Q. I am CSRS Offset, having retired in 2001, and have been working in the private sector since that time. I turned 62 last year, applied for, and began drawing Social Security. However, my annuity has not been reduced. I have been holding out what I had estimated my reduction would be, anticipating that at some point the Social Security Administration would want the money. I have 34 years of substantial earnings, which includes my 14 years as an offset employee. Do these years affect the offset amount? Does this mean my annuity could possibly not be reduced? I have…
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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 worked in the Postal Service from 1970 to 1977. I got back my retirement money, almost $5,000. I started working for the Veterans Affairs Department Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Fla., in 1994 and was put in the CSRS Offset program. As of May, I will have been here for 19 years. I paid back my two years of military time. I asked someone in personnel whether I should pay back my Postal Service time and she said no. She said that some of your money comes from the Offset and some from Social Security. She said…
Q. I am a former federal employee covered by CSRS. I am approaching retirement age (62). I do not have 30 years of substantial Social Security earnings, and will be affected by the windfall elimination provision. I first left federal employment in 1983, and withdrew my CSRS pension funds. With interest, I owe about $59,000 to make a full redeposit. I was re-employed by the government within a year, and remained on CSRS. The second time I left federal employment (in 1993), I left my CSRS (not CSRS offset) funds with the government, which is the basis for my CSRS…
Q. I have been retired from the Postal Service for a year after 30 years and seven months of service. I am under CSRS Offset. In March, I will be 62 and have applied for Social Security. Social Security said I have the 30 years of paying in, so I will not have any offset from them. Will my CSRS annuity, which I have been getting for the past year, be offset for the full amount of my Social Security benefit? A. Although your Social Security benefit won’t be affected by the windfall elimination provision, your CSRS annuity will be…
Q. I submitted my application for retirement at the Postal Service, accepting the early-out. While waiting for my returned papers, I received a letter from Postal headquarters stating I was put in the wrong retirement. As I had more than five years of prior service, I should have been put in CSRS Offset instead of FERS, so it says to be patient and Washington will send me a new retirement package. With my Jan. 31 retirement date approaching, what can I do? A. If you had five years of CSRS service before Jan. 1, 1987, you should have remained in…
Q. I started employment with the Defense Department in September 1981 under CSRS. In 1995, I took advantage of a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority/Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay because my organization was downsizing. I also took a refund on my retirement account, which I tried to invest in buying a home and lost it. I was reinstated in the government in 2004 and came back as CSRS Offset. I also rolled my 401(k) from the job I had outside the government into the Thrift Savings Plan. I will be 65 on March 7, and was planning to retire in May. Because…
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 served 9.5 years in the Air Force and just short of five years for the FAA under CSRS. When I left the FAA in late 1987, because of a misunderstanding of how CSRS worked, I thought I had to withdraw my contributions to CSRS because I had fewer than five years. Counting most of my Air Force time, I have 39 years of substantial contributions to Social Security. I returned to government employment two years ago and am considered CSRS Offset. Since I plan to retire in four years, I am trying to determine my best option regarding…
Q. I am contemplating retiring this year with 30 years in FERS. I was under CSRS when I started in 1970 and left in 1974 to start my family. I was reinstated into the federal government in March 1987, with a new service computation date of 1983 and four years in CSRS. When I returned, I was automatically placed into FERS. Now that my retirement is drawing closer and I have been to Social Security, they are telling me that they will take two-thirds of my Social Security benefits, listed as CSRS Offset. I have done some research and see…