Q: I worked for the Navy as a GS-11 for five years but left in 1991. I have an SF-50 that says “completed service requirement for Career Tenure from 07-17-88 to 07-17-91.” However, I actually started with the Navy on Aug. 28, 1986 and my resignation papers have an effective date of Sept. 24, 1991. I’m hoping to return to federal service but want to know if I am eligible for any future retirement benefits. A: If you completed at least five years of creditable service and didn’t take a refund of your retirement contributions in the retirement fund when…
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Q. I retired on Jan. 2, 2010, with 219.75 hours annual leave under CSRS with over 45 years of service at GS9, Step 10 for over 20 years at that step. DFAS said I should be paid 62.25 hours at a 31.05 salary rate and 157.5 hours at a 32.27 salary rate. I disagree but they said it was correct. I feel my annual leave should be paid out at the 2010 salary rate for GS9, Step 10. Also, can you answer the legality of receiving base pay times 26 pay periods that is short a couple hundred dollars instead of…
Q. I was married to my husband for almost 25 years. I worked under CSRS for 42 years. I have been divorced since 1998. My ex-husband recently passed away. I believe he was on disability retirement. He was not a government employee. Can I draw anything from his pension. I am 69 years old. A. We don’t know anything about nonfederal benefits, so we can’t comment on whether you’d be entitled to anything from his former employer. On the other hand, you may be eligible for a a former spouse Social Security survivor benefit. The only way to find out…
Q: On Oct. 31, 2007, I reached mandatory retirement age of 57 and retired as a FERS law enforcement officer with more than 33 years experience. I have a blended retirement of both CSRS and FERS. For whatever reason, I did not receive my lump sum vacation pay of $25,742 until early January 2008. Just recently, I received notice from OPM that because I exceeded the Social Security earnings limit of $13,560 for 2008, I was overpaid in the supplemental security portion of my pension. I did not have any other earned income for 2008. Since I could not have…
Q: What were you thinking? No COLA for two years, now a tax increase, causing my check to be $38 less. I am barely surviving. Do something. This is no way to repay veterans, or their widows, for their service. A: You’ve come to the wrong place to point the finger of blame. The fact that no cost-of-living adjustments are being made on retiree annuities is a product of the same law that routinely gave you COLAs in the past. When the economy tanked, the index on which they are computed fell below zero. Just be thankful that this same…
Q: I am a retired CSRS federal employee (Navy civilian) with 35 years service. I also earned 40 quarters under Social Security and receive about half of the Social Security benefit I would get if I were not getting CSRS retirement pay. My wife did not work enough to have 40 quarters, but I understand that she is entitled to half my Social Security benefit. Question: Is she entitled to half my non-reduced Social Security, or half my reduced Social Security? A: She is entitled to half of your unreduced Social Security benefit.
Q: I am a retiree under the CSRS who cannot get Social Security benefits. Are the COLA’s for federal retirees and Social Security benefiiciaries determined under the same law? If so, why are they not both subject to the “hold harmless” provision in that law? For the past two years, there have been no cost-of-living allowances, yet my Medicare Part B premiums have increased both years while those on Social Security benefits haven’t. A: There are two separate laws at work here. While both laws protect retirees from having their benefits reduced when the numbers go negative, only the Social…
Q: My uncle retired from the U.S. Postal Service in or around 1982 after 30 years of service. He is 92 and will be moving into an assisted living facility. Is he entitled to any financial assistance to cover the cost? He has been receiving his pension of $2,400 a month since his retirement, but it does not cover the cost. A: No, the retirement system doesn’t provide such assistance. However, if he is enrolled in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program or Medicare, he may be eligible for some benefits from them.
Q: My Aunt passed away in October. She was never married and had no children. She was retired under the CSRS, and I was named with two others (one is deceased) as a beneficiary to receive a lump-sum retirement payment. How is the lump-sum amount calculated, and will it be divided equally between the two living beneficiaries? A: The lump-sum payment would consist solely of those retirement contributions your aunt made to the retirement fund that had not already been returned to her in her annuity payments. If anything does remain, it would be divided equally among the still-living beneficiaries…
Q: I retired as a federal law enforcement officer (Series 1811, Treasury IRS Criminal Investigations) during 2010, and accepted a federal excepted service, law enforcement position with Department of Defense’s Inspector General the very next day. Do I have to worry about cashing out my annual leave (approximately 350 hours) with Treasury? Do I need a break in service equal to the annual leave time before I begin/began work with DoD, before the annual leave is cashed out? Both HR departments did not mention any such treatment of annual leave. An employee in my similar situation advised that I may…