Browsing: retirement deductions

Q. I was originally hired in a temporary position by the federal government. I have heard that temporary time doesn’t count toward retirement. However, on my leave and earnings statement, the service computation date is from the time of hire into the government system. Does my time toward retirement count from my service computation date, or does it begin when I transferred into a nontemporary position?

Q. I worked for the Postal Service from 1979 to 1981, then quit. I started working again in 1984 and quit again in 2000. Now I am employed at the Post Office again as a city carrier assistant. What will my retirement from the Post Office look like? I just turned 61. I have always had two jobs, some self-employment and others where I was an employee. Will I be entitled to an annuity from the Postal Service or, at this point, does it matter putting in more years there?

Q. I am under FERS. If the human resources office states that I did not pay into the retirement system from 1985 to 1986 and OPM says deductions were made into the retirement system, when the retirement package is submitted and if OPM was wrong in its initial determination, will I be afforded the opportunity to make that payment after the retirement package has been submitted?

Q. I was active-duty Navy (1980-84), then active Coast Guard (1991-2000). I received a tentative offer for employment with Army a few weeks ago (I’ve been a contractor since 2000). All required documents are submitted. Now I wait. How do I buy my 13 years active duty into FERS? Can I use my existing 401(k) to pay this? How much would it cost me? I also found out that, as of Jan. 1, the deduction for retirement went up to 3.1 percent. I guess a tentative offer before Dec. 31 doesn’t count for hired, so my pay is decreased. Adding…

Q. Is there any way to figure out how much would be deducted from a Postal Service annuity check due to an early-out? I live in Jamaica, N.Y. Will they still deduct federal, state, Medicare, Social Security? A. Federal taxes will be deducted, but New York state taxes won’t. Neither will Medicare Part A or Social Security taxes. That’s because those two are only deducted from earnings, not annuities.

Q. I am a Postal Service level 21 employee, and will retire with about 41 years and 11 months in early 2013 with my high-3 close to my frozen level 21 value. When I retire, I will have been detailed to a level 23 position for about a year and a half, with a modest increase in pay during that time. Will the Office of Personnel Management use only my level 21 pay for annuity calculations or will the detail/higher level pay be considered? A. A high-3 is based on the highest three consecutive years of average salary from which…

Q. I entered civil service Dec. 29, 1984. After contributing to CSRS for two years and accumulating approximately $3,500 in the retirement block of my leave and earnings statement, I got paid one day and the LES reflected about $9 in the retirement block. I went to payroll to inquire as to where the $3,500 already contributed had gone. This was about 1987, so I don’t remember the exact verbiage, but it was something like “You have a long time before you retire. Why are you worrying about that?” The payroll office was not even aware of the new FERS,…

Q. 1) What are all the deductions that are taken out of a federal employee’s check when they retire? 2) Do these reductions stay at the same amount prior to retirement? 3) I have 33 years of service at age 51. I know there is a 2 percent penalty for each year under 55, but what about the three years I worked over 30? What happens to those? A. 1) Federal income tax; and, depending on your situation, state tax, FEHB, FEGLI and FEDVIP premiums, savings account deductions and allotments to organizations to which you belong. If you are receiving…

Q. Do full-time term employees (civil servants) accrue time toward their years of service in calculating years for the pension plan? If I were to stay a term employee for the full six years, would that time count toward my pension plan the same as if I were “permanent status”? A. If retirement deductions were taken from your pay, yes. If they weren’t, no.