Browsing: 5 percent-per-year penalty

Q. I plan on retiring in 1½ years. I will be 56 and have 23 years federal service. I bought back my three years of military time, but I understand that I will not be able to use that unless I do 30 years. I am FERS and was born in 1958, so my minimum retirement age is 56. Will I be able to retire at 56 with 23 years of federal service? A. You could retire under the MRA+10 provision. However, your annuity would be reduced by 5 percent for every year (5/12 percent per month) that you were…

Q. I am an Air Force retiree who has 13 years as a federal employee. I am eligible for MRA+10 on March 24. If I apply to retire, how long does it take to process my application for approval or what is the earliest date I can actually resign? I am considering a private sector job and they want to start in 30-45 days. A. When you fill out the Standard Form 3107, Application for Immediate Retirement, you’ll put the date you are retiring in Section B2. It doesn’t matter how long it takes to process your application, that’s your…

Q. I have 26 years of uninterrupted federal service, am 58 years old, in FERS, no military service. 1. Is Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay ever offered without Voluntary Early Retirement Authority, or VERA without VSIP? 2. Can I, at less than 60 years old, accept the VERA/VSIP and retire if one or the other is offered? 3. If I take VERA and am not 60 years old but have over 25 years of service, will I be eligible to receive the special retirement supplement immediately or have to wait until age 60? How about under VSIP only? 4. If I…

Q. I work for the Postal Service. If I retire at 56 with 20 years of service after Jan. 1, 2014, and decide to postpone my annuity, what happens to my sick leave? Will I be credited with 100 percent, 50 percent or 0? If it does not count, is there any reimbursement? A. You’ll receive full credit for your unused sick leave in the computation of your annuity. That’s true regardless of when you begin receiving your annuity. Because you’d be retiring under the MRA+10 provision, your annuity would be reduced by 5 percent for every year (5/12 percent…

Q. I’m pretty certain if I retire with 30 years of service and at my minimum retirement age (which for me is almost 60 to have both), I will get the special retirement supplement until age 62. Is that correct? If I have reached my MRA (age 56) with 26 years of service and retire (I believe there is a 5 percent-per-year under-62 penalty; i.e., a lot). Under official early-out offers (Voluntary Early Retirement Authority; no penalty if at MRA, I believe), if at that time I were 57 (MRA is 56) and 27 years of service, might I get…

Q. I have been a postal Service employee for 19 years and a member of the Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard for 26 years. I have approximately three years of active-duty time. If I buy back my military time to put toward my postal retirement, will that affect my military retirement? Also, when is the earliest I can retire/separate from the Postal Service and keep my pension, and what effect will retiring early have on my benefits? A. First, making a deposit for your active-duty service will have no effect on your reserve retired pay. Second,…

Q. I am a registered nurse and I am considering taking a job at a Veterans Affairs Department outpatient clinic. If I work 20 years, what would my monthly pension include? I would like to know a monthly dollar amount. A. While I can’t give you a dollar amount, I can give you the formula that would be used to determine your annuity. Here it is: .01 x your highest three consecutive years of average basic pay x your years and full months of service. To be eligible to retire, you’d have to meet one of the following age and…

Q. I am a FERS employee with 20 years service at age 59. If I retire now, will I be eligible for the special retirement supplement when I turn 60, or must I still be working to qualify? A. If you retired at age 59 with 20 years of service, you’d be doing so under the MRA+10 provision (minimum retirement age with 10 to 29 years of service). Not only would your annuity be reduced by 5 percent per year (5/12 percent per month) that you were under age 62, but you wouldn’t be entitled to the special retirement supplement.

Q. I have 27 years with the government. At 23 years, I took a job with excepted service and it was not explained to me that they never offer early retirements. Is there any possibility of getting a retirement under FERS with excepted service at less than the full retirement number of years and age? A. You didn’t mention how old you are. If you have reached your minimum retirement age, you could retire under the MRA+10 provision. However, your annuity would be reduced by 5 percent for every year you were under age 60.

Q. Could you show the math in calculating how much I could expect to receive every month? I want to retire at 56 because I was born in 1958. I’ll have 15 years of service at that time. I earn approximately $50,000 a year. A. Because you were born in 1958, your minimum retirement age is 56. If you retired with 15 years of service, the formula for computing your annuity would be: .01 x your highest three consecutive years of average basic pay x all your years and full months of service. However, because you’d be retiring under the…

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