Q. I worked for a little more than five years as a full-time federal employee under FERS. I paid FICA taxes. I became entitled to a small pension under FERS. Will my Social Security benefit be reduced because of this pension entitlement? A. No.
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Q. In a Jan. 21, 2013, entry, you wrote: “There is no reduction beginning with the month in which you reach full retirement age.” Are you saying, after full retirement age, no matter how much money you earn, you will get your full Social Security pension amount with no deductions? A. Yes.
Q. My husband, who is 98 years old, worked for the Postal Service in Chicago from 1937 to 1942, then joined the Army to fight in World War II. He took a leave of absence from the Postal Service until the war ended and returned to the Postal Service in 1947 and worked until 1948, when he entered graduate school under the GI Bill. He did not take a refund of his CSRS contribution. Is he eligible for a pension? A. If what you say is true, he may very well be eligible for an annuity. To find out, he’ll have to…
Q. Does retiring under a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority meet Pennsylvania’s requirement that the “taxpayer must have been eligible to retire by meeting the age or service conditions of the retirement plan” for a pension to be tax-exempt? I was 53 years old when I retired and had 33 years of service under CSRS. A. That’s a matter between you and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Q. I was checking for a friend who quit about four years ago. He took out his FERS and Thrift Savings Plan money. Can he pay back his FERS so he can receive a pension? He had about 14 to 15 years in. A. He can only redeposit the refund of his FERS contributions if he returns to work in a position that confers FERS coverage.
Q. I’m in an upper management position with the Transportation Security Administration for the past 10 years. Recently, I have heard that my immediate supervisor is proposing my removal from federal service. If I get removed, will I lose my federal pension or will I be able to collect it when I reach retirement age? A. If you don’t take a refund of your retirement contributions, you could apply for a deferred annuity at age 62.
Q. I plan on retiring at age 60 with 26 years of service. There should be no penalty in pension. If I receive the special retirement supplement for two years, what happens then? Will I still receive my regular pension and Social Security check? Does the SRS I would receive for two years reduce the amount to Social Security benefits when I reach 62? A. At age 62, when you become eligible for a Social Security benefit, the special retirement supplement will end. Receiving the SRS does not affect the Social Security benefit you’ll receive when you apply for it.
Q. Can a widow receive survivor CSRS pension benefits from her first husband and widow’s Social Security benefits from her third husband? She is receiving both without any penalties. The widow is 74 and was collecting her own Social Security benefits before her third husband committed suicide. A. Yes, as long is she isn’t receiving an annuity based on her own work record from a retirement system where she didn’t pay Social Security taxes. If she is, she’ll be subject to the government pension offset, which will reduce or eliminate her Social Security survivor benefit.
Q. I am an activated reservist who has been on military leave without pay from my civilian job as a federal firefighter for four years. I have two questions, one regarding my retirement and the second concerning leave earned on MLWOP. I was hired at age 36 (in 2006) and under normal conditions should be able to retire after 20 years of service at 56 and immediately draw my full retirement (without penalty). Will my four years of activated reserve time be considered part of those 20 years? That is, will I still be able to retire at 20 years…
Q. I retired on a FERS pension in August 2008. I also began receiving the FERS special retirement supplement as of the payment made Jan. 4, 2010. I obtained a job in the private sector on April 12, 2011, but was laid off on Feb. 28, 2012. I will have received unemployment insurance benefits from mid-March through this month. My special retirement supplement was offset by earnings over the annual exempt amount in 2011. (The “overpayment” is being deducted from my current FERS supplement payment.) My earnings in 2012 are well under the annual exempt amount. Is the special retirement supplement offset by unemployment…