Q: I have three periods of military service for which I am required to pay a deposit under “Catch 62.” The first period, 1969 to 1972, I paid for when it came due in 1986. This bought me a period of about 2.6 years. I was mobilized for Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm in 1990 to 1991, and for duty in Bosnia in 1997, for eight and seven months, respectively. I plan to work off the additional time by delaying my retirement for 15 months or more. When I discussed this plan with our human resources office, I was told that…
Browsing: buying back time
Q: Where do I send my form for buying back my military time, and how do I find out how much it will cost? A: To make a deposit for any years of active duty service, you’ll need to complete a copy of Form RI-20-97, Estimated Earnings During Military Service, and mail it to the military finance center for your branch of service along with a copy of your DD 214, Report of Transfer or Discharge. When you get that information, take it to your payroll office along with a copy of your DD 214 and a Standard Form 2803…
Q: I can retire in February with 31 years of service under the Civil Service Retirement System as a part-time/flex employee in the U.S. Postal Service. My “high-3” years were from 2006-2009. Will they use these years to calculate my annuity? Is it always the last years? Is it always three consecutive years, or is it the highest consecutive three years? As a PTF, my hours changed yearly as to how many offices I worked in. Also, when I was hired in 1979, I never heard of “buying back” or anything related. Since I made no deposits, or didn’t know…
Q: I worked in a federal job as a temporary employee where no retirement deductions were taken out for seven years. I was then converted to a permanent employee. I am now 62 years old with 33 years of federal service and a service computation date of 1977. I am looking at retirement but I am reading about the requirement to pay a deposit back so that my annuity will not be reduced by 10 percent. How do I go about determining what that amount is, and how do I pay it back? A: Because your period of nondeduction service…
Q: Who do I contact to buy back my time spent working with the Tennessee Valley Authority for retirement credit? I need an address and phone number. A: To get credit for your period of service with TVA, you’ll need to ask them for a refund of your retirement contributions and then deposit that refund into your current retirement system. Your local personnel office can help you do that.
Q: I am a civilian federal employee who started with the government in September 1986. Is it true that no retirement deductions were taken until Jan. 1, 1989? If this is true, how can I get credit for the two-plus years during which no deductions were taken? A: If you were hired into a position that required deductions from your pay, you would have been covered by Civil Service Retirement Offset (CSRS and Social Security) for the months preceding Jan. 1, 1987, when the Federal Employees Retirement System went online. Your CSRS Offset time would have been converted to FERS…
Q: Can a retired military member elect to buy back only a portion of his military time? A: If your active-duty service was continuous, the answer is no. If you were on active duty during separate, distinct periods of time, you can chose the period (or periods) of time for which you want to make a deposit.