Q. I will be retiring in 2011 with 38 years CSRS from the post office. My wife will be retiring in a couple of years but most of her retirement would be Social Security. How would the windfall elimination affect us? Even if we filed separately? A. The windfall elimination provision applies only to the Social Security benefit of someone who is receiving an annuity — in whole or part — from a retirement system, such as CSRS, where he didn’t pay Social Security taxes. If you will be entitled to a Social Security benefit based on your own work record,…
Browsing: Postal Service
Q. I am considering requesting LWOP for an extended period. I am a postal employee with 25 years of postal service and seven years of prior goverment service for a total of 32 years. My question: When you go into a LWOP status, what are the restrictions, if any, on what you can and cannot do? For example, can you work a part-time job while on LWOP? Would you still be covered for health insurance while on LWOP status? What is the procedure for requesting all of this? A. To learn more about the affect of leave-without-pay on your benefits, read…
Q. I have approximately 34 years with the federal government. I am under CSRS. I have paid for Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance since I was initially employed. I will be retiring within the next couple of months. While employed, the government has paid for a large portion of my health insurance premiums, and I pay a much smaller portion. When I retire, will the same paying cenario continue, i.e., the government pays a large portion and I continue paying a smaller portion? A. There won’t be any change in the percentage of premiums shared by you and the…
Q: I am a CSRS offset employee and I am 58-years-old with 30 years service. If I were to retire, I understand I would receive my pension from CSRS until I reach 62, then I would start to receive the same amount, but it would come from Social Security and CSRS. My question is, if I am working after retirement from the U.S. Postal Service, and after reaching age 62, and I have earned more than the annual Social Security earnings limit which for 2010 is $14,160, would the Social Security portion of my pension be reduced by $1 for…
Q: I have been affected by the National Reassessment Process by the Postal Service. I was sent home and told there is no longer work available for me within my restrictions after being accommodated for the past 11 years. Would I be eligible for discontinued service retirement, and how would I go about getting it? By the way, I am two months from turning 56 years old and I have 25+ years of service as a FERS employee. A: You would only be eligible for discontinued service retirement if your agency sends you an official notice of intent to separate…
Q: I was hired by the USPS on Jan. 5, 1985, as a casual. Two weeks later, on Jan. 19, 1985, I was converted to career status. I was told at the time that was because of a new retirement system going into effect, and I have been in FERS my entire career. My question(s): Is there a significance to the date Jan. 19, 1985? If FERS did not become effective until Jan. 1, 1987, was I placed in the wrong retirement system? If that is the case is there anything that can be done at this point in time to…
Q: I am a letter carrier with the Postal Service and am under CSRS. In 2006 I received a divorce and as part of the settlement my ex-wife will receive a portion of my retirement. I became eligible to retire at the end of 2008 when I reached 55 years of age. However, for financial reasons I cannot afford to retire at this time. Can my ex receive her share of my retirement now even though I continue to work and am not retired? A: As a rule, we’re not qualified to answer questions about divorce; however, I can tell you that your…
Q: I am a retired Postal worker and I carry my wife on my National Association of Letter Carriers health plan. We are thinking of having her insure herself at work and having me switch to “self – only.” When she retires, will I be able to then go back to “self and family” and include her once again? A: Yes.
Q: When I retire from the USPS under CSRS I plan to switch to self-only insurance. My husband will be going into the USPS under FERS. He plans on taking out family insurance because we still have a 20-year-old son that we plan to cover. From what I have read this is not possible. I don’t want to risk giving up my health insurance just in case something happens and my husband can’t work. One of us must take the family option because of my son. Can I have self-only while he takes the family option? If not, what would…
Q: I was told that if I retire from the USPS with 30 years of service but only at 59 1/2 years of age, I’m entitled to my FERS full retirement benefits as well as a 35 percent advanced payment from Social Security until I reach age 62, and then I will get the full amount by age 62. Is this true? A: No, it isn’t. It’s a garbled account of what the law provides. Because you will meet the age and service requirements to retire on an immediate annuity, in addition to your FERS annuity, you will receive a…