Q: I’m 56 years old, which is my minimum retirement age, with 12 years of credible service. If I applied for disability retirement, would I receive benefits based on my years of service or the “60 percent first year, 40 percent thereafter” rule? If I would only receive the “high-3” times years of service calculation, what would be the advantage, if any, of disability retirement? A: Because you aren’t eligible for an immediate unreduced annuity, your benefit would be calculated under disability rules. You’d receive 60 percent of your high-3 minus 100 percent of any Social Security disability benefit to…
Browsing: MRA+10
Q: Thank you for your recent article on key dates for retirement in the Oct. 4 edition of Federal Times. I have a question that wasn’t completely answered by the article. I am a veteran with more than 22 years of active-duty service. I joined the Food and Drug Administration two years ago, so I am under the Federal Employees Retirement System. I turned 51 this year and plan to retire sometime between age 62 and 65. I will not have 20 years of service at age 60, but I certainly will have five years of service at age 62.…
Q: I am a 39-year-old federal employee. I have nine years of Federal Employees Retirement System-covered federal service. I also bought back eight years of Army service time two years ago. I am thinking of resigning my position and starting a small business. Would it benefit me to wait three years and reach 20 years of creditable service? And if so, what benefits will I be eligible for at my minimum retirement age? A: You wouldn’t be eligible for any benefits when you reached your minimum retirement age. With fewer than 20 years of service, you’d be eligible for a…
Q: I’m under the Federal Employees Retirement System and plan to retire at minimum retirement age (56) with less than 30 years of service. Is the 5 percent per year penalty based on each year short of 30 years, or is it based on each year short of age 62? I’ve seen it explained both ways. Also, is the actual penalty based on fractions (months) or whole years? A: If you retire under the MRA+10 provision (minimum retirement age with at least 10 years of service), your annuity will be reduced by 5 percent for every year (or 5/12 of…
Q: I was a Federal Employees Retirement System employee and left the government in September 2005 under the Minimum Retirement Age +10 provision. I postponed my annuity to avoid the 5 percent penalty per year. I will be 62 in two months. Is there any advantage to waiting even longer to receive my annuity? Is it at all like Social Security, where the longer you wait, the more you receive? On the flip side, what are the downsides of applying at age 62? I understand that if I am re-employed by the government, my salary will be offset by my…
Q: I am a GS-4, Step 10 employee under the Federal Employees Retirement System. I am 55 years old and want to know whether I can retire. I’ve done 22 years of federal service and have four years of military time (1973-76); I was told I need to buy back the time, but I don’t have the money they said it would cost me. I would like to retire early because of high blood pressure. My doctor told me it was caused by job stress. I was diagnosed by my doctor after I was hospitalized while on the job because…
Q: I am a Federal Employees Retirement System employee with the U.S. Postal Service. I have been with the USPS for 26 years and want to retire now at age 58 (Minimum Retirement Age +10). I know that my annuity would be reduced by 5 percent per year for each year under 62 (20 percent overall) if I collect it now. I know if I delayed retirement until age 60, I’d get an unreduced annuity. But if I delayed my annuity until age 60 (while still retiring at age 58), would I get a full annuity, or would it be…
Q: I have been working at the U.S. Postal Service for 26 years. I am 58 years old, and I will retire very shortly. I know that I cannot collect the special retirement supplement under these conditions, but will I start to receive the supplement when I turn 60? Or does retiring under the Minimum Retirement Age +10 provision require me to forfeit the SRS totally? A: No one who retires under the MRA+10 provision is eligible to receive the special retirement supplement. That’s the law.