Q. I am 52 years old and have 22 years of federal employment. Can I retire? If so, how soon can I receive monthly payments, and how much would they be reduced by? How would this affect my Social Security benefits later? Also, how would this affect my medical insurance? A. Unless you are a special category employee, such as a law enforcement officer or a firefighter, you don’t meet the age and service requirements to retire. For FERS employees, these are: age 62 with five years of service, 60 with 20, at your minimum retirement age (MRA) with 30, and…
Browsing: resignation
Q. I am an Air Force retiree who has 13 years as a federal employee. I am eligible for MRA+10 on March 24. If I apply to retire, how long does it take to process my application for approval or what is the earliest date I can actually resign? I am considering a private sector job and they want to start in 30-45 days. A. When you fill out the Standard Form 3107, Application for Immediate Retirement, you’ll put the date you are retiring in Section B2. It doesn’t matter how long it takes to process your application, that’s your…
Q. I enrolled in Federal Employees Health Benefits on April 26, 1987. Resigned March 21, 1992. Temporary appointment Aug. 26, 2001, to Oct. 19, 2002. Re-enrolled Nov. 3, 2002. Resigned Sept. 27, 2008. Temporary appointment, not eligible to enroll Dec. 7, 2008, to July 3, 2010. Re-enrolled July 18, 2010, until present. Had COBRA between enrollments. My human resources department says I should be able to continue health benefits into retirement if I work through June 20. I am planning on retiring in December. I know the Office of Personnel Management has the final say but wanted to know if this…
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 am 64 and plan on retiring out of civil service so that I can move back home. Even though I am not ready to retire, can I leave in my FERS annuity so, if and when I can find another position with another government agency and get reinstated, I can continue with my retirement fund? I plan on working part time, since I have over 40 credits in Social Security to help out. A. If you simply resigned, left your contributions in the retirement fund, and found another job at a later date, you could be reinstated. However,…
Q. I am retired military with 27 years in. Since that time, I have been a civil servant and am coming up on my 10-year anniversary under FERS. My service computation date is Aug. 10, 2003. I am planning to resign from my civil position Dec. 31, prior to my 62nd birthday. (I was born Dec. 11, 1952.) I plan to ask for a lump-sum check for my unused accrued leave. But it looks like I will not gain anything for having been such a healthy individual and that my many days of sick leave will simply go wasted. Is…
Q. I am 54 years old and was employed with a federal agency for 17 years from 1979 to 1996. Upon resignation to enter the private sector, I withdrew 100 percent of my CSRS contributions. If I return to full-time federal employment this year, do I have the option of buying back the creditable service of 17 years for the same amount that I withdrew in 1996? Secondly, would I be able to continue with CSRS rather than FERS upon re-employment? Would I be eligible to retire after eight more years of federal employment service? A. If you returned to…
Q. I am a letter carrier with the Postal Service and am 58 years old. I have 25 years of service and am considering deferred retirement due to health issues. As I understand it, I should be able to start my retirement annuity at age 60 with no reduction in benefits. Is this correct? A. Yes. Your annuity would be computed using the standard formula and based on your high-3 and years of service on the day you resigned.
Q. I am a full-time letter carrier with 25 years of service at 50 years of age. I am having health issues and have trouble completing my job. I am considering deferred retirement this month. As I understand, I’ll lose my health insurance, but I can apply for my FERS retirement at my minimum retirement age of 56 with no penalty. What is your opinion? A. Unfortunately, you are mistaken. If you resigned and applied for a deferred retirement at age 56, your annuity would be reduced by 5 percent for every year you were under age 60 (5/12 percent…
Q. Is Voluntary Early Retirement Authority offered to those who are already eligible to retire? Does VERA apply to your high-three calculation for retirement? A. It’s clear from your questions that you are asking about the Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment, not VERA. According to OPM, “The Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment Authority, also known as buyout authority, allows agencies that are downsizing or restructuring to offer employees lump-sum payments up to $25,000 as an incentive to voluntarily separate. When authorized by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), an agency may offer VSIP to employees who are in surplus positions or have…