Q. I just received a pay increase that became effective March 1. I plan on retiring in June. Will this pay increase count toward my high-3? I’m CSRS. A. Yes, because your high-3 is based on the average of your highest three years (78 pay periods) of basic pay you received.
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Q. I am on my last three years before my retirement under FERS. I am planning to take five months of leave without pay on each of these three years. Will my LWOP affect my high-3 average? In other words, is my high-3 based on my income as if I had not taken LWOP for five months each of those years? A. If — and I repeat if — your management is willing to let you take five months of LWOP in each of three years, that time would be creditable in determining your length of service and in your annuity…
Q. I am nearly 62 with 18 years service and separated from service at age 53. If I wait until 63 or later for a deferred FERS, is there an advantage in waiting longer? A. There is no advantage to waiting. Your annuity will be based on your high-3 and years and full months of service on the day you resigned from the government. Therefore, you should fill out a Standard Form 3107, Application for Immediate Retirement (available at www.opm.gov, click on Find Form(s)), and send it to the Office of Personnel Management two months before your 62nd birthday.
Q. Is my high-3 based on the capped amount or is it the base pay plus the full locality pay percentage? A. Your high-3 will be based on the pay you actually received — the amount from which retirement deductions were taken — not the amount you would have received had it not been for the cap.
Q. I was approved for disability retirement through FERS and was a part-time flexible carrier. Before I was separated, I was converted to full time in May. In July, my disability annuity was approved by OPM. My annuity payment was reduced as a part time. Does being a part-time employee but doing 40 hours a week throughout my employment and converting to full time before OPM’s approval entitle me to get benefits as a full-time employee? Can they do this knowing I worked full-time hours all the time? Also what about hours paid from Office of Workers’ Compensation Program (OWCP)…
Q: I am 58 and have been with the government for 37 years under CSRS. My high-3 salary was achieved Jan. 18. I have read the best dates to retire are: June 30, 2012 – which is the first date the pay period ends at the end of the month for annuity to start in July; Jan. 3, 2013; in which I will receive payment for annual leave over 240 hours; or June 29, 2013 – in which I would receive 75 percent of my salary. (My 39th anniversary with the government. By waiting, I am concerned about several things: …
Q. I am a Federal Employees Retirement System non-law enforcement officer (1811) employee who receives Standby Premium and Fair Labor Standards Act pay. I can retire at age 56, when I will have 33 years of service. In calculating my high-3 average, will Standby Premium and/or FLSA pay be included in the average? A. An employee’s basic pay is used to calculate his high-3. To see what’s included and excluded from basic pay, go to www.opm.gov/retire/pubs/handbook/C030.pdf.
Q. I’m retired under the Federal Employees Retirement System, and have been retired for over 10 years. I was injured on the job, unable to perform the work I was doing, and have had to change to an office job. I was lucky enough to be employed by the state and had really good insurance. So I opted out of my FERS medical benefits and received a larger annuity monthly payment. I didn’t think at the time that double insurance was needed. I am 47 now, still disabled and unable to return to my government job. I continue to receive an…
Q. I retired from the Air Force last year after 27 years and now work as an Army civilian. I plan to work 10 more years, then retire at age 67, when I will have a combination of my Air Force retirement, Federal Employees Retirement System retirement and Social Security. To what degree, if at all, would I benefit financially from using the military buy back to pay into FERS? How many years should I buy back, and how soon should I do it? A. If you made a deposit for your active-duty military service, you would get credit for those…
Q. For a high-3 calculation, do the three consecutive years have to be continuous? I’m a Civil Service Retirement System Offset employee who was reinstated in March 2011 after an 18-year break in service but would be eligible to retire at age 60 in about 14 months. Would my high-3 be the two years since my return to federal service and then my last from 18 years ago? A. The three years have to be consecutive, but they don’t have to be continuous. Therefore, assuming that the current salary is higher than the one you had when you left government,…