Q. I am retiring from CSRS on Dec. 1. I have 42 years of federal service. I already have Medicare Part A. I am keeping my health insurance after I retire. Do I have to take out Part B? A. No, you don’t. Part B is optional. It’s up to you to decide if you want to pay for it.
Browsing: CSRS
Q. My husband and I are both federal employees. I am CSRS, and he is FERS. His plan is to retire in December at age 62. My plan is to retire at age 57 in June. We both had planned on leaving the other with the maximum survivor benefit amount. However, I am rethinking this because part of my husband’s annuity will be made up of Social Security benefits. Will that affect our ability to get the maximum benefit of each other’s survivor annuity? Or will mine, his or both of ours be subject to the Social Security government pension…
Q. I was in CSRS for five years and six months. Returned to the post office in 1993 under CSRS Offset. Reached 20 years under CSRS Offset on Oct. 1. Paid into Social Security for 32 years. What does my retirement look like? I am told I was put into a real bad retirement plan. A. I’ll tell you what your retirement will look like. Then you can go back to whoever told you that you were “put into a real bad retirement plan” and laugh in his face. As a CSRS employee, you’ll be eligible to retire at age…
Q. I have 31 years with CSRS and have 10 years Social Security paid in. Is there any advantage in changing over to FERS at this late date? I find that I would receive very little from Social Security. A. Because there is no provision in law that would allow you to transfer to FERS, your question is moot.
Q. I expect to marry a woman from abroad about two years after I retire. Does our age difference factor into her spousal annuity? A. While her age doesn’t matter, when you marry and elect a survivor annuity does. If you marry before you retire, your annuity will be reduced to provide for that benefit (around 10 percent (CSRS) or exactly 10 percent (FERS)). If you marry after you retire and elect a survivor benefit, there will be two reductions in your own annuity: the standard reduction and a permanent actuarial reduction to pay the survivor benefit deposit. The deposit…
Q. I am a retired federal employee and receive a $5,300 monthly CSRS annuity. I do not qualify for Social Security. My wife gets $600 a month in SS benefits that she earned working. If I die, will her survivor benefit of $3,200 a month be reduced by the $600 a month she receives in SS? A. No, She’ll receive her earned Social Security benefit and her CSRS survivor annuity, with no reduction in either.
Q. I retired on an early out in 2005 after more than 28 years of service. I saw a question about Social Security eligibility for retired postal carriers Aug. 17. I was told by SS that I could get about $300 since I have about 60 quarters. But I was told by someone else I would be reduced in my CSRS annuity payments by that amount. It is called offset. Could this be true? How does the offset work? A. No, your annuity won’t be offset. However, because you were a CSRS employee, you will be subject to the windfall elimination…
Q. I am a retired federal employee under CSRS. My wife has worked the requisite number of years under Social Security to qualify her to receive Social Security benefits. If I pass on and she begins to receive survivor benefits from my CSRS pension, will she still be able to apply for and receive Social Security benefits based on her own work? If she does receive Social Security benefits, will there be reductions because of her receiving survivor benefits from CSRS? A. Nothing will alter her entitlement to receive an unreduced Social Security benefit based on her own work record.
Q. I am a re-employed FERS annuitant, and my salary is offset by my annuity. I have a CSRS component to my FERS retirement. When I first had my discontinued service retirement in March 2009, the CSRS portion of my sick leave was credited to my annuity. My FERS sick leave portion was not. When I returned to federal service in 2011, I was credited the unused FERS portion of my sick leave to my employee account. When I am eligible for a redetermined FERS annuity, after five years, what will happen to the original sick leave credited to the…
Q. As a CSRS member, my husband has elected to receive reduced benefits to have me receive a survivor annuity if he predeceases me. I receive Social Security and will receive a small pension through TIAA-CREF when I reach age 68. How will my Social Security payment, which is $1,008 after taxes, be affected by my husband’s projected benefit of $6,000 per month? A. It won’t be affected.