Q. I am 60 years old and will have 25 years in September and will be 61 years old in that month. I am under FERS. I realize I have to be 62 in order to qualify for 1.1 percent of high 3, but what if a VERA is offered this year in Sept. If that VERA included adding years, would my retirement be calculated at the 1 percent or the 1.1 percent? Or does it have to offer years and age to qualify for 1.1 percent? A. There is no provision in law that would allow years to be…
Browsing: high-3
Q: I am 54 with 21 years of combined military and federal service. I fall under the CSRS plan. The highest paygrade I have had is GS-7. How do I figure out my pay for retirement, what is the formula? I would like to get a general idea of how much my pay would be at this point and time if I could retire. A: For CSRS employees, the formula is: 0.015 x your high-3 x 5 years of service, plus 0.0175 x your high-3 x 5 years of service, plus 0.02 x your high-3 x all remaining years and…
Q: I am a former government employee with more than nine years of service under CSRS and 22 months of military service. When I left the federal government in 1985 I withdrew all of my contributions to CSRS. I am 62 years old and I am now considering getting a federal government job with the hopes of working long enough to get an annuity under CSRS offset. My understanding is that the calculations of your high-3 are based upon three consecutive years of pay. Is this correct? Would I need to work three years to be eligible for an annuity?…
Q: I am a FERS-covered employee with 10 years of service with the VA. I also purchased two years of military service. I have decided to leave in September of 2011 at which time I will be 61. I know I should wait until 62 but I have had enough. What are my penalties? At a high-3 average of $100,000 per year I have figured an immediate benefit of about $1,000 a month minus 5 percent. Does that sound right? In addition, if I do leave at 61 am I eligible for immediate health care? A: Your annuity estimate sounds…
Q: I heard that there is a proposal to change the retirement calculations from your high-3 to your high-5. Is this true and how will it affect my retirement? I am 56 with 38 years and three months of service. I was hoping to retire when I have 41 years and 11 months of service so I could get 80 percent retirement. If they change to the high-5 would I be better off retiring now? A: A lot of federal employees want to know if it’s true and how it will affect their retirement. While changing the high-3 to a…
Q: If a FERS-covered LEO elects to take OPM disability retirement, is that LEO’s 25 percent Law Enforcement Availiability Pay included in the salary computation? I do know for the purpose of regular retirement, and when receiving DOL OWCP the 25 percent LEAP is included. I assume it also would be included in the disability salary calculation as well, but I cannot find a written policy anywhere that states this. A: All disability retirement calculations are based on an employee’s highest three consecutive years of average basic pay. Since law enforcement availability pay is considered to be a part of…
Q: Is the annuity calculated on basic pay only for the high 3 years? Are any other earnings factors included besides basic high 3 pay? A: Basic pay is it. However, you need to know what’s included in and excluded from basic pay. For example, locality pay is included, overtime isn’t. Simply stated, basic pay is the amount from which retirement deductions are taken.
Q: If I am 53 and will have 35 years continuous service with a federal department in June of this year, can I retire when my 35th year is completed without any deduction to my pension? I am under the impression that I would receive 2 percent for each count year to a total of 70 percent. Or do I have to work until I reach 55 before I can apply for my pension? A: You won’t be able to retire until you reach 55. By the way, there is no 70 percent limit. By law your annuity can’t exceed…
Q: I plan to retire in December of 2011. If I retire Dec. 31, I will have 41 years and 10 months, one month shy of the 41 years and 11 months to be eligible for the 80 percent of my high-3 salary. I will have one month of sick leave. When my annuity is calculated and my sick leave added in, will I actually have the 80 percent I’m looking for? If I retire on Dec. 2 in the 24th pay period would I most likely receive my annual leave sum payment in pp. 26 which would actually be…
Q: I am a postal inspector by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and recently received a step increase, from GS/EAS 15, step 7 (119554) to step 8 (122875) based on time in grade. The step increase was reflected in my pay stub beginning with pay period two, but did not impact my take-home pay. This is likely due to the LEP and SPA that I receive as an 1811, which has kept my total compensation at level 4 of the executive pay grade (155500) for the last two years. I also noticed that my LEP was reduced, probably to absorb…