Q. I finished buying my military time back in 2001. I even received a Form 50 with my retirement date changed. Now, human resources for the Postal Service has notified me that they have made a error regarding my IAD date. They notified me I owe them $570 plus interest. This brings the total to $899. I agreed to pay the $570 but not the interest because it was not my error. They refused, and have already changed my retirement comp date. Why should I pay 10 years of interest due to their mistake? A. Unfortunately, you’ll have to pay…
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Q. I have 32 years of CSRS service as a civilian and am in a same-sex marriage. Can I sign up during my retirement processing for survivor benefits? A. No, you can’t, because the law governing survivor benefits hasn’t changed. However, you could elect an insurable interest annuity if you are in good health when you retire, as demonstrated by a current medical exam, and you can show that the person you are naming would benefit financially by your continuing to be alive. To pay for the benefit, your annuity would be reduced by a percentage that depends on the…
Q. I have to buy back four years, which will give me 30 years with the Defense Department. It will cost me $8,000. I owe about $1,500. The rest is interest. I never knew about this until I started retirement plans. If I had, I would have started a repayment plan. Can you explained why the why there is so much interest and is there way it can be reduced? I have been waiting now for eight months for the Office of Personnel Management to make its final calculations so I can begin to pay. Is there anything I can…
Q. I am in FERS with a CSRS component, and I’m planning to retire in April 2013 after more than 35 years of continuous government service. Prior to working for the Defense Department in 1975, I had worked a summer in the post office with all the taxes paid, including Social Security. Would I be able to pay a FERS deposit for the two or three months I’ve worked at the post office and get credit for the FERS retirement annuity? Below is the info from the ABC-C website: FERS deposit service is any period of Federal civilian service performed…
Q. I am in the process of buying back active-duty service time. I served in the Marines from 1982 to 1986, and started with the Postal Service in 1987. I am 47 years old. For the Marine Corps service, I received the PS Form 2805 with the initial amount due as $1,050.48 and interest of $2,612.74, totaling $3,663.20. I find out there was no penalty or interest during the first two years. This was never explained when hired. Is there an appeal process for the interest? Also, I have three other periods of National Guard active service being looked into.…
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…
Q. I have read that “If there is no spouse, former spouse, eligible child or some other insurable interest named to receive a survivor annuity upon the death of the FERS annuitant, then a lump sum of the employee’s contributions to the FERS Retirement and Disability Fund will be paid to the individual(s) entitled under the order of precedence.” The order of precedence is: designated beneficiary, widow/widower, children, parents, etc. Does this mean, if I haven’t named someone to receive my FERS annuity, upon my death, anything not paid to me while I was retired will be paid in a…
Q. I was an employee under CSRS for 15 years and nine months. I took a Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment and withdrew my retirement pay. I am recently rehired and will go under the CSRS Offset. How can I determine what the repayment would be with interest? A. There’s only one way to find out how much you owe. Download a copy of Standard Form 2803, Application to Make Deposit or Redeposit, fill it out and send it to the Office of Personnel Management, Retirement Services and Management Group, P.O. Box 45, Boyers, PA 16017-0045. When they’ve told you how…
Q. I am CSRS and made 41 years, 11 months in August 2011. I continue to have deductions for retirement taken out of my pay. As I understand it, the Office of Personnel Management will send me a lump sum for my excess payment after I retire. My options are to accept the refund or return the money to buy additional annuity. 1. Will the excess retirement dollars from September 2011 to Dec. 29, 2012 (date of retirement) equate to another 2 percent annuity? 2. Do I have the option of putting that money in a Voluntary Contributions Program account?…
Q. I was a federal employee in the 1970s under CSRS who left after more than years and received a refund of contributions. I was rehired in the federal government under FERS in 2010 and my agency recognized five years, three months and 27 days of past government service on my service computation date. Will that time count toward my FERS annuity when the time comes for me to retire, assuming I meet age and other time of service requirements? A. No, it won’t be included in your FERS annuity. Instead, because you had at least five years of CSRS…