Q. I am 62 and expect to retire with 40 plus years of federal service/CSRS. I have more than 2,000 hours of sick leave. I am wondering what happens to that sick leave after I retire, since I understand I can’t use it to add additional credit to my years of federal service. A. While sick leave can’t be used to meet the length of service requirements to retire, once you are eligible to retire, those hours are added onto your service and used to increase your annuity.
Browsing: CSRS
Q. I retired in 2007 after 43 years of government service. I now have an opportunity to go to work for a local hospital and need to know if my CSRS annuity will be reduced as a result. Is there a cap on how much I can or cannot earn before being penalized? A. Your annuity would be affected only if you returned to work for the federal government. Note: The earnings test applies only to Social Security recipients who haven’t reached full Social Security retirement age and whose earnings exceed the annual limit.
Q. I retired last year after 30 years in CSRS. I was single, so I had self-only health insurance coverage. If I get married, could I include my wife in my health coverage plan? A. Under Code 2B of OPM’s Table of Permissible Changes, you could switch from self only to self and family coverage from 31 days before through 60 days after you married.
Q. I am totally lost in getting real answers to our approach to health insurance in the coming years. I retired from CSRS in 2008 at the GS-15 level, and my wife will retire under FERS in 2014 at the GS-14 level. We both have our own FEHB. This year, when I turn 60, we are also eligible for Tricare, since I retired from the USAR. And then, when we turn 62, we are eligible for Medicare Part A, and then at 65, Medicare Part B. We are both in great shape, but we are having trouble trying to figure…
Q. I have worked for the federal government for 26 years, and will be eligible to retire next year at age 56. I have family coverage with Blue Cross/Blue Shield for myself and my children but not my ex-husband. If I remarry, I assume I can add my new husband to my family policy. Will my new husband be eligible for health care coverage under my policy in retirement if I retire within the next two to five years? A. As long as your husband is covered by your self-and-family enrollment on the day you retire, he will remain covered as…
Q. I retired from the Postal Service under CSRS and am receiving a retirement check from the Postal Service. I have paid in to Social Security for 40 quarters. Will I get a Social Security check also? A. Yes, you will if you are at least age 62 when you apply for one. However, because you are receiving an annuity from CSRS, a retirement system where you didn’t pay Social Security taxes, the windfall elimination provision will reduce, but not eliminate, your Social Security benefit.
Q. I am part of CSRS. I was hired into federal service in 1979. In 1982, I was injured on the job and on workers’ compensation for seven years. A few recent retirees have told me they were notified by the Office of Personnel Management of outstanding indebtedness going back over 25 years due to nonpayment of retirement money. When I retire, will I be required to pay OPM for those seven years of retirement money I did not pay into the system while I was on workers’ comp? Or is my retirement annuity based on what I paid into…
Q. How can I find out how much I have paid into CSRS? I work for the Air Force. We have changed payment centers several times in the last 40 years. A. Call OPM’s Retirement Information Office at 1-888-767-6738 or 724-794-2005 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. A retirement specialist will be able to help you.
Q. For CSRS disabled totally and VA disability compensation, what will the 2013 cost of living adjustment be? A. That won’t be determined until the fourth quarter of 2012.
Q. Would any circumstances or special programs end a CSRS annuity payment to the retiree before death? My mother retired under CSRS and included a spousal annuity. For some reason, they are worried that the annuity may end soon. She had approximately 18 years of federal service and retired at age 65. I’ve always assumed the annuity goes until death but cannot find anything that clearly states that in order to give her peace of mind. A. Your mother’s annuity could end before her death only if she were convicted of certain rare offenses, left the U.S. to avoid prosecution…