Q. I am a 63½-year-old CSRS retiree with more than 32 years’ service. I spent five years with the Navy (1969-74) and paid back my military time before I entered the federal service in 1979. When I retired in 2007, I had 25 Social Security credits. I have been employed in the private sector since January 2008. I have more than 40 credits. My wife started collecting her Social Security benefits last year at age 62. Will my Social Security benefits be affected by the windfall elimination provision or the government pension offset? Will my CSRS pension and my wife’s…
Browsing: military buyback
Q. I am a FERS employee with 20 years in civil service and have made a deposit for 13 years of military service (active duty). Do my years of military service count toward years of service for MRA purposes? In other words, am I now eligible for an immediate retirement at my minimum retirement age (56) since my combined years of service are over 30? A. Yes.
Q. I am a 6c federal employee with a retirement 6c date of Sept. 28, 1996, and because of my 11 years of military service and buyback, I have a retirement service computation date of Aug. 26, 1985. I am four years away from 20 years of 6c time. However, I might have an opportunity to pursue a career in which I could make substantially more with the ability of working until age 65 if I desire. I should also point out that after my 11 years of military service, I continued with the reserves and will obtain a military…
Q. I am a reservist eligible for an active-duty retirement (21 years active duty and four years reserve duty). I have not retired yet. If I obtain a federal civilian position prior to retiring from the Reserve, will I be eligible to buy back my 20+ years of active duty? Or does the fact that I am eligible for an active-duty retirement (i.e. will receive retired pay immediately after retiring from the Reserve) make me ineligible to buy back my military time? A. Yes, you could make a deposit to get credit for your active-duty service. However, to get credit…
Q. I entered on Ready Reserve status June 23, 1972, where I remained until Aug. 6, 1972, when I was provided discharge papers. I performed active Air Force service from Aug. 7, 1972, until Sept. 1, 1998 (more than 26 years). I started civil service Feb. 25, 2000. I was promptly placed in FERS. Should I not have been placed in CSRS — as I had more than five years of potential creditable service before Jan. 1, 1987? I have paid the military deposit required to get credit for my military service at the time of retirement from civil service.…
Q. I am a federal employee with the Department of Defense Fire & Emergency Services, and I am also a member of the Air National Guard. Over the years, I have had several military deployments (Title 10 Active Duty) in which my time for pay has been coded KG (Military Furlough-Active Duty), and I have not paid/contributed into FERS. Although I have been a federal firefighter since 2005, I do have quite a bit of time that I did not pay into FERS, and I would like to know if I can retroactively pay/contribute into FERS so the time I…
Q. I am going through the hiring process for a couple of federal law enforcement agencies. I am 41; however, I am a veteran’s preference eligible candidate and therefore eligible for an age waiver. As such, the agencies have advised me that hiring of eligible such candidates older than 37 has occurred and is occurring; however, no one can tell me how that affects the mandatory retirement of 57. I have 18 years of military service. roughly half active duty and half reserve time (I am a drilling reservist looking to retire out of the reserves at 20 years). What…
Q. I am accredited with 41 years, 11 months of civil service and am eligible to retire. The time includes two years, six months, and 13 days of military service, which I did not buy back. I was told it didn’t matter that the difference between buying your military time and not buying it is that you would only have more money on the retirement fund but that the time would still be counted toward retirement. Is this correct? Also, I want to know what day I need to make my effective date of retirement so that I will receive…
Q. I retired in 2000 with 20 years of active-duty time. I spent the next 10 years collecting a pension (E-6) and working as a contractor. I’ve been working in the federal government for the past two years as a GS-12, Step 10. Would it make sense for me to put the amount of cash necessary to retire at 30 years by buying back my 20 military years? Am I even eligible to do this? Would I have to do it now? A. Yes, you can make a deposit for those 20 years of service, However, when you retire, you…
Q. I retired from the federal government under CSRS. I also paid back my military time. Since I retired, I have been working and paying Social Security. I have met my 40 quarters. When I turn 62, I was thinking of applying for Social Security. Will I receive Social Security, or will they offset my retirement? A. Because you are receiving an annuity from CSRS, a retirement system where you didn’t pay Social Security taxes, you’ll be subject to the windfall elimination provision. The WEP will reduce, but not eliminate, your Social Security benefit.