Q. I have 26 years as an Air Force Reserve technician; I have been offered an Active Guard Reserve tour that would give me 20 years’ active duty in five years. Will I lose my civil service retirement if I retire on the military side with 20 years, or will I be able to draw both since I have worked both? A. If you will be receiving military retired pay, to get credit for your years of active-duty service in your civilian annuity, you’ll have to make a deposit to the retirement fund and waive that pay when you retire.…
Browsing: military service
Q. In what year did the Air Force start deducting FICA from military pay? A. Every branch of service began doing that Jan. 1, 1957.
Q. I have more than eight years of active-duty service, and I have just obtained my first federal government job. Where can I go to find out how much annual leave I’ll be entitled to? A. Go to www.opm.gov/StaffingPortal/vetguide.asp#ServiceCredit-Leave Accrual Rate.
Q. I have just started the process to buy back my five years of active-duty military service. Doing so would enable me to retire at age 56 with 33 years’ service. I retired from the reserves with 22 years and will be entitled to a military pension at age 60. In a retirement seminar recently, a presenter told me I should not buy back my time because I would then forfeit my military pension. At a previous seminar, we were told it would be foolish not to buy back one’s military time. Who is correct? A. The first presenter was…
Q. I retired from the Air Force after 20 years in 2005 at the age of 45. I took a GS job in May 2005 and am a GS-12. I thought, based on reading about my benefits, that I am eligible for a GS retirement if I work at least 10 years and am at least 56 when I retire again. A. You would be eligible to retire under the MRA+10 provision (minimum retirement age with at least 10 but fewer than 30 years of service).
Q. My service computation date is Oct. 14, 1994, and I did military buyback (eight years). I entered federal civil service in August 2002. What is my retirement date? At age 57, I will have 20 years of civil service. This is without the military buyback. What would my total time be for retirement? A. Because you made a deposit for your active-duty service, your SCD is correct for both leave accumulation and retirement purposes.
Q. I retired in 1988 after 11 years of active service in the Air Force. Am I eligible for benefits; and for some form of retirement pay when I reach 62? I was thinking of getting a federal job to complete the active service to 20 years. A. Because this is a site for federal civilian employees and retirees, I don’t know if you are entitled to any military benefits. You’ll have to take that up with your former branch of service. If you did come to work for the government, you wouldn’t get credit for your active-duty service unless…
Q. I am a federal civilian firefighter under FERS. I recently bought back 12 years of active-duty military time to be applied to my retirement. I understand that as a firefighter, I can retire at 20 years at age 50 or 25 years at any age. Do my 12 years of military time count toward this since I bought them back? I have been a federal civilian firefighter for only two years. With the 12 years added, I’ll be 43 with 25 years’ service computation (military plus civilian). Can I retire at 43 years old with the 25 years? A.…
Q. I retired with 21-plus years of military service and am now a federal employee. I retired about 13 years ago and have been collecting military retirement. I have been a federal employee for about 11 years. Can I still buy back my military service? If so, would it be worth it, and how does that work? A. Yes, you can make a deposit to get credit for your active-duty service. To do that, you’ll need to complete a copy of Form RI-20-97, Estimated Earnings During Military Service, and mail it to the military finance center for your branch of…
Q. I served on active duty (Army, O-4) for 12 years and had four years in the Guard enlisted time during college. Do my 16 years qualify me for any benefits under FERS once I reach 65? Does it make sense for me to try to get a job in the federal government to work for five more years and reach the magic 20? A: First, if you got a civilian job, you would have to work for 5 years to be vested in the retirement system. Second, to get credit for active-duty service, you’d have to make a deposit…