Q. Can I apply for an air traffic controller FERS retirement even if I am not employed by the federal government? I left the FAA OCT in 2009 and was 47. I resigned in good standing and left only for personal reasons. I am now 50 with more than 21 years of good air traffic controller time. I was hired by the FAA in 1988 and also have 6½ years’ Air Force time. I have also paid back my military service. I now receive Social Security for disability. Does this impact my eligibility for FERS? What do I do? A.…
Browsing: military buyback
Q. Can I apply for an air traffic controller FERS retirement even if I am not employed by the federal government? I left the FAA OCT in 2009 and was 47. I resigned in good standing and left only for personal reasons. I am now 50 with more than 21 years of good air traffic controller time. I was hired by the FAA in 1988 and also have 6½ years’ Air Force time. I have also paid back my military service. I now receive Social Security for disability. Does this impact my eligibility for FERS? What do I do? A.…
Q. I am 53 with 18 years of federal service under FERS. I am retired Army Reserve (four years ago) with 24 years, two in active duty. I have paid into Social Security and FERS. 1. If I buy back the two years of active duty, I will have 20 years of federal service. Would I stay at 24 years military or drop down to 22 years? 2. How would I calculate potential retirement amounts to determine if it is a financial benefit to buy back the two years of active-duty time? 3. Are my Social Security, military, FERS or…
Q. I had bought back my military time (three years) when I was hired at the Postal Service. My hire date was April 15, 1985. My pension shows my service computation date as 1982 as it should, but I am getting conflicting answers on my special supplement. One video I watched says I can’t get creditable service time for those years because I served prior to being hired here. Now I read some of these articles and people are being told that as long as you buy the time back, you should receive credit toward the special retirement supplement. I…
Q. I am a covered law enforcement officer (6c), and I am thinking about taking a promotion to a noncovered position that has a promotion potential to GS-14. I have six years in the 6c covered position and four years in a noncovered position in another agency, plus I bought back my military time (four years). If I were to jump ship, work the noncovered position for a few years, with the intention of coming back to a covered position, would I still be able to retire with special coverage as long as I have 20 years total in a…
Q. I have eight years of active service in the Army. I am not retired from the Army. I do not get Social Security. I made the post-56 deposit lump sum before the interest date. I have 10 years’ civil service with the Department of the Army. I was retired for disability March 12, 2010. OPM recently sent my retirement packet — two years and four months later. The packet doesn’t include my military service in the time-in-service computation or the $3,640 paid in to the contribution dollar amount of annuity. My annuity is much less than estimated due to…
Q. You answered a question and said locality pay is in calculations for a FERS retirement. Is it also included for annuity calculation for a CSRS retirement? Also, I’ve seen confusing explanations about whether Social Security is reduced if a person receives a federal pension. I paid Social Security taxes during 11.5 years’ active military service and almost 15 years of National Guard and Army Reserve service. Will I be eligible for full Social Security benefits, or will there be reductions because I will get a CSRS retirement annuity? A. Locality pay is included when computing the annuities of both…
Q. I am a FERS employee and had 10 years of active-duty military time before becoming a federal employee. I bought this time back. Now I have 14 years as a federal employee and the 10 years of military time. My understanding is that under FERS, the military time is creditable service up front — i.e., I have 24 years of creditable service for retirement purposes. Is this correct? Based on what I have read, in six years I will have 30 years of service (10 military/20 FERS) and therefore will be eligible for my full retirement at my MRA…
Q. I am a government employee with slightly less than three years of service. I recently paid my military deposit of $6,000 so I could buy into FERS. I also recently learned I will soon be leaving government service before completing three years. 1) What happens to the $6,000 I deposited? 2) If I leave it in the system, will I get a retirement benefit when I reach age 62 in a just few years? A. You have two choices. You can leave your contributions and deposit in the retirement fund or ask for a refund of the entire amount.…
Q. What is the legal authority to buy back active-duty military time and credit it toward federal service retirement? A. You’ll find what you’re looking for at www.opm.gov/retire/pubs/handbook/C022.pdf and www.opm.gov/retire/pubs/handbook/C023.pdf.