Q. I am a new federal employee with 10 years of military service since 2002. I plan to buy my military service time toward retirement, but I want to wait until just before the interest starts to kick in at three years. Is there any reason I should pay the deposit now instead of waiting and earning interest on that money in the meantime? I had also considered using payroll deduction to buy back my time until I learned it wasn’t a pre-tax deduction. Aren’t FERS contributions normally pre-tax? Isn’t this an example of being double-taxed? A. Check with your…
Browsing: military buyback
Q. I served nine years in the military and bought back that time. When I retire at 56, I will have 33 years in Civil Service. Will I be eligible to receive the FERS annuity until I am 62? Also, does the high-3 consecutive salaries mean for the last three years? My income has remained the same since the pay freeze was implemented. Will my high-3 include these years, or will it be based on the last three pay increases I received? I am close to retirement, and my decision to retire will be based on the answer to this…
Q. I recently accepted a two-year term position in a federal department. I have nearly nine years of service in the Army. Since the term position is guaranteed to end in two years, is there any value in my buying back my military time for retirement? A. Only if you were to be employed for five years. That’s the minimum amount of time you’d need to be employed to be vested in the retirement system.
Q. Hi, I am a veteran of the Army. I retired Nov. 30 with 27 years of active-duty service. I am going to work for the National Park Service very soon. It is in FERS. I know I can buy back my military service. I also have a TSP account that I had with the Army. It is just sitting there for now. Will buying back some of my military service affect my military retirement pay, which I receive now? Also what is the minimum time I will have to work to qualify for a FERS annuity? I am 50.…
Q. I retired from the Air Force after 20 years of service. I am receiving retirement pay. I was given a 40 percent disability rating from the Veterans Affairs Department. VA takes out a percentage of my military pension and then sends that to me tax-free. I now work for the Department of Energy, and I have bought back my 20 years of service. I would like to retire at my minimum retirement age of 56, which is about six years from now, which if separated would give me my 20 years military and 17 years FERS. I was told that…
Q. I am about to retire from the Bureau of Prisons under FERS within the next two months. I am also a military drilling reservist with six years of active duty and about 30 years of reserve time. I will retire from the reserve in two years. If I buy back the active time to receive FERS credit, will I still be able to retire from reserve using the points accumulated from the six years of active duty for military retired pay. Do I have to waive this time to get the military service credit computation in FERS? What are…
Q. Is it possible to retain my Defense Department Survivor Benefit Plan and use it as the basis for continued Federal Employees Health Benefits coverage for my wife and dependent child if I were to pass away. I plan on retiring under FERS this year. I’d rather not take the FERS SBP as it is more expensive. I am retired military with 20 years and bought back the time? A. No, it isn’t.
Q. I am a Navy civilian Defense Department employee in my mid-50s. I have been in my current position since August 2001. I also have six years active Army (two separate hitches — a two-year and a four-year) as an enlisted man. I haven’t repaid that time. I don’t know whether I should pay that back or not. That gives me over 10 or over 15 years depending on how it is viewed. I have considered leaving this position for a nongovernment job. What would my retirement options be in my current situation? What options are open to me given…
Q. I have 24 years with the Department of Defense and had 9½ years in the Navy that I didn’t buy back. I plan on retiring in seven years when I’m 62, which will give me 31 years, not counting my Navy time. Should I buy back my military time, which is at $8,100 right now, or will it not increase my retirement enough to buy it back for what I will get out of it? A. Making the deposit would increase your civilian annuity by roughly 10.5 percent. It’s up to you to decide if that’s a good idea.
Q. I am a FERS employee with 27 years of civilian service and six years of military service, for which I made a deposit to get credit for retirement purposes. My MRA is 56. Am I eligible to retire on the first day of the calendar year in which I turn 56, or is it the day I turn 56? At that time, I will have 36 years of service. Will I get 36 percent of my high-3? When am I eligible to get 1.1 percent per year versus 1 percent? If I were offered a voluntary early retirement or…