Q. I’m a Defense Department employee under FERS. I have about five years before I can retire. I would like to apply for special pay or Social Security when I retire. Would that affect my being able to work part time, or would I have a limit placed on my income? A. If by special pay you mean the special retirement supplement, you don’t have to apply for it. It will automatically be added to your annuity when it is finalized. Moving on, both the SRS and the Social Security benefit are subject to the Social Security earnings limit. If you have…
Browsing: earnings limit
Q. I will be retiring from the Postal Service with 31 years of FERS at the age of 56. My question is about earning limits with the special retirement supplement. If, at age 56, I withdraw all or a portion of my Thrift Savings Plan account, will this affect my SRS from the USPS? A. No, it won’t. The Social Security earnings limit applies only to earnings from wages or self-employment.
Q. I’m a CSRS Offset employee planning to retire before reaching age 62 to take a job outside the government. Would I be entitled to Social Security payment from my new job, which will not be subject to the offset system, or deducted from my retirement annuity? A. As a CSRS Offset retiree, your CSRS annuity will be offset at age 62 by the amount of Social Security benefit you earned while covered by CSRS Offset. If you apply for a Social Security benefit at that time, the total amount of money you receive will be approximately the same. It will just come…
Q. I am 62. I just started drawing Social Security. My only earnings per year are my pension and supplement to pension, which total $24,000. Does this count toward my total earnings allowed per year on my Social Security? My wife still works but is not old enough to draw Social Security. Do her earnings count against my Social Security? A. I think you are asking about the annual Social Security earnings limit. That limit only applies to a Social Security recipient’s earnings from wages or self-employment. It doesn’t apply to other sources of income. Nor does what your spouse may be earning have any…
Q. I retired (federal law enforcement) on Feb. 29 at the age of 55. My total law enforcement time was 20 years with an additional seven years of federal service. I am receiving a partial annuity until the Office of Personnel Management has the time to finish it, which may be six or seven months. I received a lump-sum payment upon my retirement for my annual leave. I would like to take a job as a reinstatement employee with federal service. Do I lose my entire annuity if I do this? I understand that retirement deductions will be held, but…
Q. I will retire under FERS and will be rehired by an agency as a rehired annuitant. Will I still receive my full supplement? A. If your earning from wages or self-employment exceed the annual Social Security earnings limit, your special retirement supplement will be reduced or eliminated. In 2012, the earnings limit is $14,640. If you exceed that limit, $1 in benefits will be deducted for every $2 in earnings.
Q. Does income from state unemployment compensation count toward the Social Security earnings limit? A. No, it doesn’t.
Q. I retired from the government Nov. 30, 2011, as a GS-13, age 56 with 30 years of service. I started a new job where my earnings will exceed my previous salary as a fed. I have been receiving partial annuity payments as expected, but the Office of Personnel Management just sent FERS supplement payments for Dec. 11 to March 12. Will I have to repay the supplement for January to March 2012, because my earnings in 2012 have already exceeded the $14,000 maximum additional income limit? The rules I have read talk about calculating the supplement based on earnings…
Q. How would OPM know if an annuitant made extra money during the year as to cancel or reduce his supplement amount as it applies to the earning limitation. “A FERS Annuity Supplement is payable to an employee who has completed at least one calendar year of FERS service when he reaches minimum retirement age MRA is age 55 to 57, depending on date of birth. The annuity supplement is payable until eligibility for Social Security begins at age 62, subject to an earnings limitation.” A. Every year OPM will require you to fill out an Annuity Supplement Earnings report…
Q: I am employed in a law enforcement position and will face mandatory retirement in two years at age 57. If I seek employment between the ages of 57 and 62, will my Special Retirement Supplement be reduced if I exceed the earnings limit? A: Yes.