Q: I provide financial services to federal employees and have been posed with a question I have not had before. My client has recently retired under Federal Employees Retirement System and has been an Army reservist for 20-plus years. Will his reservist earnings count against his FERS supplement earnings test? If he is called to active duty, are there any other considerations? And lastly, am I correct in understanding that military or reservist retired pay does not count as earnings against the FERS supplement earnings test? A: The Social Security earnings test applies to earnings from wages or self-employment. Having…
Q: If you were a Federal Employees Retirement System dual status federal technician in the Air National Guard and were non-retained at age 50 with 28 years of service (discontinued service retirement), can you qualify for disability retirement if you have a disabling condition? Or must you take the standard FERS 1 percent high-3 retirement? A: If you are involuntarily separated from technician service after reaching age 50 and having 25 years of service, you are entitled to an immediate annuity, which would be computed using the standard FERS formula. If that separation is due to a disability that disqualifies…
Q: I am currently in a law enforcement position, as a Federal Employees Retirement System employee, and I am covered under the special group of employees Firefighters, Law Enforcement Officers, and Air Traffic Controllers retirement. I am considering, after 10 years of service, a lateral transfer to a GS-13 position, with the Defense Department (non-law enforcement) with more potential for promotion and a significant decrease on my commute. Since I paid an increase of .5 percent to FERS for 10-plus years, why doesn’t the 1.7 percent transfer in government to government services? A: Under the law, only those special category…
Q: I plan to retire in June 2011 on my 62nd birthday. If I work up until that date and make approximately $20,000 will my Social Security benefits be reduced? A: The Social Security Administration has a special “first year” rule that lets them pay a full Social Security check for any whole month they consider you retired, regardless of your yearly earnings. In other words, the pay you received before retiring won’t count against the earnings limit. Note: In 2010, if you are below full retirement age, you are considered retired in any month that your earnings are $1,180…
Q: I am an 80 percent disabled veteran right now. I have applied for a Federal Employees Retirement System disability retirement, and they I was told it would take three to six months. Is that about the right time? I thought it would go through rather quickly. I went to apply for Social Security, but until I am not working, they can’t process my claim. Same thing with Veterans Affairs. I gave them an individual unemployment form, then they said I had to wait until I am not working. Is that right? I applied for Social Security under the Wounded…
Q: I am currently a federal employee, having joined an agency in January 2010, late in my career. I am 64 years old. Between 1980 and 1987 I worked for the state and I paid into the state retirement system. Later, I transferred those funds into a private IRA. I was not vested in that system after only seven years. Can I make a deposit into the federal system for those years to add resources to what will likely be five years of employment with the federal government? A: No, you cannot make a deposit and get credit for that…
Q: I read somewhere that if you had enough quarters of Social Security, like 28 or 30, you could qualify for your Social Security pay based on that and I would get both my Federal Employees Retirement System and Social Security disability retirement money, without there being an offset. Is that correct? A: The criteria for receiving a Social Security disability benefits are much higher than those for a FERS disability benefit. To receive such a benefit with fewer than 40 credits, you would have had to be covered under Social Security from the time you turned age 22. Under…
Q: I was in the Air Force from May 1980 to June 1993. I took a separation incentive. I have been in Federal Employees Retirement System from 1993 to present. What do I do to get the best possible retirement pay? Buy back time? Would I have to pay back the separation incentive? I am 48 years old. A: If you want to get credit for your years of active duty service, you’ll have to make a deposit to the civilian retirement fund. In your case, that would be 3 percent of your basic military pay, not including any allowances…
Q: I was a Civil Service Retirement System employee who quit after eight years of service to take care of my ailing mother. After the what I believe is the three year window for rehire into CSRS, I never tried to go back. It has been 20 years. Recently, I have heard of a legal case that might allow me to be rehired under CSRS. Under what circumstances could I now go back as a CSRS rehire? When I was hired originally in 1981, I was eligible for a GS-9, but took a much lower grade so I could get…
Q: I have been receiving Social Security benefits since turning 65 in 2003. I had to take another job and the company I am working for does not take Social Security from my pay. I have been employed for seven years. I am thinking about retiring from this position and when I do, I will receive a pension from state of California of about $600 per month. I have less than 20 years paid into Social Security. I had interview with Social Security representative, and she calculated my Social Security once I receive pension from California will be reduced by…