Q. I am 56 and trying to decide whether to retire. I have 30 years of service. I am under the FERS retirement system. I was told if I retire my FERS retirement annuity will not receive COLAs or increase until I am 62. Is this true? I know the FERS supplement does not receive COLAs. I was expecting to receive COLAs, otherwise I will continue to work until 62. FERS retirement is not looking so good afterall.
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Q. I am a federal employee with 26 years of service. I have been enrolled in FEHB for 5 years. I am considering taking a break in service to stay at home with my children. If I return to work before my MRA and obtain the remaining 3 1/2 years of service can I retire with full benefits including my FERS supplement and FEHB?
Q. As a FERS employee, how many hours of sick leave is considered to be equal to a month that can be credited to your longevity computation for retirement? I believe it is 174 hours. A. What you said is basically true, but only after you have met the age and service requirements to retire. Then any days of actual service that don’t add up to a full month are converted to hours and combined with any unused hours of sick leave. If there are enough of those hours, they’ll be used to create additional months and included in your…
Q. I am 58 with 30 years in FERS. My overseas assignment is up, and I do not have return rights. I am about to register in the Priority Placement Program. When I receive a placement offer, can I refuse the job, quit the government, collect my severance pay and unemployment, and retire when my unemployment runs out, or do I have to retire immediately upon turning down the job placement? A. Because you are eligible to retire, you aren’t entitled to severance pay.
Q. I’m under CSRS and I’m starting to think about retiring. Before my federal employment, I got 20 quarters for Social Security. Is it worth it for me to work after retirement to get the additional 20 quarters? I know there is an off-set, but I need to know the pros and cons of doing this. I have paid into TSP but didn’t start it as early as I would have liked and don’t have that much built up in the fund. I’m concerned I might not have enough money for my golden years. I need to know if Social…
Q. I am a FERS employee with 31 years of federal service, and 35 years of military. However, early in my career, or should I say when I was hired, I payed for or bought back three years of active duty. Now I am ready to retire from my federal agency, and later from the reserves when I become 60 years of age. So, I know I can retire from my federal agency with the 31 years, but what about the military? Can I still retire and have the military exclude the years I purchase if I don’t get a…
Q. When I started in August of 1984, I was placed under FERS even though FERS wasn’t put in place until 1987. I read that if you didn’t pay into FERS then that time didn’t count. I don’t remember if any deductions were taken toward my retirement during those years. Does my time from 1984-1987 count toward my creditable service?
Q. I retire under FERS at age 60. When I reach 62, how does this affect my offset? Do I have the option to continue offset until age 67 or will I automatically start drawing Social Security at age 62? A. What you are referring to is the special retirement supplement. The SRS approximates the amount of Social Security benefit you earned while a FERS employee. It ends at age 62 when you first become eligible for a Social Security benefit. It’s entirely up to you when you apply for that benefit.
Q. Is there any way for me to opt out of the Basic Benefit offered in FERS? I just started at work today as a GS employee. I did not realize that the Basic Plan will require me to contribute 4.4 percent of my income to a retirement plan that pays 1 percent per year served. Please check my math. Does that mean I will have to draw retirement for a minimum of 4.4 years before I break even on these payments? That is without considering any growth rate on these funds.
Q. I am a GS-13 with 10 years of federal service. If I were to retire with 20 years of service at GS-13, what would be the retirement pay for GS-13? I understand about TSP and Social Security, but I’d like to know what retirement pay I would receive as a GS-13.