Q. I have been retired military (26 years) for two years. I just become a civil servant last week. What are the “limited circumstance” that you refer to below? (excerpt from a recent email exchange). What should I do to find out if buying back my military time would be advantageous? “… if you want to get credit in your civilian annuity for the time you spent in the military, you’d usually have to make a deposit to the civilian retirement system and waive your military retired pay. There are only limited circumstances under which you can both get credit…
Browsing: military service
Q. In July 2008, Customs and Border Protection officers received law enforcement officer status and would get the 1.7 percent to calculate their pension thereafter. I was on active federal service when this took place but went on Army active duty in November 2008. I will be leaving active duty in 2012 and going back to CBP to pay my military deposit for all the leave without pay time to get credit toward my retirement. I am being told that I will not be receiving LEO 1.7 percent for the time I was on active duty even though I will…
Q. Is it possible to use my military basic pay instead of my federal salary to determine my high 3 for federal annuity calculations? If I make my military deposit for federal credit, can I use the higher military pay to calculate my high 3? I am a Customs and Border Protection officer on leave without pay, and I went on active duty military for three years. A: No, you can’t. By law your high-3 is based solely on your highest three consecutive years of civilian basic pay.
Q. I served as an Air National Guard full-time WG-12 technician from March 1993 until January 2003 when I was found no longer medically eligible to serve in the military capacity that is a prerequisite to holding a job as a civil service technician. I performed the same duties when doing military time as I did as a FERS employee but was given an OPM disability retirement because I lost my military status. I learned today that there is a special retirement supplement to disability payments for law enforcement and military reserve technicians that is intended to bridge the income…
Q. I was an Air Force reservist on orders for six months back in October 2006. I injured myself while on active duty and the six-month orders turned into two years before it was all said and done. I was put on the Permanently Disability Retired List with a 30 percent disability (non-combat related). I served 29 years in the Air Force Reserve with a total of four years and eight months of active duty. I was hired October 2008 as a federal employee. I am in the process of buying back/military deposit those four years and eight months. I…
Q: I served in the Air National Guard full-time WG-12 technician from March 1993 until January 2003 when I was deemed medically ineligible. I performed the same duties when doing military time as I did as a FERS employee but was given an OPM disability retirement because I lost my military status. I learned that there is Special Retirement Supplement to disability payments for law enforcement and military reserve technicians which is intended to bridge the income gap until Social Security eligibility is reached. Should I have been receiving this supplemental pay for the past eight years and would a…
Q: Can I get FERS retirement credit (without buy-in) for my 20 years of military service? I was awarded 100 percent Veterans Affairs service-connected disability five years after my military retirement. I have 12 years of FERS time and 10 percent of my VA disability is combat-related. A: No, you’d have to make a deposit to the civilian retirement fund to get credit for that time.
Q. In a recent column you wrote: “Fourth, if you receive military retired pay, set up another meeting with your counselor, ideally six months before you are ready to retire. You’ll want to assess the impact of military retired pay on your civilian annuity. Under limited circumstances, you may be able to receive both. However, in most cases, you’ll have to waive military retired pay.” I am age 53, retired military for 11 years, getting military retired pay now. I am also a GS-13 with eight years in. I was specifically told by CPAC when I was hired, that as…
Q. I am thinking about buying back my time on active duty, 22 years, to make a deposit so that I can retire early from the Foreign Service. If I do, will I lose any of my military retirement privileges. A. If you make a deposit for your active-duty service, just before you retire from your civilian job, you will also have to waive your military retired pay. Doing so will have no affect on any other entitlements you have based on your active-duty service.
Q: I have three periods of military service for which I am required to pay a deposit under “Catch 62.” The first period, 1969 to 1972, I paid for when it came due in 1986. This bought me a period of about 2.6 years. I was mobilized for Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm in 1990 to 1991, and for duty in Bosnia in 1997, for eight and seven months, respectively. I plan to work off the additional time by delaying my retirement for 15 months or more. When I discussed this plan with our human resources office, I was told that…