Q. According to my leave and earnings statement, my service computation date is Feb. 28, 1971. So on Feb. 28, I will have 42 years of continuous federal government service. I am under CSRS and have paid back my military contribution. So I reached my maximum annuity based on actual service that’s allowed under law: 80 percent. How is this annuity computed? I know it is based on my high three grades, but how is the high-3 established? Is there a certain amount of time required between these grades? Also I have been told that after 42 years of service,…
Browsing: annuity reduction
Q. I plan to retire from the Postal Service at the end of February, when I reach my minimum retirement age of 56. I will have 21½ years of service and will be retiring under the MRA+10 provision. I plan to start taking my annuity payments at that time. Will I also be entitled to the special retirement supplement? A. No one who retires under the MRA+10 provision is eligible for the special retirement supplement. You also need to be aware that when you retire, your annuity will be reduced by 5 percent for every year (5/12 percent per month)…
Q. I expected to retire with a CSRS Offset pension and a pension from a state public employees system not covered by Social Security. It appears that the windfall elimination provision is going to reduce my CSRS Offset Social Security portion to almost nothing. Can that be right? Your descriptions of CSRS Offset always say the benefit will be the same it will just be paid partly from CSRS and partly from Social Security. But windfall elimination appears to reduce the Social Security portion by 40 percent. A. The windfall elimination provision does reduce the Social Security benefit of anyone…
Q. I am a letter carrier with the Postal Service and am 58 years old. I have 25 years of service and am considering deferred retirement due to health issues. As I understand it, I should be able to start my retirement annuity at age 60 with no reduction in benefits. Is this correct? A. Yes. Your annuity would be computed using the standard formula and based on your high-3 and years of service on the day you resigned.
Q. I am a CSRS employee and plan to retire March 29. 1. Will I be on the annuity roll for my first check on April 1 or May 1? 2. Will I incur a reduction in my annuity because of the retirement date? 3. I will turn 65 in April, so I will be eligible for Medicare. I have had Federal Employees Health Benefits for four years, and I am Tricare-eligible. I am aware that my time with Tricare will count toward my five years and that I can suspend my FEHB and go with Medicare/Tricare for Life. What…
Q. Years ago, at a retirement seminar, an instructor said that if a retiring employee has a debilitating or terminal illness, they can retire and be paid a lump sum equal to all of the payments they made into CSRS. There is a reduction to the annuity for this payment. Any credence to the statement? If it is true, is the lump sum taxable immediately? If taxable, does the retiree get to take a 10 percent tax write-off for each year he collects an annuity, as regular retirees? A. What you are referring to is the alternative form of annuity.…
Q. I was CSRS for seven years, reassigned in 1983 and was rehired 10 months later (1984) as a temp under FICA. Three months later, I got a new career appointment and was put under CSRS. Now I’m 55 and requested my retirement estimate and was told that for 29 years, I’ve been under CSRS but should have been under Offset. Is this a bad hit for me, or will I break even? My human resources office is avoiding me and my calls. A. It is your agency’s responsibility to work with you on this. It has no choice. The…
Q. I retired from DCAA in November 1998 as a GM13, Step 8, in northern New Jersey after 36 years of federal service as a supervisory contract auditor under CSRS. I have been thinking of returning to DCAA to work. I now live in Summerville, S.C., 20 miles from Charleston. If I took a position with DCAA in Charleston at the working grade of a GS12, how would my starting salary be calculated? Would it be what I was making in 1998 as a GM13, Step 8, increased to the 2012 level of $100,914 (adjusted for the locality pay of…
Q. I am an employee with the Postal Service. I have 35 years of service and am 56 years old. My position as an AMS Tech EAS-15 was recently abolished. I was offered an early-out but without any incentive money. I did not take it since I can voluntarily retire and no money was offered. The EAS-15 positions are being replaced with 56 newly created EAS-17 positions and 318 PS-7 APWU clerk positions. I expect there may be a class action about it. 1. Considering that I am already eligible to retire, I’m trying to determine whether it would benefit me to…
Q. I am a retired Marine veteran with 27-plus years of service. I have been employed since in 2004 (the same year I retired from the Marine Corps). I am employed with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Am I allowed to draw Social Security benefits since I retired from the military? And can I still work at my present employment while collecting Social Security? I enlisted in the Marine Corps in November 1975 and retired in February 2004. I am 55 years old. A. While you could apply for a Social Security benefit at age 62 while still working, you…