Q: I retired in 2008 under CSRS retirement. I elected spousal a dollar amount to be paid out at my death. I didn’t include health benefits as my wife is a federal employee with her own health insurance. My spouse would like to waive the spousal annuity to be paid out at my death. What is the process? A: While your wife is free to decline the receipt of a survivor annuity when she reports your death to OPM, it is too late for you to cancel your election of a survivor annuity for her. You would have had to…
Browsing: CSRS
Q: I resigned my permanent position from Indian Health Service in 1992 because of an illness. When I resigned, I was 42 and withdrew my retirement, which was about $18,000. My SCD was Oct. 4, 1974. I came onboard with IHS in February 1995 and chose to be under FERS. I am still working and just turned 61 on Dec. 13, 2010. I am vested under the TSP funds and I am applying to catch-up borrowed money under this savings. Can I buy back the CSRS retirement money? A: Yes, you can make a deposit equal to what you withdrew…
Q: I was a CSRS employee and I retired from the federal government in 1994 under the 10 percent reduction by President Clinton. I have been working in the private sector from 1995 to 2011. Can I connect Social Security from 1995 till 2011 if I am 65? A: Because you are receiving an annuity from CSRS, a retirement system where you didn’t pay Social Security taxes, your Social Security benefit will be affected by the windfall elimination provision. The WEP reduces the Social Security benefit of anyone who has fewer than 30 years of substantial earnings under Social Security.
Q: Does a certain amount of time have to elapse between when a CSRS employee retires and can be rehired as a part-time rehired annuitant? A: No, there isn’t any amount of time that must pay, whether you are covered by CSRS of FERS. However, because hours of unused annual leave are projected forward as if you were still on the agency’s roll, you will have to repay any of the money that represents days which haven’t yet gone by. For example, if you were paid for 20 days of leave and went to work the day after you retired,…
Q: I have 31 years of federal service and am eligible for retirement under CSRS. When did BCBS federal switch to “standard and basic” options versus “standard and high” options? I have always had the standard family option since I married in 1985 and have paid the lesser of the two premiums. I just noticed I pay the higher premium now. I didn’t realize there was a “basic” option available and I didn’t have it. A: That change happened 10 years ago and was highlighted both in OPM’s open season material and in the plan literature sent to enrollees by…
Q: I am a retired CSRS federal employee with 35 years of service. I also earned 40 quarters under Social Security and receive about half of the Social Security benefit I would get if I were not getting CSRS retirement pay. My wife did not work enough to have 40 quarters, but I understand that she is entitled to half my Social Security benefit. Is she entitled to half my nonreduced Social Security, or half my reduced Social Security? A: Her spousal Social Security benefit would be half of your reduced Social Security benefit. If you were to die first,…
Q: Can a federal employee request a “voluntary early out”? I am 52 with 27 years of service under CSRS. A: No.
Q: Can you tell me how to compute my retirement pay of which I have nine years, three months, 20 days post-1956 military time that will be paid off soon? Also, I have 30 years in the post office of which the first six years are under CSRS and the rest are FERS to this date. My other question is, what years are included in the FERS supplement computation? Is it my whole 30 years of service in the U.S. Post Office or just the FERS service time, which is 24 years? A: The CSRS component of your annuity will…
Q: My father has been a retired Department of Defense Civil Service employee since 1989. He received a pay cut of $48 for the first time this month with no explanation. We can find no evidence that a federal pay cut was implemented. Do you have any information regarding this? A: According to the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association: While all of the attention recently was on Congress extending the Bush-era tax cuts — which happened — a lesser-known federal tax credit for employees and retirees that was part of the 2009 stimulus law was allowed to expire.…
Q: I am receiving a CSRS annuity and Social Security. The social security was reduced by WEP. I am now eligible for a supplemental annuity because I worked as a re-employed annuitant for over three years. I will need to pay the deposit in order to get the supplemental annuity. Will the supplemental annuity further reduce my Social Security? If yes, how can I calculate the reduction? I need to know if it will pay me to accept the supplemental annuity. A: No, it will not further reduce your Social Security benefit. That benefit is based solely on your years…