Q. I am a combination CSRS/FERS 32-year employee of the Postal Service, age 54. I did not have health insurance through the post office because I was always covered by my husband’s health insurance. I only took my own health insurance because I was told I had to be in the program for five years to be eligible to keep the insurance after I retire (in case something happened to my husband or the place he worked at). I have been in the program for four years as of January and did not plan on retiring until January 2014, at…
Browsing: CSRS
Q. I’m covered under CSRS with 30 years of service and age 60 in 2013. When is the earliest I could retire? And what would be the percent rate for my retirement? A. Since you are at least 55 and already have 30 years of service, you can retire at any time. With exactly 30 years of service, your annuity would be 56.25 percent of your high-3. Add 1/6 percent for each month of service beyond 30 years.
Q. My wife is 50 and has been a CSRS postal employee for 32 years. She may lose her job and wants to know if she can retire and freeze her retirement until she turns 56 to avoid the 2 percent per year penalty for her age. A. No, she can’t. If she retires, the reduction will occur on that date. Her only alternative would be to resign from the government and apply for a deferred annuity at age 55, not 56. However, if she is enrolled in the Federal Employees Health Benefits or Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance programs,…
Q. If and when the phased retirement takes effect, will it be possible to combine it with an early out, if announced, so that you could go half time earlier than otherwise? I’m 57 with 25 years’ service and am in FERS. A. No. To participate in the program, you must be eligible for immediate retirement. In other words, age 55 with 30 years of service or age 60 with 20 (CSRS) or at your MRA with 30 years of service or age 60 with 20 (FERS).
Q. I plan to retire at age 60 in 2014 with 20 years’ FERS and four years’ buyback (for which I have made the deposit). My federal service is a combination of IHS and VA (if that’s relevant). It has been my experience speaking with retirees that the deductions from annuity for FEHB after retirement (in many cases) is drastically different from the payroll deduction before retirement — so drastic that it cannot be attributed to the monthly conversion factor. One retiree told me he was eventually told that, before retirement, total premium payments were made by three sources: employee…
Q. I am a married ex-federal employee who transferred from CSRS to FERS in 1998 and retired early under FERS with 18 years’ CSRS and eight years’ FERS in 2005. My spouse worked for the federal government for 16 years under CSRS but did not retire and is not eligible for a pension because she took her retirement contributions out in 1987 and did not return. Both of us have enough qualified work subject to Social Security to be eligible for a Social Security benefit, but just barely. 1. Is either of our Social Security benefits, or are both, subject…
Q. My father is 66 and about to retire. He is a CSRS employee who has been told his pension will be reduced by $4,000 a year for having my mom as a dependent and that because she receives $500 in Social Security, at the time of his death she will not get much of his pension at all. He is thinking about having my mom opt out of his pension so they can enjoy about $300 more a month of his pension. My and my mom’s concern is if he dies before she does, how will she care for…
Q. For a law enforcement officer with 35 years of CSRS service with an expected annuity of 80 percent of salary, would the LEO continue to have the CSRS retirement payments deducted from salary if he continued working beyond the 35 years? If so, would those CSRS payments be refunded after retirement? A. If you work beyond the point where your annuity would be 80 percent, retirement contributions would continue to be deducted from your pay. When you retired, you’d receive a refund of those contributions and offered the option of keeping that money or using it to purchase additional…
Q. I receive an annuity from my deceased spouse through OPM for her federal service under CSRS. When I turned 62, the pension was reduced by what I would be paid under Social Security even though I did not apply for benefits under her earnings. I am still working and make well above the Social Security maximum earnings. The OPM annuity was reduced, even though I did not receive any benefits from Social Security. Is this correct? I am not duplicating anything. A. The law is clear. Because you were eligible for a Social Security benefit, your CSRS annuity was…
Q. I am a 65-year-old federal employee on the CSRS retirement plan. I plan to retire next month after 39 years in the government. I have earned 20 quarters of Social Security credits but need 20 more to qualify for any benefits. Would it be worth my while to work for five more years (20 quarters) in private industry to qualify for these benefits, or will it all be offset by the CSRS retirement? If I choose to work, what is the minimum amount of money I have to make each year or what is the minimum number of hours…