Q. When I retire from the Postal Service (under FERS), can I continue paying for life insurance for my husband and me when we are over the age of 80 or 90? Or does the Office of Personnel Management not allow me to continue paying for life insurance when I reach a certain age?
Browsing: Postal Service
Q. I am a full-time Postal Service employee covered under CSRS. I have more than 30 years of service (active Postal Service + military buyback). I am still too young to retire, and will probably work another seven to 10 years. Recently, I changed to a nontraditional full-time position (NTFT) of 35 hours per week. Can you tell me how this reduction in weekly hours will effect the calculation of my high-3 in regards to my retirement? How far out from my retirement date would I need to change back to a full-time (40 hours per week) position to regain…
Q. I am 55 years old and took an early retirement offer with an incentive from the Postal Service in August of last year. I had 26 years of full service. I am considering an opportunity to become re-employed part time with the U.S. Forest Service as a GS4 information receptionist at the local visitor center. This is a seasonal position lasting six months a year. How will this affect my Thrift Savings Plan withdrawals and my special retirement supplement when I turn 56? I retired as an EAS-18 postmaster.
Q. I’m retiring at the end of this month. If there were to be an announcement of a buyout before 5 p.m. of my last day, would I qualify? I’m 62 with 29 years in the Postal Service. A. Highly unlikely because the purpose of a buyout is to encourage employees to leave who wouldn’t do so without a financial incentive. Since you have already made the decision to retire and are on the verge of departing, your agency would have no reason to either offer or approve a buyout for you.
Q. I am a letter carrier, age 52, started in 1985 and have 28 years of creditable service. If I understand what I’ve gleaned from the posts here and the Postal Service were to offer me a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority this year, 1. Would I begin my annuity immediately? 2. Would I have no reductions in calculations of my annuity? (average high-3 x 1 percent x 28) 3. Would I receive credit for half of my sick leave and all of my annual leave? (How are these applied?) 4. Would I receive the special retirement supplement beginning at age…
Q. I took the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority on July 31. I am receiving the special retirement supplement. I have since applied for Social Security disability. If I am approved for SSDI, will I lose the supplement even though I did not file for Postal Service disability? And will I have to pay back the supplement for the months I receive back pay from Social Security? And will I need to notify the Office of Personnel Management that I am receiving Social Security disability?
Q. I’m looking to retire sometime this year. I turn 66 on April 2, have 13 years at the Veterans Affairs Department, from which I withdrew funds. I worked in the private sector until 1995, when I started working for the Postal Service. I am under CSRS Offset, and I have essentially bought back my four years in the military. So the total years at the Postal Service would be 18 years + 4 years military = 22 years. Can you explain to me how the offset will apply to me? Will I be able to receive Social Security?
Q. I worked for the Postal Service from March 1986 until August 1999. Will I be eligible for Social Security or a pension for that time? Will I need to contact human resources in the state in which I resigned? A. If you left your FERS contributions in the retirement fund when you left, you’d be eligible for an annuity at age 62. If you took a refund, you wouldn’t. Because you’ve earned at least 40 credits under Social Security, you’ll be eligible for a Social Security benefit at age 62.
Q. I have 27½ years in the Postal Service and I am 52½ years of age. If an early-out comes in the next few months, will I get a penalty for leaving? Do I get my special retirement supplement, or do I have to wait for that? Also, do I get to take my Thrift Savings Plan now, or do I wait for that? A. Reg: If you were offered an opportunity to retire early, you have the age and service needed to accept it. If you did, you wouldn’t be subject to the age penalty and you’d be entitled…
Q. My mother is a Postal Service retiree residing in a nursing home. She had to use up all of her own assets to pay the nursing home until she qualified for Medicaid. Now, she has nothing left. I’ve been told that as a retired postal worker, when her time comes, there is a Postal Service “death benefit” that will pay out to her beneficiaries and that Medicaid cannot take that money from her estate because it is technically a “death benefit” as opposed to “life insurance.” Is this true? A. I’ve never heard of such a death benefit and…