Q. Are FERS annuities adjusted for inflation? I have 33 years of government service. With that many years of work, will my FERS annuity be lower if I retire in March, before my 62nd birthday in September? A. Unless you are a special category employee, such as a law enforcement officer, you would first be eligible for a cost-of-living adjustment at age 62. Be aware that COLAs are applied based on the number of months you are on the annuity roll after reaching age 62. Therefore, if you retired in March, you would first be eligible in September and receive…
Browsing: law enforcement
Q. I worked for 13 years as a 6(c) covered federal law enforcement officer. I switched career paths and now work in a “support non-law enforcement position.” In the law enforcement retirement, they take 1.7 percent for the first 20 years and then 1 percent each year after until you retire, with 57 being the max. Regular positions take 1 percent for each year you work, with no age limit. I am being told that I have forfeited the extra 0.7 percent since I did not complete the 20 years in the 6(c) coverage. How can they keep that extra…
Q. I have just under eight years as law enforcement at the Bureau of Prisons, and I am now working for DoDDS in Germany. If I retire from DoDDS, do I still get the 1.7 times each year credit for the law enforcement? A. No.
Q. I am a federal law enforcement officer with more than 30 years of CSRS service. I do not have 20 years of federal law enforcement coverage, a main reason I remain on duty. Would I be eligible for VERA or VSIP, and by participating, would I receive the 18 months I need to attain 20 years in a covered position? Twenty years of law enforcement coverage computes to 50 percent of my high-3 plus the remaining years. I need 18 months of additional law enforcement time on duty to be eligible for a law enforcement retirement calculation. Does VERA…
Q. I have 20 years of FERS law enforcement coverage, with approximately four years in nonlaw enforcement coverage. I am only 51. We don’t get administrative overtime, so if I could find a nonlaw enforcement position that paid the same grade, that would be nice. If I obtain such a position, what happens to my 20 years of law enforcement coverage? It is safe, right? My understanding is that my basic annuity is calculated at 1.7 percent of my high-3 times 20 plus 1 percent of my high-3 average times years of additional creditable service. Further, my understanding of the…
Q. For a law enforcement officer with 35 years of CSRS service with an expected annuity of 80 percent of salary, would the LEO continue to have the CSRS retirement payments deducted from salary if he continued working beyond the 35 years? If so, would those CSRS payments be refunded after retirement? A. If you work beyond the point where your annuity would be 80 percent, retirement contributions would continue to be deducted from your pay. When you retired, you’d receive a refund of those contributions and offered the option of keeping that money or using it to purchase additional…
Q. I am a GS-1811 law enforcement officer in FERS who is scheduled for mandatory retirement in December 2013. If I retire then or, say, retire before 62 (in the event I get another federal position), is there an earnings test on the Social Security supplement payable to me before I reach 62? A. If you retire before your minimum retirement age (not age 62), you’ll be able to earn as much as you want without it affecting your special retirement supplement. However, as soon as you reach your MRA, the earnings test will apply. MRAs range between 55 and…
Q. I am employed with the federal prison system, which gets law enforcement officer coverage. With five years of civilian service and eight of military paid for, I will have 13 years of total service. I’m only 34 now, but if I leave to pursue other employment, will I qualify for an MRA+10 annuity at 57 or deferred annuity at 62? Also, what will be used to compute my annuity —1.7 percent or 1.0? A. If you left, you’d be eligible for either an MRA+10 annuity at age 57 or a deferred annuity at age 62. If you elected to…
Q. I am recently separated from federal service as a law enforcement officer after nine years and 11 months. I am making the necessary arrangements to have my TSP transferred, but no one can tell me what amount is in the regular retirement fund, which I believe is the FERS one. I am electing to have that one paid directly to me and be subject to the taxes and penalties. Am I eligible to receive the federal contributions to that as well as my own over the last almost 10 years? A. The amount of your FERS contributions is posted…
Q. I am a recently retired special agent from the Defense Criminal Investigative Service; I was a GS-1811 for almost 29 years. I have not been able to receive a definitive answer to the following question: Will the Social Security supplement that is part of my FERS retirement be eliminated when I reach the mandatory retirement age of 57 for 1811s, or will it continue until my 62nd birthday, when I am eligible to receive Social Security? A. For special category employees, such as law enforcement officers, the special retirement supplement begins immediately and continues to age 62, when they…