Q. I have 14 years as a FERS employee and planning to retire under MRA+10. I am 58 years, 7 months old. I have been advised by the human resources staffs that there is a 5 percent reduction in annuity benefit for each full month (5 percent per year) that I’m under age 62 on the date my annuity begins. Is the 5 percent reduction permanent after I reach age 63? A. Yes, the reduction is permanent if your annuity begins immediately following your retirement. However, when you retire you can moderate or eliminate its affect by postponing the receipt of your annuity…
Browsing: MRA
Q: I’m in my 30s and I’m under the Federal Employees Retirement System. My MRA is 57. I’ve worked for five years in federal civil service and will buy back five years of military service in the next few months. This will give me a total of 10 years combined service. If I left government work for the private sector or to start my own business would I still be eligible to receive a retirement benefit at 57? This would put me at the MRA with 10 years of combined service. Also, if I’m eligible for a retirement benefit at…
Q: I’m 50 with a minimum retirement age of 56. I have 26 years of government service counting my military service (six years bought back). If I’m affected by a reduction in force before 56, do I lose my basic annuity and other retirement benefits? A: No, you wouldn’t lose them. You’d be able to retire under the special age and service criteria: age 50 with 20 years of service or any age with 25. Any other benefits to which you’d be entitled, such as health and life insurance, would continue as long as you had been covered by them…
Q: I’m under the Federal Employees Retirement System and was planning to retire at minimum retirement age (56) with 31 years of combined civilian and military service. Six of those 31 years were under LWOP-US where I paid a military deposit for those years. Are those six years included as credible service for an immediate annuity or are they calculated as MRA+ 10 because I did not have 30 years of civil service years? A: No, you won’t be retiring under the MRA+10 provision. You’ll receive an immediate, unreduced annuity because you will have reached your minimum retirement age and…
Q: My husband and I are both FERS employees. We are now 58 and plan to retire at 60. We will both meet minimum age and years of service requirements to receive the Special Retirement Supplement from age 60 to 62. What we cannot find out is how much our Social Security payment will be when we start receiving it at age 62 because we will not be working those two years (between 60 and 62) and thus not paying into Social Security past age 60. The yearly statement from the Social Security Administration assumes we will work until 62…
Q: I am 56 and was just shy of 30 years of service (21 years in CSRS and the rest FERS) as a GS-1811 before I retired at the end of 2007. Because I do not meet the MRA to collect Social Security benefits, I receive a FERS supplement instead. When I retired, my monthly Social Security benefit was calculated according to the annual salary that I had earned as a federal employee (GS 15). To subsidize my retirement, I now work for myself, and my annual salary is a lot less than I received as a federal employee. Because…
Q: I was involuntarily separated from my position as LEO under Civil Service Retirement System. I served for 22 years. I was separated at 47 because of a reduction in force. I have been unable to find another LEO position. I am a few months shy of 50. What are my options? A: If you could find a non-LEO job in the federal government, you would be able to retire at age 50 and have those 20 years of covered service computed under the enhanced formula and the remainder under the standard formula. However, it would be unfair to your…
Q: I am 58 with 16 years of federal service (FERS). I retired from the Army with more than 20 years of service. I am concerned that there would be significant penalties for retiring at my age and years of service. What are some of the factors and risks that I should consider if I decide to retire in 2012? What are the advantages of waiting until I have 20 years of service before retiring? A: Because you’ve reached your minimum retirement age, you could retire under the MRA+10 provision. If you did, your annuity would be reduced by 5…
Q: I am 55 and have 29 years of government service (22 years in FERS and seven years in CSRS). I have been offered an early out by my agency and want to know what effect the early out would have compared to working one more year to reach MRA of 56 and 30 years. From what I’ve read under the VERA, there would be no penalty reduction in retirement benefits. Would I still be eligible to receive the FERS annuity supplement when I reach MRA in March 2012? Other than the delay in receiving the supplement and the reduced…
Q: I will have 32 years of service (USPS) as of Feb. 17, 2011. I began as CSRS, then switched to FERS, so I have a frozen CSRS component of about five years. I reached MRA (age 56) in August 2010. I am confused about the postponed annuity issue. If I retire later this year, do I have to postpone my annuity until age 62, or will I receive an annuity immediately? If the annuity must be postponed, my only federal income would be the Special Supplement payable until age 62? A: Because you already meet the age and service…