Q. If I have met the requirements for a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority being offered in 2014 (over 25 years and any age — in my case, 27 years and age 46), would I get credit in my retirement benefit calculation for sick leave. I know after Dec. 31, 2013, the full amount can be used. However, I wasn’t sure if you have to retire under “normal” circumstances and whether it was still applicable in a VERA situation. After meeting the requirement for a VERA, I know you can collect your retirement annuity immediately. Does the same hold true for…
Browsing: annuity computation
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. In February 2014, I will have 33 years of government service. If I receive a step increase in February 2014 and retire in March 2014, will the step increase be factored into my high-3? A. Assuming that it is part of your highest three consecutive years of average pay, it will be included in the 78 pay periods used to calculate your high-3.
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. Our installation is offering a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority/Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay. My service computation date is in November 1988, and I will be 52 this May. I have 15 years of part-time employment. A majority of these years were at 40 hours, biweekly. Approximately three to four years were 48 hours, biweekly. How can/do I calculate my estimated retirement pay, other than contacting ABC and requesting calculation? I’m afraid they will not be able to provide info before the deadline to apply for the VERA/VSIP. A. You’ll find out how to do that by going to www.opm.gov/retirement-services/publications-forms/csrsfers-handbook/c055.pdf and…
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…
Q. I left Veterans Affairs Department service and withdrew my money from CSRS. When I came back after less than a year, I asked human resources to make sure I was under the same retirement system but only part time since I was in school. He told me not to come back part time, changed me to intermittent and said that since I came back after less than a year, it would not change anything. I found out that it threw me into the offset. I became eligible for retirement June 25, 2012, but have some ongoing medical issues and…
Q. I am eligible for retirement in July. I started under CSRS and transferred to FERS. I know that after Jan. 1, 2014, I will get time of service for all of my sick leave. How is that figured? Do 2,080 hours add one year of service? A. No, 2,087 hours equals one year. Therefore, a month of additional credit is roughly 174 hours. Be aware that unused sick leave isn’t treated separately. It’s added to any hours that weren’t used in the computation of your annuity. There are usually some hours left over because your annuity is based on…
Q. I have 17 days of unused sick leave. I do not want to give it back when I retire. Is that calculated as 17 working days or 17 calendar days? A. Neither. Unused sick leave days (and days of actual service that don’t add up to a full month) are converted to annuity days. That’s done by dividing 2,087 (the number of hours in a work year) by 360 (12 30-day months). As a result, an annuity day is about 5.79 hours long, and an annuity month about 174 hours long. Only full months are used in an annuity…
Q. I am a 57-year-old FERS employee with 29 years and 11 months of civilian federal service, five years of active-duty military service and 31 years of military reserve service (I plan to retire from reserve duty at 60). I want to know how my retirement from civilian federal service will be computed. I bought back the active-duty military service. A. Your FERS annuity will be computed using the standard formula: .01 x your high-3 x your years and full months of service (including actual service and active duty service for which you’ve made a deposit).