Q. I am a FERS employee, age 59, and have over 28 years in the Postal Service. Our facility is going through an accelerated transfer of function to a facility more than 100 miles away. If they cannot offer me a position in my same craft and I am given a notice to separate voluntarily or involuntarily, can I retire and receive an unreduced annuity and the special retirement supplement until age 62? If I retire, should I elect a discontinued service retirement or optional retirement since this is an organizational change involving reduction in force, transfer of function. Could…
Browsing: Offset
Q. I am facing mandatory retirement from a covered law enforcement position after 25 years. I would like to take a noncovered position in a different job series that’s nonlaw enforcement. Can I collect my full retirement? How would my retirement be affected? A. You could either retire and begin working in another position or transfer to another position and continue working. In the first case, the salary of your new position would, in most cases, be offset by the amount of your law enforcement officer annuity. In the second, you would continue to be a salaried employee. You could…
Q. 1. Can someone switch from Blue Cross/Blue Shield to Medicare Part B at age 71? 2. Should it be done? 3. If yes, how can it be done, and what are the costs? I am 71 and self-employed (since 2011), covered under my wife’s federal Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan. My wife has been retired for a few years and she also turned 71 in 2012. My wife was just operated for a brain tumor and is being scheduled for radiation therapy and chemotherapy. A. While your wife could disenroll from the Federal Employees Health Benefits program and both of…
Q. I plan to retire this year under CSRS. I am interested in obtaining a seasonal position with the Internal Revenue Service. I will not receive a buyout. How long do I need to wait to be re-employed by the federal government? A. You would have to be off the rolls for three days. FYI: If you take a federal job after retiring, the salary of your new position may be offset by the amount of your annuity. Before taking a seasonal job with the IRS, you’ll need to check with their personnel office to see if that rule will…
Q. I recently read that beginning Jan. 1, 2013, all new federal employees will be covered under FERS-Revised Annuity Employee, which basically means they will have to pay an additional 2.3 percent into FERS. However, per the Office of Personnel Management memo, “There are three exceptions to this general rule and the date Dec. 31, 2012, is a key date for each of those exceptions. An individual will be excluded from FERS-RAE coverage if any of these exceptions apply: 1. The individual on Dec. 31, 2012, was covered under FERS; OR 2. The individual on Dec. 31, 2012, was performing…
Q. I just started getting my military retirement (at age 60) and I am receiving a federal disability retirement. Does the military income from the retirement offset the federal retirement amount? A. No.
Q. I am a federal employee approaching 30 years of service (in November). I am age 48. While recently researching my retirement plan, I was informed by the personnel office that a mistake was made close to 30 years ago and that I should not have been put in CSRS. My entire career and all of my records and data from the government have indicated CSRS for 30 years. I have made life and career decisions based on CSRS. I was given the choice back in the early 1980s to go FERS or CSRS, and of course, I chose CSRS.…
Q. My husband worked for the federal government for about 40 years under CSRS, and he is now receiving a generous monthly pension. I worked various part-time jobs over the years, and I currently work for the federal government. When I retire, I will have worked less than 20 years under FERS, so I will be entitled to a small federal pension, and Social Security. Our primary source of income is my husband’s CSRS retirement. If my husband should predecease me, I know I will receive a widow’s pension of approximately 55 percent of what he is currently receiving. Would…
Q. I was employed under CSRS from 1970 to 1983. I had a break in service from 1983 to 1985. In 1985, I returned to government service and was placed in the regular CSRS. After retiring in 2005, the Office of Personnel Management apparently discovered that for many years, I was placed in the wrong retirement system. It then classified me as a CSRS Offset retiree. I received correspondence from OPM indicating they are reducing my annuity for Social Security benefits received. Since I never paid any Social Security during my civil service employment, is it right that I be…
Q. I retired in 1997 at age 62 under both CSRS and FERS and accumulated 40 credits with private sector and FERS. I was eligible to receive a small benefit from Social Security and a small amount of my husband’s Social Security benefits. If my husband dies before me, will I continue to receive that small benefit from his Social Security, or will the offset wipe it out? A. If he were to die, you would get the larger of your own Social Security benefit or the survivor benefit. Since you have already reached full Social Security retirement age, your…