Q. I am a FERCCA case. I was inadvertently placed in FERS when hired by my agency after eight years in the legislative branch. I have elected CSRS offset coverage. I have 28 years, eight months of creditable service and am eligible to retire now. My annual salary and high-3 are not likely to change in the next few years. Are CSRS offset annuities helped by length of service? Would it benefit me to work two or three more years?
Browsing: FERCCA
Q. Last year it was determined that I fell under FERCCA. I decided on CSRS offset as my retirement coverage. I am just shy of 30 years of service. For 1987-1991, I was told I would be receiving a refund of my FERS contributions with no interest. It just does not seem correct that I have to pay for years of nondeduction service with interest to reduce or not have an actuarial reduction in my retirement annuity, yet money deducted from me sits for 25 years and is refunded without interest. I would think at a minimum I should receive…
Q. I worked for an independent federal agency from 1977 to 1989, which had its own retirement system that was neither CSRS nor FERS. I had a break in service for one year then returned to work for the federal government (Transportation Department), where I was erroneously placed in FERS by human resources. In 2006, following a FERCCA ruling that took over 2½ years, I chose to be placed in CSRS Offset rather than FERS. I paid Social Security as a federal employee (plus through part-time jobs dating back to 1970) until I retired in 2010 with 32 years of service. I…
Q. I have 25 years of CSRS service. From 1971 until Aug. 15, 1991, I worked for the post office, then I quit and took out my retirement, $20,000 at the time. I went back to work at the VA in 2008. I owe $64,000 on my deposit. I was in FERS; then FERCCA helped me get in the offset. When I retire, I will be 62. Am I entitled to an actuarial reduction? How does that work? A. Because you took a refund of your retirement contributions after Feb. 28, 1991, you will receive credit for that service in…
Q. My agency committed an error by moving me from CSRS to FERS. After 18 months and senatorial support, it was finally resolved; the agency satisfied the debt; and I retired Dec. 29. I have since received W2-Cs for past three years. I am looking at a decrease of approximately $17,000 in Social Security taxes withheld for those three years. Those monies were pulled back and put into my CSRS account. If the Internal Revenue Service determines that there is now a tax liability after filing my amended returns, can I make an appeal to the Office of Personnel Management…
Q. I submitted my application for retirement at the Postal Service, accepting the early-out. While waiting for my returned papers, I received a letter from Postal headquarters stating I was put in the wrong retirement. As I had more than five years of prior service, I should have been put in CSRS Offset instead of FERS, so it says to be patient and Washington will send me a new retirement package. With my Jan. 31 retirement date approaching, what can I do? A. If you had five years of CSRS service before Jan. 1, 1987, you should have remained in…
Q. I am 69 years old. I started my Social Security benefits on my own SS earnings record at my full retirement age (66) and continued working. I am going to retire in October. I thought I could change to auxiliary spouse benefits when I decided to retire to avoid the windfall elimination provision and have been informed that I can’t make this change since I would be technically entitled on my own SSN. I was a Federal Erroneous Retirement Coverage Corrections Act case as far as my CSRS retirement was figured. According to my estimate, I will be offset…
Q. I was put under FERS when I joined the federal government as a civilian employee in 1994. At the time, it appeared to make sense given that FERS was created in 1987 and all new federal employees were put into FERS. However, it looks like it is possible that I was eligible for CSRS when I was first hired. I was in the military from 1981 to 1990, which included more than five years of service when FERS was created in 1987. My federal employer probably decided that since this was military service, not civilian service, I was not…
Q: If you are eligible for a discontinued service retirement and you are part of a reduction-in-force, because you are on a priority placement program for a year, why can you not wait until the year is almost up to put in for your DSR? Also, I am under the Federal Employees Retirement System, but I have money that I paid into the Civil Service Retirement System. I am not under CSRS Offset because when I was transferred the choices were not explained to me; I was just told that I had to transfer. What happens to the money that…