Q. I hope you can help me with calculating what my retirement check will be if I do the military buyback program. I served seven years on active duty and 22 years in the reserves. My reserve retirement paycheck will be approximately $1,700 that I will start collecting at age 60. I would like to know the approximate monthly amount of my civil service retirement check if I bought back my military time. I realize I can only collect one or the other, not both. I want to see if it’s worth it to continue with the military buyback program.…
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Q: I have 6.25 years of military time that I can buy back. I have been a federal employee for eight years. I am 33 years old. So even if I retire at the minimum retirement age (59 I think it is at the moment), would it be beneficial to buy back this time? I have heard if you are going to have more then 30 years before the added time that it may not be as beneficial. Any insight to all of this would be appreciated. A: First, let’s clear up the age and service requirements to retire: 62…
Q: I have already started to pay back my military time with $75 per pay period, but I was under the impression that my leave service computation date would increase before the total buyback was paid in full. Example, I am buying back 12 years of active duty, and currently have 8 years of civil service. Shouldn’t I go from six hours per pay period to eight hours per pay period, or do I have to pay my buyback in full before this change in LCD will take place? A: You won’t get any credit for your active-duty service until…
Q: I voluntarily separated after 11 years of Navy service in 2003 and received a separation payment. Six months later, in 2004, I took a civil service job and have been a civil service employee since. When I came into the civil service they set my retirement Service Computation Date in 2004 and not as 1993 when I entered the Navy because of the separation pay, or so I thought. In 2005, I was approved for 30 percent disability, but the VA said they had to recoup the separation pay before I could start to get my disability payments due…
Q: If I am recently separated (voluntarily) from the civil service after 13 months and have not purchased my military time for retirement purposes, can I still submit the paperwork to buy back that time and be eligible for some FERS benefits at age 62? A: No. Only an employee can do that. FYI: You would have to have worked for five years as a FERS employee to be eligible for an annuity. Bought back time wouldn’t count.
Q. Here is a question that nobody seems to know the answer, I am hoping someone on staff can answer the question. I retired from the U.S. military and am receiving retired pay and VA disability at 60 percent. I am paying monthly allotments to buy back my military time. So I am getting military retirement /CPRD & VA disability (service connected). When I retire from federal service under FERS and waive my military retired pay, do I still keep my VA payments for service disability? Simply put, can you receive a FERS retirement and VA disability even though you waived your military retirement…
Q. I am eligible for federal employment reinstatement with military preference. I was a GS-12 Step 3 with six years of seniority. I left federal employment in 1986. If I am reinstated as a GS-12, will I re-enter at Step 3 or Step 1? Will I retain my six years of seniority plus four years for my military service? A. The fact that you are reinstatement eligible doesn’t mean that you have automatic entitlement to a particular grade or step. You’ll have to find a position for which you are qualified and apply for it. Depending on your qualifications, you…
Q. At age 53, I’m considering my first federal career. My DD214’s add up to more than seven years of active-duty service, (three years of post-9/11 active duty). I do not want to work 20 years to obtain a federal retirement so am considering buying federal seniority with my active-duty time. Can I buy the seven years and retire in 13 years? Is 20 years the minimum for federal retirement? What if I work for only 10 years? Is there any retirement given the fact I’ll be 63 or 65 at 12 years? If I buy seniority, will this effect…
Q. If I buy back my military time, will I maintain Tricare? I am a military retiree. Also, what is the reference for you answer. A. While I know that you won’t lose any other military benefits, including Tricare, if you make a deposit for your active-duty service (even if you have to waive your military retired pay), it’s only because I have been told that by countless retired members of the military who did that. As for a reference, because it is a military benefit, you’ll have to get it from the Defense Department. I only have access to…
Q. How may I check on the status of my military buyback (P-56), as a Federal Employees Retirement System employee seeking retirement? My Civilian Personnel Advisory Center (Fort Hood, Texas) and I spent a year (two years ago) going over the rules and regulations affecting the size of my future pension (with and without a military buyback). I have 9½ years active duty from 1969 to 1979, 17 previous years (Civil Service Retirement System), from 1980 to 1997 (I resigned). And, I now have accumulated five current years (2006-2011) as FERS. The later counseling included sending my DD-214s and the RI-20-97 packet to…