Q. I am contemplating retiring Dec. 31, Jan. 2 or Jan. 3. I am not sure how the CSRS annuity check is computed. Based on a full month? Or if I retire during the month, is it prorated, or is that month lost. 1. When does my CSRS pension start if I retire on Dec. 31? Do I receive an entire month’s (January 2013) pension check? When would I receive it? 2. If I retired on Jan. 2 or 3, when would I receive my annuity check? Is it prorated for January? 3. Also, since the leave year ends Jan.…
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Q. I retired from civil service March 31 after 45 years and nine months under CSRS. Before that, I served three years in the military (1962-65), and other private industry jobs throughout the years went to Social Security to earn 40 quarters. At age 65, I started drawing a Social Security pension. Now, Social Security says it is reducing that check by half and I have to repay half of what was paid to me since April 1 unless I can prove it was not my fault I received the money. What? This all because I retired and started drawing…
Q. In 2002, I became a FERS employee and bought back almost 13 years of AFS. Since 9/11, I have been mobilized on active-duty orders that pushed me over the 20-year AFS mark, and I have been drawing an active-duty pension since June 1. I have gotten different answers to my question: Do I still have 20 years of federal employee time such that I could retire next year at the MRA of 56, or do I revert to only about five years of creditable federal service as a government employee? Also, if I must revert back to only five…
Q. I have been offered an opportunity in FERS. I retired from the Navy Reserve in 2009 with 25 years of creditable service. I will not be drawing this pension until age 58 (credit for post-9/11 active-duty lowers from 60). How would making a deposit for military service work? Like active-duty retirees, would I then waive my reserve retirement? Would the decision simply be a calculation to see which retirement would yield the biggest pension? I retired as an O-5 and would be entering FERS at grade 13. I am 49 years old and would work until at least 62.…
Q. I am a federal employee with the Department of Justice in Oklahoma City. I am planning on retiring the end of this year, after 21 years and seven months. I contacted human resources in Washington, D.C., and asked for an estimate of my pension. I also asked for the best date to retire, and was told Dec. 28, as it is the end of the 26th pay period. This year, there are 27 pay periods and I just wondered if the date I was given was the best, as I have heard that it’s best to retire at the…
Q. I am a federal employee and have had Federal Employees Health Benefits for myself and my husband for 20+ years. My husband is retired military with Tricare for Life. I plan to retire on FERS and keep our FEHB for myself and my husband. If I choose to not have survivor benefits and I die before my husband, will he be allowed to keep the FEHB coverage since he receives a military retirement pension and has always had Tricare for Life through the military? In other words, can he keep FEHB and have the premiums taken out of his…
Q. I was offered and accepted a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority payment from the Post Office last month under CSRS. If I return to work in the private sector, will it affect my CSRS pension or the VERA I received? A. Working in the private sector will affect neither your CSRS annuity nor the VERA payment you received.
Q. My friend, a co-worker, was diagnosed with cancer about a year ago. She is at the point where she may have to go into hospice. She is looking into applying for disability retirement, but is there another option if an individual may not live long enough to receive all of her retirement pension? Can she withdraw her total retirement and not be penalized for federal taxes? Will her creditors take her life insurance? A. If she were to resign from the government, she could request a refund of her retirement contributions. Because she already paid taxes on those contributions…
Q. I am going to be starting with the federal government in December. How much will I be contributing to my pension account? Will it be 0.8 percent or 3.1 percent? This will be my first job with the federal government. A. If you are hired before Dec. 31, you’ll be contributing 0.8 percent of basic pay. Anyone hired after that, or who returns to government employment with fewer than five years of service, will be contributing 3.1 percent.
Q. I am about to retire under CSRS, under which I have worked since 1977. I am now receiving a disability pension from the Veterans Affairs Department for a service-connected disability. I was on active duty from 1969 to 1973. In the past, I had received my disability pension from the military. I have been told that my records show that my military time will count toward my CSRS retirement, but I have to pay for my military time. I see that in the Effect of Military Retired Pay section of OPM Form 1515, for my military service to count…