Q: Is there a cap on how much sick leave can be applied to calculating a pension? Is there a 2,087-hour limit? A: No, there isn’t any cap on how many hours of unused sick leave can be applied when calculating an annuity. However, for the time being, Federal Employees Retirement System employees will only get credit for one-half of their total hours, while Civil Service Retirement System employees will continue to get full credit.
Browsing: FERS
Q. In 2005, I resigned from my position as a civil servant. At the time I was 51 and had 24 years of service. It was not explained to me that I could retire and defer. I am now 55, and since I am under 30 years of service still could not withdraw without a penalty. Do I have any options in order to still receive a retirement that I earned via 24 years of service? A. As a FERS employee with at least 10 years of service, the earliest age at which you could have retired was 56, your…
Q. I left the Postal Service in February 2006 and took my annuity at 55 years and 10 months old. I just read that FERS employees could convert 50 percent of their sick leave to compute annuity, I had 180 hours of sick leave balance; can I still get credit for this or would I have had to reach a certain age, and/or time in service, before leaving to get credit for this time? A: No, you cannot get credit for that unused sick leave. The change in law allowing FERS employees to get credit for it was prospective only,…
Q. I’m a FERS employee who is planing to retire in December of this year. When is the best day, Dec 30, 31 or in January 2011? A: As a FERS employee, you have to retire no later than the last day of a month to be on the annuity roll in the following month. If you retire at the end of business on Dec. 31, you will have satisfied that requirement and also completed a pay period. Therefore, you would be entitled to any annual and sick leave you earned during that pay period, and paid for any annual…
Q. I am a federal employee with both CSRS and FERS pension plans. If I die before I retire, will my husband collect my pension? Will my husband will be covered under a federal health care plan? A: Yes, he will receive a survivor annuity based on your service. He will be covered under the Federal Employees Health Benefits program if he was covered by it on the date you die. If he wasn’t covered under the FEHB, he won’t be able to enroll in it as a survivor.
Q. I retired with a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority on Dec. 31, 2008; am I entitled to one-half of my unused sick leave? I heard that if the bill passed within one year of your retirement date you would be entitled, and, if so, how do I go about receiving compensation? A: You are misinformed. The provision allowing FERS retirees to get credit for unused sick leave applied only to those employees retiring on or after the date the law was enacted, which occurred on Oct. 28, 2009.
Q. I am considering retirement from the Postal Service after 35 years (includes military time) and am would like to become a TSA agent. Would I be able to collect my CSRS pension and work FERS if hired? A. You’d need to check with the Transportation Security Administration to confirm that you would be able to receive both, without a reduction in either.
Q. The U.S. Postal Service has given employees retiring voluntarily on Oct. 31, 2009 an amount of $15,000. Will the first check of $10,000 have everything taken out for federal and state taxes, Medicare, Social Security, health benefits, etc? When would my first annuity check start? I am a Civil Service offset employee with 12 years under FERS. I had a total of 30 years of both civil service and FERS but I left and came back to the USPS in 1997 (7 years). I took out the money in the retirement fund and so lost 20 years credit to…
Q. I am reading the article, “It is not too late to retire in 2009 or plan for 2010 or 2011.” I understand that federal employees should retire by the last day of the month to get their annuity starting from the first of the following month. Example: Federal system employee can retire on Dec. 31, 2009. The annuity will start from Jan. 1, 2010. However, the pay period ends on Jan. 2. The employee will lose annual leave for Friday and paid leave on Saturday and Sundays? Though those days will be paid much less under the annuity. Is…
It’s not too late to retire in 2009, and it’s not too soon to at least begin planning to retire in 2010 or 2011. For this year and the next two years, the calendar is working in favor of many of you. Let me explain. As my regular readers know, my position is that there is no one best date to retire. However, each of you can pick the best one for you if you know how. First, you must figure out if you are ready to retire. To do that, you have to answer three questions: Do you meet…