Q. I am a CSRS Offset GS14/10 employee who left Veterans Affairs Department employment in 1985 after 11+ years and returned to VA employment in 1991. I will be 66 years old in July and am considering retiring Jan. 3, 2014. At that point, I will have 24 years of offset employment, 30 years of Social Security contributions (including the 24 offset years) and 37 years of service (including sick leave). My wife is in a similar CSRS Offset situation and is also considering retirement Jan. 3, 2014, at age 61. She will not take Social Security benefits until age…
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Q. I work for a Veterans Affairs hospital under CSRS Offset. I was employed at the Postal Service from 1980 to 2001. I was reinstated at VA in 2008. I work Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. I am a GS-5. I have 178 hours of annual leave and 1,027 hours of sick leave. My service computation date is Feb. 12, 1987. I am eligible to retire on my 60th birthday, which is March 28. I have planned a European vacation from March 21 to April 9. I want to take annual leave March 21-29. I have annual…
Q. I have decided to retire June 1. I’m in CSRS Offset, will have 36½ years of actual service, and 2,200-plus hours of unused sick leave, for 37½ years of credited service time. This is my 35th year of credited Social Security earnings. I’m aware of the offset reduction. I’m a widower and my retirement forms have been sent in as such. If I were to remarry after the effective date of my retirement but before I were to receive the first full annuity payment, and sent in a revised retirement form, marriage certificate, beneficiary forms, etc., to the Office…
Q. I’m planning to retire under CSRS Offset in December. Is local, state and federal tax the only tax I will have to pay? No Social Security or Medicare? A. Social Security and Medicare taxes are only deducted from earnings from wages or self-employment, not other sources of income, such as annuities.
Q. I am a CSRS Offset employee who plans to retire when I turn 60, when I will have approximately 21 years and a few months of federal service. I work in the U.S. and have a high-three salary which includes locality pay of approximately 25 percent. If I were to accept a position overseas (I realize the new salary will not include locality pay) at a salary that is lower than my current one, will my high-3 still be based on the high-3 I have already attained? I read several postings on your site and one seems to suggest…
Q. I will retire under CSRS and will maintain my FEHB insurance and Medicare Part A. What are the advantage and disadvantages of obtaining Medicare Part B? A. The disadvantage is that you have to pay the premiums for Medicare Part B. The advantage is that it works with your FEHB coverage to reduce your out-of-pocket costs for medical, clinical lab service, home health care, outpatient hospital service and blood. You’ll have to review what the two plans offer and see where they overlap, reinforce each other or fill gaps.
Q. I left Veterans Affairs Department service and withdrew my money from CSRS. When I came back after less than a year, I asked human resources to make sure I was under the same retirement system but only part time since I was in school. He told me not to come back part time, changed me to intermittent and said that since I came back after less than a year, it would not change anything. I found out that it threw me into the offset. I became eligible for retirement June 25, 2012, but have some ongoing medical issues and…
Q. I worked four years under CSRS and drew the retirement funds out and did not pay them back. When I was reinstated, it was under the CSRS Offset. I retired and drew the CSRS Offset but did not apply for my Social Security benefits until I reached age 66 in October. I just got notified by Social Security that I would be subject to the windfall elimination provision from my Social Security check. Is this correct? I have 29 years and three months of substantial earnings, according to their table for substantial earnings. Actually, for these years, I far…
Q. I am 59 and a CSRS Offset employee with 33+ years of CSRS coverage and am at the top of the GS-15 payscale. About 21 of those years were under CSRS Offset, so I know the deduction will be somewhere around 52.5 percent of my Social Security earnings. I am exempt from windfall elimination provision because of more than 30 years of Social Security coverage. I am concerned that if I retire Jan. 3, 2014, my final paycheck and my lump sum for leave will add another year to my number of years covered by Social Security and raise…
Q. I am 54 years old and was employed with a federal agency for 17 years from 1979 to 1996. Upon resignation to enter the private sector, I withdrew 100 percent of my CSRS contributions. If I return to full-time federal employment this year, do I have the option of buying back the creditable service of 17 years for the same amount that I withdrew in 1996? Secondly, would I be able to continue with CSRS rather than FERS upon re-employment? Would I be eligible to retire after eight more years of federal employment service? A. If you returned to…