Q. I researched online, and I think if I go part time for my final year or two of employment, it could affect my high-3 salary calculation (due to final low-salary years not being the ones used to calculate the high-3) but it would NOT affect my total years of service (i.e., I’d get credit for a full year of employment even if that year was part-time work). Is that right? A. You’d get full credit in determining your total years of service; however, your annuity would be reduced to account for that portion which was part-time. To learn how…
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Q. I entered the federal workforce on Dec. 12, 1983. I transferred to the FERS retirement plan on June 1988. My Air Force agency is doing a reduction in force this month. I will have 28½ years time in grade and short of three months of my high-3 grade as a GS-13 (Oct. 10, 2012). Congress is talking about doing away with the supplemental income for everyone (That was one reason I switched from CSRS to FERS). I am short of my 30 years of service, but I turned 50 years old in March. (So I am too young to retire.)…
Q. I am a CSRS employee. At what number of years of service do one’s take-home retirement and working pay become equal? A. They don’t. If you work for 41 years and 11 months, you would be entitled to the maximum earned annuity, which is 80 percent of your high-3. For every month of unused sick leave (174 hours), you can add one-sixth of 1 percent to that amount (2 percent per year). If you work beyond 41 years and 11 months, any excess contributions would be returned to you with the option of buying additional annuity, which, like unused…
Q. I served nine years in the military and bought back that time. When I retire at 56, I will have 33 years in Civil Service. Will I be eligible to receive the FERS annuity until I am 62? Also, does the high-3 consecutive salaries mean for the last three years? My income has remained the same since the pay freeze was implemented. Will my high-3 include these years, or will it be based on the last three pay increases I received? I am close to retirement, and my decision to retire will be based on the answer to this…
Q. I am an active federal employee with eight years active-duty military behind me, for which I haven’t made a deposit. I have 14 years total service and want to optimize my potential for retirement benefits and most of what I have read is very hard to understand. What I am looking at are my options as to when I can retire and the negative effects of that decision based on each specific date and time in service. 1. I was thinking of retiring at 49 years old, which would give me 30 years federal service. Are there any benefits to this…
Q. I am part of CSRS. I was hired into federal service in 1979. In 1982, I was injured on the job and on workers’ compensation for seven years. A few recent retirees have told me they were notified by the Office of Personnel Management of outstanding indebtedness going back over 25 years due to nonpayment of retirement money. When I retire, will I be required to pay OPM for those seven years of retirement money I did not pay into the system while I was on workers’ comp? Or is my retirement annuity based on what I paid into…
Q. I am a FERS employee with 27 years of civilian service and six years of military service, for which I made a deposit to get credit for retirement purposes. My MRA is 56. Am I eligible to retire on the first day of the calendar year in which I turn 56, or is it the day I turn 56? At that time, I will have 36 years of service. Will I get 36 percent of my high-3? When am I eligible to get 1.1 percent per year versus 1 percent? If I were offered a voluntary early retirement or…
Q. I am planning to retire at the end of this year with 30 years’ service under CSRS. I received my last cost-of-living increase Jan. 3, 2010. I received my final step increase Nov. 10, 2010. To use the cost-of-living increase toward/as my high-3, do I have to stay until at least Jan. 3 to get full credit? If I go on Nov. 1, will I lose the benefit of staying until Jan. 3? My EOD date is Oct. 17, 1982. A. Your high-3 will be based on the average basic pay you received during 78 consecutive biweekly pay periods.…
Q. I’m a federal firefighter and will be put on disability status due to an on-the-job injury. I have reviewed FERS and OPM information regarding the 60 percent of high-3 for first 12 months and 40 percent thereafter. I bought back 10 years of military time when I got hired. I have been working as a fireman for 13 years. What will happen to my military time when I go on disability? A. Nothing. Your disability annuity would be based on your high-3 average salary and a set of formulas that depend on the amount of your Social Security disability…
Q. To be succinct: 04/121978 enlisted in reserves 07/28/2004 started federal employment 11/4/2004 mobilized 9/28/2007 demobilized and returned to my federal employment 12/1/2007 retired from reserves 7/28/2019 will retire from federal service at 65 years of age Will my FERS retirement be 15 years + 3 years for a total of 18 years creditable service, or 15 years because I was mobilized while a federal employee. I am buying back 3 years of active duty. Is there a calculator available that I can plug in the above data? A. When you complete your deposit to get credit for your active-duty service,…