouse survivor benefit. She is not and has not been a federal employee. Is it true that when I die most (if not all) of her Social Security benefits will go away because she receives the CSRS survivor benefit? A: Her Social Security benefit won’t be affected in any way unless she is receiving an annuity — in whole or part — from a retirement system where she didn’t pay Social Security taxes.