Q. I retired from the Navy last year (I have 20 years in) and am receiving my pension. I took a GS-12 job and am under FERS. I’ll be 39 in a few weeks. If I wanted to retire at age 57, what would be my monthly payout? For how long? I understand that there is a three-tier system using the Thrift Savings Plan and Social Security. Am I allowed to draw on those at age 57, or do I have to wait until age 62? Reg Jones: You could retire at age 57 under the MRA+10 provision (minimum retirement age…
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Q. I am a GS employee that is also a member of the Air Guard. I will be leaving on leave without pay to go through military training for roughly five to six months. How will this affect my FERS retirement and my Thrift Savings Plan contributions? Do I have to buy back my military retirement to obtain my FERS retirement contributions during my LWOP? A. Reg Jones: You will be on LWOP-US. Therefore, you will have to make a deposit to the retirement system to get credit for that period of active-duty service. Mike Miles: You may not contribute…
Q. I am currently (and have only been) active-duty Navy and will be retiring within the next six months. I am confused about FERS. On some posts, I read that people waive military retirement. In others, I read that people receive military retirement and civilian government retirement. I want a civilian government job. What options do I have available to me? A. Nearly everyone who has retired from active duty and takes a civilian job with the federal government has a choice to make. He can either make a deposit to the civilian retirement system to get credit for that service and,…
Q. I have returned to federal service and want to redeposit my FERS contributions that were returned to me. Neither the Office of Personnel Management nor the Air Force Personnel Center can tell me whether the nine years of military time I bought back while I was previously a federal worker was returned along with the FERS contributions. Now that I have returned to federal service, the nine years of military service is not showing as credible time so I was hoping one of the experts here could shed some light on this for me. Would the bought-back military time be returned…
Q. I am about to retire from the Bureau of Prisons under FERS within the next two months. I am also a military drilling reservist with six years of active duty and about 30 years of reserve time. I will retire from the reserve in two years. If I buy back the active time to receive FERS credit, will I still be able to retire from reserve using the points accumulated from the six years of active duty for military retired pay. Do I have to waive this time to get the military service credit computation in FERS? What are…
Q. I retired from the U.S. Navy with 24 years of active duty service. I understand that I do not get any credit toward retirement but was told by other personnel that my rate of earnings for leave/vacation at my federal position should be adjusted. I will have worked in a federal position for three years next month, and my rate of leave/vacation earnings is 4 (basic). Please advise if my military time affects my rate of earning for vacation time. A. According to the Office of Personnel Management, for military retirees, annual leave accrual credit is given only for: Actual…
Q. My husband was in the Naval Reserve from June 1971 to June 1976. He was not called to active duty, although I believe the two weeks of training every year and six months of boot camp/school may be classified as active duty. If that’s correct, he had about 36 weeks of active duty subject to buyback. For his six years in the reserve, he was paid a grand total of $2,165.45, according to military records he has in his file. He was under CSRS but had a brief break in service in 1987 and came back into the federal…
Q. I am 51 years old, a retired active reservist with 20 years active duty and receiving my pension as of January 2011. I am also a federal employee under FERS and have paid back 14 years active duty for retirement credit. I plan on retiring from the federal government in 2014. Will I receive both pensions? How do I know which one pays more? A. Yes, you will receive both benefits without a reduction in either. Why you want to know which benefit pays more escapes me. You will get what you are entitled to under each retirement system.…
Q. I worked as a GS clinical nurse from Sept. 12, 1999, to Sept. 24, 2005 — a total of six years. On May 10, 2010, I returned to federal service as a GS clinical nurse. My service computation date was determined to be Feb. 8, 2008. How was this date arrived at? I previously worked from February 1991 to January 1996 as a GS worker and foolishly took my retirement monies out. I know I have lost that time. But that should not cause me to lose three years of service time, should it? A. Unless you re-deposit the…
Q. I am 61 years old. I have 38 years and eight months in CSRS. I worked for the Department of the Air Force, Department of the Navy and Postal Service. I have 28 quarters of Social Security. I plan to retire no later than Dec. 3. I get updates on my annuity for CSRS. I have no updates on my Social Security. Will I be able to receive a Social Security check at a reduced amount because I only have 28 quarters? Or will I have to get my 40 quarters and then have it reduced? A. You aren’t…