Q. My organization has been approved for Voluntary Early Retirement Authority. I am covered by FERS and will have 30 years creditable service May 24 at age 57. Am I still eligible to request a VERA after I have reached the 30-year mark? I also have two years of temporary service that I can buy back for approximately $2,500. What would be the monthly pension amount with 30 years versus 32 years, if I purchased the two years of temp time? A. Although you could accept a VERA, there wouldn’t be any point in doing that if you already have the…
Browsing: high-3
Q. I am a CSRS Offset employee who plans to retire when I turn 60, when I will have approximately 21 years and a few months of federal service. I work in the U.S. and have a high-three salary which includes locality pay of approximately 25 percent. If I were to accept a position overseas (I realize the new salary will not include locality pay) at a salary that is lower than my current one, will my high-3 still be based on the high-3 I have already attained? I read several postings on your site and one seems to suggest…
Q. I started my federal service in 1982 under CSRS in a noncovered position. Soon after 9/11, my position was shifted to a law enforcement officer covered CSRS 6C position. I have to retire in 2021 because I will have completed 20 years of the LEO position and will be forced out due to my age. How do I calculate my retirement? Is all of my time considered covered? As an LEO, I also get administratively uncontrollable overtime, plus Fair Labor Standards Act provisions for the first two AUO hours worked. Our group works an average of three to four…
Q. I am a FERS employee, and I’m considering buying back my service time; I retired after 23 years in the Army. I am 49 and have five years of federal time as of 2013. Would it be in my best interests to buy back my military time toward federal retirement, and what would be the effects? A. Here’s the upside: If you make a deposit to get credit for your active-duty service, you’ll have 28 years of creditable service. If you retire at your minimum retirement age (56), you’ll have 35 years of service and your annuity will be…
Q. I am a GS-12 FERS eligible employee with five years of service and am 46. I receive a military retirement of $21,684 per year for 20 years of service and plan to work an additional 10 years until age 56, for a combined total of 40 years with (if) converted military retirement credit, which would be based solely on your actual years of FERS service. According to my calculations, a FERS retirement at 56 would provide $32,000 per year (40 years x .01 percent x $80,000), minus a 30 percent reduction of $9,600 due to the age penalty, leaving $22,400 yearly.…
Q. Could you show the math in calculating how much I could expect to receive every month? I want to retire at 56 because I was born in 1958. I’ll have 15 years of service at that time. I earn approximately $50,000 a year. A. Because you were born in 1958, your minimum retirement age is 56. If you retired with 15 years of service, the formula for computing your annuity would be: .01 x your highest three consecutive years of average basic pay x all your years and full months of service. However, because you’d be retiring under the…
Q. My wife, who is terminally ill, is covered by FERS and is an employee of the Postal Service. She is running out of sick and annual leave. If she goes on leave without pay and passes away while on leave without pay, will I, as her current husband (25 years +) still be eligible for the basic employee death benefit (50 percent of final salary plus $15,000)? A. If your wife had more than 18 months service but less than 10 years, you’d receive a lump-sum payment of $31,316.46 plus a lump-sum of the higher of 50 percent on…
Q. I am eligible for CSRS retirement with 39+ years of service. I just completed a temporary promotion to manager for five months and some days. Will that pay increase be considered in my high-3 for retirement? A. Yes. A high-3 is based on the average of the three highest consecutive years (78 pay periods) of basic pay.
Q. I am a 57-year-old FERS employee with 29 years and 11 months of civilian federal service, five years of active-duty military service and 31 years of military reserve service (I plan to retire from reserve duty at 60). I want to know how my retirement from civilian federal service will be computed. I bought back the active-duty military service. A. Your FERS annuity will be computed using the standard formula: .01 x your high-3 x your years and full months of service (including actual service and active duty service for which you’ve made a deposit).
Q. I just retired under CSRS and my last day at work was Jan. 3. For purposes of the high-3, how is the three-year period defined? Three true calendar years? Three calendar years limited to 365 days each? A total of 1,095 calendar days (three 365-day periods)? My salaries were: 1/4/10 to 1/30/10 = $92,992 1/31/10 to 1/28/12 = $99,239 1/29/12 to 1/3/13 = $102,074 Specifically, Feb. 29, 2012, was a leap year’s extra day and, being at my highest salary, my working that day should benefit the high-3 figure. If Feb. 29, 2012, did not exist (or does not exist in the…