Q: Can you apply for Social Security disability after you have retired under the Federal Employees Retirement System from the Postal Service, or should you have applied for disability under Social Security before your retired? Also, does Social Security request your medical information from your doctors, or do you have to get this information to them yourself? A: If you are applying for disability retirement under FERS, you have to apply for Social Security disability benefits. If you don’t, the Office of Personnel Management won’t process your application. If you are retiring on a nondisability annuity, you may apply for…
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Q: I’m currently 62 years old with 29 years in federal civil service (Civil Service Retirement System), three years of prior military service and a service computation date of March 28, 1977. I plan to retire in 2010 and may have the opportunity to continue as a part-time employee. If I am re-employed by the federal government (possibly on the same job), would I be in the CSRS or the Federal Employees Retirement System? In addition, I have 25 credit hours with Social Security and need 15 more hours to make up for the 40 credit hours requirement to be…
Q: I am a Federal Firefighter. I was hired in 1986 and will retire under the Federal Employees Retirement System. My question revolves around my active-duty military service deposit to the federal retirement fund. Since I have made this deposit and am in good standing to receive compensation for this time; my question is; can I apply it to help determine the length of my service in order to fulfill the 25-year requirement? As a federal firefighter, I am subject to the special retirement for law enforcement officers, firefighters and air traffic control personnel. I cannot get a consistent or…
Q: Can you please explain the process for deferred retirement under the Federal Employees Retirement System? If I decide to retire from federal government service early (with 25 or more years of service, but not the age) and defer retirement benefits, is the annuity when received not reduced? Also, if I move to another government system (e.g, state or local government), could I continue to receive my federal annuity when eligible at 56 years of age? A: Any employee leaving government before being eligible to retire can apply for a deferred retirement at a later date. If the employee has…
Q: I started working for the Postal Service in January of 1995 as a PTF clerk. Now I am a full-time employee. Under the Federal Employees Retirement System, how do my part-time hours get counted for retirement time? Over 14 years, I have between 12,000 and 13,000 hours. A: Go to to Office of Personnel Management’s chapter on the computation for part-time employees and scroll down to Subchapter 55B, Part 55B2.
Q: I was hired on Oct. 18, 1982, with the Postal Service as a temporary employee. In April 1984, I became a career employee, but later “bought back” my temporary time, so all my Form 50s show a hiring date of Oct. 18, 1982. I have always paid Social Security on my earnings. I have never understood why I did not fall under the Civil Service Retirement System instead of the Federal Employees Retirement System. I tried to research it with human resources, and they said I missed CSRS by 17 days (something about the five-year rule). I have not…
Well, FERS employees, the long wait is over. Thanks to Public Law 111-84, you are entitled to get credit for your unused sick leave in your annuity calculation when you retire. Previously, this benefit was available only to employees under the Civil Service Retirement System, not those under the Federal Employees Retirement System. There’s one hitch:You’ll get credit for only half of your unused sick leave until 2014. Still, half a loaf is better than none. How will that benefit affect your annuity when you retire? I’ll give a few examples to illustrate that. But first I’ll explain how sick…
Q: I plan to retire at age 63. I was in the Civil Service Retirement System for 11 years and did not take out my CSRS retirement contribution. I took a 14-year break. I re-entered the federal government under the Federal Employees Retirement System offset and was told that I should be in FERS. I agreed to be in FERS, as I wanted to be able to retire with a retirement system in place. I transferred to the FERS system and now have been in it for 13 years. I plan to retire in the next few years. Will I…
Q: How will the new rules that allow for crediting sick leave to Federal Employees Retirement System employees for retirement calculation purposes affect those who transferred from the Civil Service Retirement System to FERS during a previous open season? A: For those CSRS employees who transferred to FERS, when they retire, any unused sick leave up to the amount they had when they transferred to FERS will be credited to the CSRS component of their annuities; half of any unused sick leave above that amount will be credited to the FERS component. Only those who retire after Dec. 31, 2011,…
Q: I was hired by the Defense Department under the National Security Personnel System. Will I be converted to a Federal Employees Retirement System grade, and how will that grade be determined? A: You’ll have to be patient. The law ending the NSPS was just enacted and the phase-out won’t be completed until Jan. 1, 2012. How grade levels will be determined has yet to be decided.