Q. I recently interviewed for a government position and would like to know your opinion on what I should do should I get the position. I have more than 9 years’ active-duty Air Force time, which concluded in 1993. I have not had another government job since then. I assume it would be foolish on my part not to buy back those years for this new position should I be selected for employment, correct? I am 48. A. If you make a deposit for your period of active-duty service, now is the time to do it. You won’t be charged…
Browsing: military buyback
Q. I am trying to clarify Catch-62. I was hired in 1981 and I have 31 years in CSRS at age 55. I also have four years of military service that I have not bought back. If I have 24 quarters of Social Security, by age 62, will the four years of military automatically be added to my SSA quarters, thus reducing my CSRS pension? Or will I have to have the 40 quarters at age 62 beyond the 16 quarters paid while in the military? A. Since Jan. 1, 1957, every member of the military has had Social Security…
Q. I have 3¾ years military service and 2¼ years as a term employee. Recently I accepted a new position with the government. I am 65. Will I be eligible for retirement after completing three-quarter years in my current position? I was covered under FERS as a term employee and in my current position. A. No. You would need to have five years of actual FERS service to be eligible to retire. Even if you made a deposit for your active-duty military service, it wouldn’t count until you had those five years under your belt.
Q. I am a Border Patrol FERS employee (11 years) and Army National Guardsman (19 years) with prior active-duty military service. I have already purchased my active-duty time before federal employment (2½ years), as well as time from two deployments since my federal service (an additional two years). I am now approaching my military reserve retirement (20 reserve years) and have confirmed that I will begin receiving my reserve pension at age 60. I have also confirmed that I can receive this retirement along with my FERS retirement. I plan to retire from Border Patrol at age 55. Will I…
Q. After serving 15 years of active duty with the Army I ETS’d to pursue a federal position (FERS) and continued my military career as a reservist. I’ve bought back the 15 years. I was involuntarily mobilized and attained enough active duty to retire under the sanctuary program. What happens to the 15 years that was already bought back as a reservist prior to retirement? A. If you retired from the Reserve, that will have no effect on your FERS retirement. You’ll get full credit for the time for which you already made a deposit. If you want to get…
Q. I am buying back three years of active-duty military service for retirement and am wondering what the government does with the money and interest it gets from the buyback of service time. A. It goes into the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund.
Q. I served 15 years active duty in the Navy, then was honorably discharged with VocRehab due to injury. I am rated at 70 percent disability and receive a check from the VA each month. I was recently offered a job with the VA hospital. Can I apply my years of active-duty service to a federal retirement with the VA? What are my best options for retirement planning? A. Yes you can get credit for your active-duty military service, but only if you make a deposit to the civilian retirement system. That deposit would be 3 percent of your basic…
Q. I am an Air Reserve technician. I turn 60 in March 2014 and by law will have to retire from the military side of my federal job. At that time I will have 11 years as a federal employee, and with making the deposit on my active-duty military service, I will have just shy of 17 years in the federal system. I was at a retirement seminar for FERS and was told the government would have to find me a job to keep me employed until I reach 20 years of federal service. 1. Is that true? 2. Do…
Q. I retired from the Army National Guard in 1991 with more than 20 years of National Guard service and approximately 13 years of active-duty (AGR) time. After retiring from the Guard, I spent 10 years in the private sector and six years working in state government before I was hired by the VA in 2006. I am 60 and just began receiving my National Guard retirement (20-plus years after retirement). Can I buy into the federal retirement plan based on my service time/points? If so, approximately when would I be eligible for retirement? What would be the impact on…
Q. I left the active-duty Army with 15 years of service to take a federal law enforcement position (6c). I’ve bought back all 15 years of service, and now I have the opportunity to go back on active duty with the Army (I’ve been in the Reserve) and complete five years for an active-duty retirement. What happens to the buyback time and money when I return to my federal job if I complete the active-duty retirement after I’ve finished the military buyback payments and I have an updated service computation date? What if I finished the federal retirement first with…