Q. I am 51 with 17 years of career service with USPS. I have become ill and cannot continue to work. Am I eligible to apply for disability retirement with the Postal Service? If so, how do I apply? A. Yes, you are eligible to apply. You’ll need to go to your personnel office, which can guide you through the process.
Browsing: Postal Service
Q. I will be 62 this year and I am already on my CSRS retirement from the Postal Service. I have also qualified for Social Security. Can I draw from both, or will one be lessened? A. Because you were a CSRS employee, your Social Security benefit will be subject to the windfall elimination provision. The WEP reduces the Social Security benefit of anyone who receives an annuity from a retirement system where he didn’t pay Social Security taxes and has fewer than 30 years of substantial earnings under Social Security.
Q. I am a Postal Service employee with self-only heath insurance coverage. My 24-year-old daughter has had no health insurance during the past six months after she changed jobs. She is now enrolled full time in college (her school does not offer health insurance). Now that the open season is over, can I still add her if I am agreeing to pay a “family” premium? Can the new Obama law that allows adding dependents ( up to 26 years of age) be applied even though the open season is over? A. Unfortunately, no.
Q. With all of the financial instability in the Postal Service right now, I am concerned that I will be able to draw retirement under FERS. I have 13 years with the USPS now and do not foresee being able to get a full 20 years, so I will be taking a short retirement. If the USPS goes bankrupt or is bought in a privatization move, what happens to the money I have been putting into FERS for retirement? Would the FERS retirement money still be there should the USPS become insolvent or privatized? My father worked for Kaiser Aluminum…
Q. I work for the Postal Service. If I retire at 56 with 20 years of service after Jan. 1, 2014, and decide to postpone my annuity, what happens to my sick leave? Will I be credited with 100 percent, 50 percent or 0? If it does not count, is there any reimbursement? A. You’ll receive full credit for your unused sick leave in the computation of your annuity. That’s true regardless of when you begin receiving your annuity. Because you’d be retiring under the MRA+10 provision, your annuity would be reduced by 5 percent for every year (5/12 percent…
Q. I am a letter carrier for the USPS and was hired Nov. 8, 1997. Would I have been automatically enrolled in FERS, or was that something I have to have enrolled in on my own? A: Anyone first hired after Dec. 31, 1983, who has retirement deductions taken from his pay is automatically covered by FERS.
Q. I retired from the USPS on a regular retirement of 36 years of service 10 years ago. I have worked a few jobs since and was recently in a car wreck, and I am now disabled. I was working when I got disabled. I am 65 and have not paid in enough to draw Social Security, but since I am now disabled and am like four quarters short of my required amount to draw Social Security, can I get Social Security disability along with my federal retirement? A. No.
Q. I work for a Veterans Affairs hospital under CSRS Offset. I was employed at the Postal Service from 1980 to 2001. I was reinstated at VA in 2008. I work Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. I am a GS-5. I have 178 hours of annual leave and 1,027 hours of sick leave. My service computation date is Feb. 12, 1987. I am eligible to retire on my 60th birthday, which is March 28. I have planned a European vacation from March 21 to April 9. I want to take annual leave March 21-29. I have annual…
Q. I have been a postal Service employee for 19 years and a member of the Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard for 26 years. I have approximately three years of active-duty time. If I buy back my military time to put toward my postal retirement, will that affect my military retirement? Also, when is the earliest I can retire/separate from the Postal Service and keep my pension, and what effect will retiring early have on my benefits? A. First, making a deposit for your active-duty service will have no effect on your reserve retired pay. Second,…
Q. I worked for the Postal Service from late 1979 until about 1991. I had a lot of personal and work-related problems and was also given a letter of termination. I decided to quit. I also tried to pursue a disability, but I dropped that because of stress and depression. I withdrew my retirement to pay an accumulation of four months of bills and rent that I was behind in. I vaguely recall reading that there was a buyback of retirement. Is this true? I am applying for Social Security benefits. I am only 58, but, due to health concerns,…