Q: Regarding your answer concerning retirement and locality pay: I will retire under the Federal Employees Retirement System with 30 years in February 2012. Does locality pay count as part of your high-3? A: Yes, it does.
Browsing: FERS
Q: I recently retired at age 56, air traffic control mandatory retirement, with 36 years in the Civil Service Retirement System. A desirable position for which I am qualified has become available with a local Transportation Security Administration unit. If rehired at TSA, would I be under the Federal Employees Retirement System or CSRS? If I’m under FERS, could I retain full CSRS annuity? If rehired into CSRS, what are some factors to consider: annual leave rate, recomputation of CSRS annuity, etc.? I would like to work until age 62, when my wife can retire and would be very close to maximum…
Q: I have nine years of military service that began Nov. 28, 1980, and ended Dec. 3, 1989. My federal service began Dec. 4, 1989, and I am still employed by the Federal Aviation Administration. I am under the Federal Employees Retirement System. On Nov. 27, I will have 30 years of continuous service if you include the military time. Does that qualify me for the any-age minimum retirement age under FERS with 30 years of government service? A: Because you are covered by FERS, those years of active-duty military service would only be considered to be creditable service for retirement purposes if you have…
Q: What is this Special Retirement Supplement check? I have been retired since 2002 from the Veterans Affairs Department and receive my retirement pay from the Civil Service Retirement System. A: There isn’t any check. The Special Retirement Supplement approximates the Social Security benefit earned by employees who were covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System and is included in their annuities. It’s intended to bridge the gap between the age at which they retire and age 62, when they become eligible for a Social Security benefit.
Q: I am a firefighter under the Federal Employees Retirement System holding a secondary position with a service computation date of 2003. I retired from the Air Force after 20 years of military service. I have a number of questions. Would it be prudent for me to buy back my military time, which would allow me to retire early from civil service? If I do buy back my military time and retire, would I lose my military retirement check? Part of my retirement is a 40 percent service-connected disability from the Veterans Affairs Department. The other half is from the…
Q: As a federal firefighter covered under the Federal Employees Retirement System, I have to retire at age 57. I have been told that that under FERS, we get a Social Security supplement and as such we are limited in what we can earn after retirement. Is this true? I know that when one retires and draws Social Security, one is limited to $14,160 per year in earnings from other sources. Is this the case when we are forced to retire at 57? A: Yes, it is. In 2010, if you were to earn more than $14,160 from wages or…
Q: I am considering retiring, but need to know whether there is a specific form I must complete in order to continue my Blue Cross and Blue Shield insurance after retirement? I have had BCBS for over 5 years. A: No special form is required. Your coverage will continue seamlessly without your doing anything other than your checking the box confirming your eligibility on the Application for Immediate retirement: Standard Form 2801 (Civil Service Retirement System) or 3107 (Federal Employees Retirement System).
Q: I just read your comment explaining why some individuals had their Medicare Part B Premium go up. This article begs an additional question. I would like to delay drawing my Social Security until age 70. However, I would like to sign up for Medicare Part B when I turn 65 in order to avoid the penalty for delayed sign-up. I understand the way to do this is to have the Medicare Part B premium benefit taken out of my FERS (with CSRS component) pension, which I will begin to draw at age 58. However, if I do this, I…
For employees, 2010 is a mixed year for benefits. For retirees, it’s pretty much a bust. General Schedule employees received a 2 percent pay increase, with 1.5 percent going to all employees and the remainder being distributed through locality pay. If you want to compare how you made out against employees in other areas, go to the Salaries and Wages page on the Office of Personnel Management Web site. The maximum taxable earnings for Social Security withholding stay at the 2009 level — $106,800. So, if you are a Federal Employees Retirement System or Civil Service Retirement System Offset employee,…
Q: I’m under the Civil Service Retirement System plan. I would like to know if the retirement contributions, taken out of our checks every payday, have anything to do with the amount of money we will receive when we retire, or is it based on our high-3 and the number of years we have in, including military time? A: CSRS and Federal Employees Retirement System annuities are defined benefit plans. As such, they are not based on the amount employees and agencies contribute to the retirement fund. Instead, they are based on formulas that include a multiplier (or multipliers), the…