Q. I am looking at my Federal Employee Benefits Statement. Can you tell me what the difference is between the estimated annuity without survivorship, with max survivorship, and annuity to survivor? A. If you are unmarried, you would receive the full benefit to which you are entitled based on your years of service, high-3 and the formula used to calculate an annuity (either CSRS or FERS). If you are married, you are required by law to provide a full survivor annuity to your spouse (55 percent for CSRS; 50 percent for FERS). Under CSRS, you could provide any amount of…
Browsing: high-3
Q. I am turning 50 in two months, with over 23 years of continuous federal service. I want to resign to pursue other career options. If I elect a reduced pension, e.g. high-3 x .23 x reduction percentage, will I have the option to continue my Federal Employees Health Benefits? How is the reduction percentage calculated? Is it reduced 5 percent for each year under age 60 or age 62? A. Unless your agency offers you an opportunity to retire early via the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority, you wouldn’t meet the age and service requirements to retire. If it did,…
Q. I spent 20 years in the Navy and am currently receiving my pension from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service and a 30 percent disability pension from the Veterans Affairs Department. In 1991, I began my employment with federal government under FERS. In 2009, I applied for disability due to my health condition. I spent 18½ years in federal service. In June 2009, I began receiving my disability pay from the Office of Personnel Management, computed based on 60 percent of my high-3 for the first 12 months and 40 percent thereafter until I reached age 62. I will…
Q. When the calculations are made for annuity payments, are actual earnings or base pay used in calculations? My base pay is higher than the actual pay in each of the high-3. A. I believe you misunderstand the meaning of the words “base pay.” Base pay is the amount of pay from which retirement contributions are taken, not the amount you actually receive, nor the figure that is shown on a pay chart that exceeds the amount payable because of a pay cap.
Q. Approximately how much does a CSRS letter carrier from Kansas receive (pension) after 40 years of service? Never promoted beyond letter carrier. A. You’ll have to figure it out yourself, using the following formula: 0.015 x your highest three years of average salary (your high-3) x five years of service, plus 0.0175 x your high-3 x five years of service, plus 0.02 x your high-3 x all remaining years of service.
Q. I am considering reinstatement. I was with the Treasury Department for seven years and nine months, and left in January 1981 as Grade 12, Step 1. I received a refund of retirement contributions of approximately $6,000 when I left. How can I approximate what my pension will be if I return to the Treasury Department at a Grade 13, Step 1 and work for 5½ years. How would this calculation work if I wanted to calculate the pension at different dates? At the time I left, I was not required to make Social Security withholdings. I have made Social…
Q. I am a federal firefighter with 19 years in. I am shy of three months until I am eligible to retire with my 20 years. I have been told that I am not fit for duty because of some health issues and that I will not be able to retire in August as I had planned. I am being told that I will be let go and that I need to apply for disability. I had 13 years active duty as a firefighter (I already paid back my 13 years). I am also a 10-point veteran. I am trying…
Q. I am considering retiring under the FERS minimum retirement age plus-10 rule a month or so after my 60th birthday this year. We have also been considering relocating to Alabama from Chicago, where I work at a VA medical center. Does it make any financial annuity difference whether or not I retire while still living in Chicago, or if I wait until we relocate (or I transfer employment) to Alabama? I know part of my current salary is based upon my physical location, but I don’t understand how that part of my salary affects the final calculations? A. Your…
Q. I deployed to Afghanistan as a DoD civilian in 2011. Do the foreign post and danger pay differentials, as well as overtime night and Sunday pay amounts, count toward my high-3 for calculating my annuity if I choose to retire in 2012? I am under FERS, age 60 with 10 years of service. A. None of them are included when calculating a high-3.
Q. I will have 25 years of service soon but will only be 48. If the government offers early-outs, what will I be eligible for? Pension at one-quarter of my salary for the last three years? Health insurance? What if I get a part-time job? Will this affect my pension or annuity? Also, if I do an annuity on my Thrift Savings Plan, can I start that now? Will there be a penalty? Do I get this same amount for the rest of my life, or does it stop after a certain number of years? A. Reg Jones: Because you…