Q. I have been offered early retirement. I have 25 years, six months and 13 days as of the retirement date. The offer showed that I will be rounded up to 26 years by adding five months and 18 days to reach my anniversary date of July 19. I have used five months x 174 hours/month + 18 days x 8 hours/day to total 1,014 hours. If I double that amount, it becomes 2,028 hours, which is more than I now have, per the last pay stub, which shows 1,971 hours of sick leave. I need about 16 hours for…
Browsing: Early retirement
Q. I retired on an early-out offer on Dec. 31, 2011, with 29.5 years of service at age 52. As a self-employed individual, I am paying both the employer and employee share (slightly reduced) to Social Security. Assuming another 15 years of work, that’s a tremendous amount to be paying into a retirement system with little or no benefit. I also have quarters from pre-CSRS employment. What, if any, Social Security benefit can I receive down the road? A. At age 62, you’ll be eligible for a Social Security benefit. Whether or not you apply for it at that time…
Q. I am 62 years old working for Postal Service with 21 years in and have received an offer of early retirement with compensation/incentive ($15,000). The deadline to submit the early retirement is Dec. 3 and retirement date is Jan. 31, 2013. If I take the offer and retire, will I still be able to claim for unemployment compensation? If I am, can I claim an unemployment benefit? Up to how many weeks? A. While the matter is one for the employment bureau of your state to decide, as a rule, no one who retires is eligible for unemployment compensation.
Q. 1) What are all the deductions that are taken out of a federal employee’s check when they retire? 2) Do these reductions stay at the same amount prior to retirement? 3) I have 33 years of service at age 51. I know there is a 2 percent penalty for each year under 55, but what about the three years I worked over 30? What happens to those? A. 1) Federal income tax; and, depending on your situation, state tax, FEHB, FEGLI and FEDVIP premiums, savings account deductions and allotments to organizations to which you belong. If you are receiving…
Q. I am 55 with 24 years, and I am in the CSRS/Offset system. I took a VSIP in 1994 but was told at the time it would not affect the calculation of my retirement when I was ready to retire. 1) How would I find out if the 1994 VSIP does affect my annuity? I received a lump sum of $14,000, and it included my retirement and annual leave. 2) Do I have to redeposit those retirement funds to receive full annuity? If I retire at 56 with 25 years, how will my retirement be penalized? 4) What is…
Q. I am a 55-year-old USPS employee covered under the American Postal Workers Union health plan. If I take early retirement and work for a private-sector company, can I still carry my FEHB, or must I take any health plan offered by my new employer? A. As long as you have been continuously enrolled in the FEHB progam for five years (or from your first opportunity to enroll) you can continue that coverage after you retire. I have no idea whether your new employer will require you to enroll in its health plan. If it does, that coverage will be…
Q. I just sent you a question and realized I did not include that I am under CSRS. As of Oct. 13, I had 29 years with the Postal Service and presently have enough annual and sick leave to get me through until I have my required 30 years. What is the best way for me to retire early with the least amount of loss in my retirement? A. First, I need to correct a misunderstanding on your part. You can’t use your annual and sick leave to help you reach 30 years of service. Unlike the military, the federal…
Q. I am 48 with 25 years of federal service under FERS. I am considering my options and was wondering what would be the ramifications of leaving government service by resignation or early retirement, if available. A. If your agency offered you an opportunity to retire early, you could do that. If it didn’t, you couldn’t. With early retirement, you’d receive an annuity computed as follows: 0.01 x your high-3 x your years and full months of service. You wouldn’t be eligible for the special retirement supplement until you reached your minimum retirement age (56) and your first cost-of-living adjustment…
Q. I am 48 with 25 years of federal service under FERS. I am considering my options and was wondering what would be the ramifications of leaving government service by resignation or early retirement, if available. A. If your agency offered you an opportunity to retire early, you could do that. If it didn’t, you couldn’t. With early retirement, you’d receive an annuity computed as follows: 0.01 x your high-3 x your years and full months of service. You wouldn’t be eligible for the special retirement supplement until you reached your minimum retirement age (56) and your first cost-of-living adjustment…
Q. I am a postal employee in FERS. I received a document from my human resources department, which states that my retirement eligibility date is May 19, 2016 (I was born in 1960). Does this mean I will receive the special retirement supplement even though I began employment with the Postal Service on Feb. 8, 1988, which only gives me 28 years of service time? I thought the FERS annuity supplement had the requirement of 30 years service time and age 56 for me. I have to make a decision by Dec. 3 as to whether or not to take…