Q. I am 51 with 17 years of career service with USPS. I have become ill and cannot continue to work. Am I eligible to apply for disability retirement with the Postal Service? If so, how do I apply? A. Yes, you are eligible to apply. You’ll need to go to your personnel office, which can guide you through the process.
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Q. I am anticipating retiring Jan. 3 after almost 40 years of continuous service for the Veterans Affairs Department. I recall, many years ago, retirees electing withdrawal of their cumulative contributions to the retirement fund and receiving a minimum penalty in their annuity. I am unable to find anything online relating to this option and my human resources people say they’ve never heard of it. When did we lose this option? On that subject, my earnings and leave do not reflect the total amount that I have contributed to the retirement fund, but only the amount contributed since conversion to…
Q. I am on a disability retirement and am 57 years old. I am blind (since age 7) and was denied Supplemental Security Income benefits because I do not have enough Social Security credits to qualify (of course I have enough for Medicare when I turn 65). I wanted SSI so I could join a Medicare HMO and receive primary care at home (I live in a group home). It seems since I paid into FERS and not SS, I fall through the cracks. Is there anything you can suggest? A. Let me first clear up a misconception. The fact…
Q. When I turn 65, I can enroll in Medicare Parts A and B. The other parts do not interest me. At this time, I am enrolled in a Federal Employees Health Benefits plan. I am a veteran who is 60 percent disabled, and the Veterans Affairs Department covers my medical needs at 100 percent plus meds if I use its facility. At age 65, I would like to suspend my FEHB plan and use Medicare Parts A and B plus my VA. Can I suspend my FEHB under this situation? A. No, you can’t.
Q. In February 2014, my FERS and Social Security disability retirements will convert to regular retirements. Will my Social Security retirement be reduced by any offsets? A. According to the Social Security Administration, “If you receive workers’ compensation or other public disability benefits and Social Security disability benefits, the total amount of these benefits cannot exceed 80 percent of your average current earnings before you became disabled.” You’ll have to do the math to find out if this limitation will affect you.
Q. I started a position with a federal agency in October 2010 and worked through July 2011 (about nine months) when I was diagnosed with advanced stage cancer and had to go on leave without pay. I was on LWOP for all of 2012. I am still on LWOP and a colleague suggested I apply for disability retirement. I started collecting Social Security disability in January 2012. Do I have enough creditable hours to meet the 18 months under the FERS disability retirement? Does collecting Social Security disability when I did affect my creditable-hours calculation? I also received several hundred…
Q. I retired from the USPS on a regular retirement of 36 years of service 10 years ago. I have worked a few jobs since and was recently in a car wreck, and I am now disabled. I was working when I got disabled. I am 65 and have not paid in enough to draw Social Security, but since I am now disabled and am like four quarters short of my required amount to draw Social Security, can I get Social Security disability along with my federal retirement? A. No.
Q. My spouse is older than 60 and has become disabled. My spouse has 28-plus years of service in FERS. Is is true that my spouse would get less on disability than normal retirement since my spouse would get no Social Security bridge? I know about the annuity recomputation at 62. A. When your spouse applies for a FERS disability annuity, your spouse will also have to apply for Social Security disability benefits. If your spouse was approved for a disability annuity, it would be calculated as follows: — For the first 12 months: 60 percent of your spouse’s high-3,…
Q. I retired from civil service on disability as a GS-11 under FERS in 2007 with nine years of service. My disability monthly pay is about $ 1,630. I will be age 62 in August and, from what I have been reading, my disability will convert to regular retirement at that time. If my time in service is counted up until age 62, I am thinking I will have about 15 years service. Can I expect my monthly pay to drop or increase at age 62? I don’t know what my high-3 is or would be since I am retired.…
Q. I retired from the Postal Service with 27 years on Jan. 31. Due to a medical condition, I applied for Social Security disability in October and was approved in December for benefits to begin this month. I am 61 and will be 62 in August. Will I still be eligible to receive the special retirement supplement for seven months under FERS? If so, will it affect my disability payments? One is paid from the Office of Personnel Management and the other from Social Security. A. According to OPM, you will be eligible for the special retirement supplement even though…