Q. An article about a House panel approving higher pension contributions for feds said that if you do not have five years by 2013 that you would be subject to the 5.8 percent. What is the cutoff date in 2013? I started Aug. 4, 2008. A. You are the victim of a common misunderstanding. The law doesn’t apply to current employees, only to those first hired on or after Jan. 1, 2013, and any former employees that return to work for the government and have fewer than five years of creditable service.
Browsing: creditable service
Q. I entered federal service Sept. 6, 1977, under CSRS. I transferred to FERS, effective Jan. 3, 1988. I resigned from federal service April 30, 2001. (I did not withdraw any of my retirement contributions.) I was born in 1952. The FERS website states, “If you completed at least 10 years but less than 30 years of creditable service before you left federal service, your annuity will be reduced if it begins before age 62. The only exception to this is if you had at least 20 years of service and your annuity begins when you reach age 60.” Does…
Q. Does time spent on workers’ compensation count as creditable service when a FERS disability is recalculated at age 62 when one never returns to work? A. No, it isn’t.
Q. I retired (CSRS) on April 30. I have 31 years creditable service. I am 65. I did not buy back my four years of military service. I know there is a 2 percent per-year reduction in annuity. I will receive 58 percent instead of 66 percent. I will be eligible for Social Security benefits in December. I will be 66 then. I had 40 quarters paid into Social Security before starting work for the government. Will there also be a reduction of the Social Security benefits? If so, how much? A. Yes. Because you didn’t make a deposit for…
Q. I am currently a 6c AIA who is getting ready to start Title 10 contingency orders stateside. I realize that Title 10 orders for a contingency are not a factor for five years of military leave, but how will this affect my retirement? Will I still be able to retire at the minimum 20 years, and will I have to make contributions to the FERS retirement? (I realize I will have to buy back the military years for a higher retirement percentage.) A. If you are called to active duty and on completion of that assignment return to a…
Q. I am 33 years old and have four years active duty time and eight years FERS time. I am considering a position covered under 6c. How much of this time, if any, could I credit to 6c? What would be the youngest I could retire? A. Neither your current service under FERS nor your active duty time for which you made a deposit would be creditable in meeting the 20 years of covered service requirement to be eligible to retire under the special provision for law enforcement officers. Therefore, if you began your law enforcement career at age 33,…
Q. I have bought back my military time, doubling my civilian retirement from 12 to 24 years. I also have a letter from National AmeriCorps showing nine months working for them. And I have a reserve computation showing I earned two years in the Army Reserve. However, the personnel office said neither of these can be added to my retirement. Is that right, and if so, why not? A. Your personnel office is correct. By law, only active-duty service is potentially creditable. And only nonfederal civil service employment that is specified elsewhere in law is creditable. National AmeriCorps service isn’t…
Q. Can time spent at a military service academy — which is not included as part of an active-duty military retirement and can be purchased to count toward a federal employee’s retirement — be used for annual leave accrual purposes in addition to the normal campaign and awards time that is normally used for healthy military retirees? I do not find it specifically addressed by the Office of Personnel Management in the Personnel Guide to Processing Personnel Actions, Chapter 6 – Determining SCDs. A. According to OPM, for leave accrual purposes, retired members of the military receive credit only for…
Q. I had 38 years of federal service with the Architect of the Capitol. Will I receive the extra money paid into CSRS system six years past 32 years? How will that money be paid to me? A. As a rule, CSRS employees have to work 41 years and 11 months to earn an annuity that equals 80 percent of their high-3. That’s the maximum amount that can be paid in an annuity based on creditable service. Only special category employees, such as law enforcement officers and firefighters, can reach the 80 percent limit with fewer years and full months…
Q. I am a 58-year-old FERS employee. I will have 25 years of creditable service in November, and I would like to retire. Is it wise to do so, or do I have to wait for VERA? A. If you retire before your agency offers you a VERA, you’ll be retiring under the minimum retirement age +10 provision. Not only would your annuity be reduced by 5 percent for every year you are under age 62 but you wouldn’t be eligible to receive the special retirement supplement.