Q: My husband was forced to retire from the Defense Department due to base closures in 1999. He was 45, and combined with his navy and shipyard time he had 25 years in. He took the retirement and has worked in the private sector since. He has an opportunity to work at the Veterans Hospital and was wondering what it would do to his retirement. He gets about $20,000 a year in retirement and the job pays $25 per hour. Any help is welcome. A: It depends entirely on the nature of his appointment. If he takes a government job,…
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Q: My wife only worked for 11 years and based on the annual statements she receives from the Social Security Administration, she can only expect to receive about $300 a month at age 62. She is 5 years older than me and I plan on retiring under FERS at age 60 and drawing my Social Security at 62. Recently someone mentioned if her full amount was less than half mine she would get half of mine. This sounds like a better deal, but trying to get the facts on this from the SSA Web site without a background in cryptography…
Q: As a federal firefighter retiring under FRES at the mandatory age of 57, can I continue working in another agency? For instant, transferring into fire prevention, which does not apply to the mandatory retirement or to another federal agency outside of the federal fire service. If so, would I still receive the firefighter retirement computation? A: Once you have 20 years of covered service, you have locked in your eligibility to retire under the more generous computation formula for firefighters. You can continue working where you are in any job or work for another federal agency without affecting that…
Q: My wife died last year. She was a retired educator with more than 30 years of service. She turned 60 in December 2009. She also had been receiving Social Security disability for almost two years before she died. I will be turning 61 in 2010; however I am still working with more than 30 years of federal service under CSRS. I am an outset employee because I left the federal government for two years and have been back since Jan. 6, 2009. Can I received her Social Security at age 62 and delay drawing mine until I am 65?…
Q: Does time worked at the Federal Reserve count toward time worked for the Small Business Administration? A: It only counts if you waive any right to benefits from the Federal Reserve retirement system for that prior service and make a deposit into the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund. Your current agency can help you work out the details and may be able to arrange the transfer of the contributions you made to the Federal Reserve retirement system into your current retirement system.
Q: I resigned my GS position (involuntarily) from an abusive work section situation in Utah and received a lump-sum payment. I have since acquired a new federal job. When I go to the Employee Benefits Information System Web site, it states 180 hours of leave, but the amount says “n/a.” So, I guess it is a one-time payment? A: Yes, it is a one-time payment. When you left government, you exchanged your accumulated hours of annual leave for cash. The site you went to reflects the fact that on the day you left government, you had a balance of 180 hours;…
Q: Regarding your answer concerning retirement and locality pay: I will retire under the Federal Employees Retirement System with 30 years in February 2012. Does locality pay count as part of your high-3? A: Yes, it does.
Q: I am covered by the Civil Service Retirement System with 41 years of service. I was all set to retire this year when they finally phased in the locality pay. There is a clause for those retiring between January 2010 and December 2012 that says we can have the locality pay included in our base pay for annuity purposes. It is my understanding that I would have to work the full three years and then pay the additional CSRS withholding for my high-3 to have locality pay included all three years. What if I want to retire at the…
Q: I am hoping to retire with 20 years as a 6c law enforcement officer. I have approximately 10 additional years of federal service (noncovered). Will the annuity for these noncovered 10 years be computed at a 2 percent rate? Will the rate be the high-3 of those 10 years (noncovered) or the high-3 of the covered service? A: If you have 20 years of covered service as a law enforcement officer, the special, more generous annuity computation will be used to compute that part of your annuity (0.025 x your high-3 x 20 years). Any years of service over 20, whether covered or not, will…
Q: I’m thinking of retiring and wondering if there is anything that precludes an individual from retiring one day and coming back to work as a federal employee the next? A: Not that I’m aware of. However, there are some things you need to keep in mind. If you were to take early retirement, when you returned to work your annuity would be canceled and you would be treated as any regular employee with the same age and service. And you wouldn’t be eligible to retire again until you met the age and service requirements. On the other hand, if…