Browsing: annuity reduction

Q. Consider a retired federal employee who was married and has chosen a spouse survivor benefit at the time of retirement. If the spouse dies and the annuitant remarries: 1. Are further annuity reductions needed to cover the new spouse? 2. Is the nine-month waiting period still required? 3. If the original survivor benefit was less than full, can the benefit be increased (with increased annuity reduction)?

Q. I would like to know who is responsible for informing employees who work for the government of the windfall elimination provision. I was not told about the WEP until I went to the Social Security office to file for my Social Security retirement. My Social Security benefits were reduced by more than $1,000 per month. I worked hard all my life with two jobs for over 30 years. For what? Just to have my benefits go to someone who did not work but gets benefits. How are you to be informed of this law?

Q. I was told I am included in the catch 62 provision. I served four years in the Air Force from 1974 to 1978 and began Postal Service employment in 1979 (to present). I’d like to retire this year. I also have 2,282 hours of sick leave, and my service computation begins in 1975.

Q. The following statement was made in an answer to a question ask about post-1956 deposit: “You can’t get a refund of the deposit you made for your active-duty service. What’s done is done. If you retire at age 62 and aren’t eligible for a Social Security benefit at that time, you’ll never have to worry about losing those years and having your annuity recomputed.” I will retire at age 60 and have paid in a post-1956 deposit. I am in CSRS and will have 41 years and eight months with the post-56 deposit (eight years, six months of military…

Q. I am 54 and have over 26 years of creditable service under FERS. I am going to be leaving government service in the next few months. Is it better to take a reduced annuity at age 56 or wait until I can take the full annuity? A. You don’t have a choice. If you leave government, you won’t be eligible for a deferred annuity until you reach age 60. And the only reason you won’t have to wait until age 62 for that annuity is because you have at least 20 years of service.

Q. I am 52 years old and have 22 years of federal employment. Can I retire? If so, how soon can I receive monthly payments, and how much would they be reduced by?  How would this affect my Social Security benefits later? Also, how would this affect my medical insurance? A. Unless you are a special category employee, such as a law enforcement officer or a firefighter, you don’t meet the age and service requirements to retire. For FERS employees, these are: age 62 with five years of service, 60 with 20, at your minimum retirement age (MRA) with 30, and…

Q. I can start drawing Social Security this year, but I am retired from the federal government under CSRS. I had eight years in the Marine Corps, which I got credit for at retirement, and I didn’t pay the deposit of 7 percent for those years. Will my government retirement check go down? I read that I am already being penalized 10 percent each year because I didn’t pay the deposit. A. If you are eligible for a Social Security benefit at age 62, those eight years for which you didn’t make a deposit will be eliminated and your annuity recomputed downward.

Q. I am a 51-year-old FERS employee whose minimum retirement age is 56. I will have over 30 years of service when I reach the minimum retirement age.  A couple of years ago, I went under my wife’s health plan.  We incorrectly assumed that she needed five years to become vested and that we could just stay under her plan when we retired (as with FERS). However, she is a Non-Appropriated Funds Defense Department employee and would need 15 years. I am picking up my Federal Employees Health Benefits insurance again so that I will have five years under the…

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…

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