Q. I am a DoD firefighter for the Department of the Army for three years now. Before my current employment I was an Air Force military firefighter for eight years. I am in the process of buying back my military time and I entered the federal system at the age of 30. What age can I retire? I have been told that the eight years can be added to the “front end” of my retirement, which would mean I could retire at the age of 47 (25 years any age). Now the other scenario is age 50 and 20 years…
Browsing: retire
Q. I am planning on retiring this year. I am currently covered by my wife’s FEHB, as she is also a federal employee. She has several more years to work before she will be retirement-eligible. If she were to elect to resign prior to her retirement eligibility, could I elect to begin FEHB coverage as a retiree since she would no longer be eligible to carry FEHB due to her resignation? We have been married for 14 years, and we have been covered by FEHB the entire period of our marriage. I carried the FEHB up until the open season…
Q. My understanding is that the Supplemental Retirement Annuity (or payment) that FERS retirees may receive when they are eligible to retire before age 62 is subject to an earnings test. My question is what happens if you retire during the middle of the year — do the earnings for work during the year you retire, but before your retirement date, reduce your SRA, or is the earnings test applied only to the work performed after your retirement date? A. No, they don’t reduce it. They fall under the Social Security “first year” rule.
Q. I have been in a primary firefighter position for roughly nine years. I am curious what will happen to my FERS retirement calculations if I move into a position that is not covered by special retirement rules, for example, a recreation job. How will the nine years of firefighter time be figured into my retirement calculations? I understand that more money (1.7 percent) is deducted from my paycheck for my retirement fund than my co-workers who are not firefighters, so that must come into play when my retirement annuity is calculated, right? I’ve been looking at the FERS handbook,…
Q: Can I begin drawing Social Security at age 62 while still being on the payroll? A: Yes, you could. However, because you would be under full retirement age, your Social Security benefit would be reduced by $1 for every $2 you earn above the annual earnings limit, which is $14,160 in 2010. In the year in which you reached your full retirement age, the reduction would be $1 for every $3 you earn above a different limit ($37,680 in 2010). Because you were born in 1948, your full retirement age is 66. In the month in which you reached full retirement…
Q. In 2005, I resigned from my position as a civil servant. At the time I was 51 and had 24 years of service. It was not explained to me that I could retire and defer. I am now 55, and since I am under 30 years of service still could not withdraw without a penalty. Do I have any options in order to still receive a retirement that I earned via 24 years of service? A. As a FERS employee with at least 10 years of service, the earliest age at which you could have retired was 56, your…
Q. I plan on retiring on the close of business, Friday, Dec. 31,2010. I am a FERS employee. Since that day is the New Year holiday, I will have completed my 80-hour work week. But I will retire prior to the end of the leave period, which is Saturday. Will I accrue the eight hours of annual leave and the four hours of sick leave for that pay period, or will I forfeit it because I did not remain an employee for the entire pay period? A: According to OPM, you only need to complete your 80-hour work week to…
Q. I am a FS medical technologist serving the Department of State overseas. I am slated for mandatory retirement in 2012 and am considering retiring overseas (West Africa) somewhere. Are there any benefits for retiring overseas and how can one really find out about the job market for a person interested in taking their time and talents and trying to make a decent living overseas? A. This set of questions falls outside the boundaries of our forum.
Q. Why is Medicare Part B premiums increasing for retirees who currently have Part B? I thought only “new” enrollees would be paying the higher rate in 2010. A. Most Medicare beneficiaries will not see a Part B monthly premium increase as a result of a “hold harmless” provision in the current law. This allows for 73 percent of beneficiaries to be protected from an increase raising the 2010 Part B monthly premiums. Approximately 27 percent of beneficiaries are not subject to the hold-harmless provision because they are new enrollees during the year (3 percent), they are subject to the…
Q. Can anyone explain why retirees are not included in the 2 percent cost-of-living allowance for 2010? Is it because the President is pro union and retirees are not covered by the union? As far as I know, this is the first time retirees were excluded from annual COLAs. It would seem to me that retirees are more in need of the COLA than currently employed full-time employees. A: There are two pieces of law involved here. The salaries of employees are governed by the pay comparability act, which compares the salaries of federal jobs with those in the private…