Q. I am 45 years old with 13 years of service under FERS and will be resigning this month to pursue other activities. I understand that I would eligible for a full pension (computed on my high-3) at age 62. That is 17 years away and, in the meantime, my defined benefit pension would remain static and thus be seriously eroded by inflation. Is there a way to protect myself against this within the pension system, or can I take a lump sum on separation and roll that into an IRA? If I take the lump sum, must I do…
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Q. I am a letter carrier, age 52, started in 1985 and have 28 years of creditable service. If I understand what I’ve gleaned from the posts here and the Postal Service were to offer me a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority this year, 1. Would I begin my annuity immediately? 2. Would I have no reductions in calculations of my annuity? (average high-3 x 1 percent x 28) 3. Would I receive credit for half of my sick leave and all of my annual leave? (How are these applied?) 4. Would I receive the special retirement supplement beginning at age…
Q. My husband has 10 years of Air Force service and is in the process of negotiating to take a federal position. To buy back his service, is it possible to use a 401(k) rollover? I am thinking not, since a rollover is only allowable to an IRA or other “qualified plan.” We certainly can take a direct taxable distribution of a portion of that 401(k) plan and use that money to buy back, but he wondered if it can be done with the rollover. A. No, it can’t.
Q. I left federal service in 1988 after 13 years of service and took out my CSRS money, which was about $20,000 at that time. I have decided to return to federal service and want to be in CSRS Offset. I was told that repayment would include yearly interest and would be about $80,000. How is interest calculated? May I roll over either an IRA, Roth or my personal 401(k) into the CSRS Offset account to repay my debt and avoid paying taxes? What about the taxes on the $20,000 that I paid in 1988? Would they eliminate at least…
Q. When I retire under FERS, can I get all of my Thrift Savings Plan monies, Social Security and my annuity? Can I roll over my TSP monies without paying 30 percent of the total to the Internal Revenue Service? If so, what amount of tax-deferred monies, once rolled over, can I take out monthly without a penalty or have to pay taxes? A. Reg: Yes, you can receive an annuity and, unless you retire under the MRA+10 provision, the special retirement supplement, when you reach your minimum retirement age. Unless you exceed the Social Security earnings limit from wages…
Q. I am trying to take advantage of the redeposit and can’t seem to find information to get this done. The current form 3108A does not address this particular subject. Human Resources was not familiar with it. It is on the Postal Service blue page, but that is as much information that I can get. I left USPS for eight months, and I took my Thrift Savings Plan and roll into an IRA. I want to find out how to get this redeposit, to receive credit for my annuity computation, and also my eligibility to retire. I am currently employed with…
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 have 25 years in civil service. I have a Thrift Savings Plan account and, once I retire, do I get an annuity automatically or do I have to use the money in the TSP account to get that? Should I buy an annuity or just take a monthly payment from the TSP account? Not sure if I will have enough to retire. I heard that in FERS, the government gives an annuity and then you get TSP. But when I go to the website to estimate how much I have in the TSP, I do not see the…
Q. I worked for DoDDS schools from 1987 to 1990. At that time, vesting was five years with FERS. When I resigned, I believe I had to forfeit my retirement and was made to withdraw my Thrift Savings Plan. Would this have been correct for that time period with FERS? And DoDDS? I came back to work for DoDEA in January 2001. I called to make certain that I was going to get credit for those three years. I wanted to redeposit my TSP money but was not allowed to, and was told there was no provision for repayment. It…
Q: I am currently a federal employee, having joined an agency in January 2010, late in my career. I am 64 years old. Between 1980 and 1987 I worked for the state and I paid into the state retirement system. Later, I transferred those funds into a private IRA. I was not vested in that system after only seven years. Can I make a deposit into the federal system for those years to add resources to what will likely be five years of employment with the federal government? A: No, you cannot make a deposit and get credit for that…