Q: I am a firefighter under the Federal Employees Retirement System holding a secondary position with a service computation date of 2003. I retired from the Air Force after 20 years of military service. I have a number of questions. Would it be prudent for me to buy back my military time, which would allow me to retire early from civil service? If I do buy back my military time and retire, would I lose my military retirement check? Part of my retirement is a 40 percent service-connected disability from the Veterans Affairs Department. The other half is from the…
Browsing: RETIREMENT
Q: If I retire Dec. 31, a Friday, my first annuity check would begin on Feb 1, 2011. However, I would lose credit for any leave accumulated in that last pay period because I did not work the full pay period, which ends Jan. 1, 2011. Is this correct? A: If Friday, Dec. 31, would be the last day of a pay period and you retire at the close of business, you would get credit for any annual and sick leave you earned during that pay period.
Q: Is the $14,160 earning limit on early retirement gross, or net? I am self-employed and have expenses. I do not net more than $14,000. A: The earning limit is the gross amount of your income, not the net.
Q: What advantages, if any, are there for a retired federal employee whose primary residence is Thailand to enroll in Medicare? I am 68 years old, receiving Social Security benefits, and I am enrolled in the Blue Cross federal employee plan. A: Because Medicare generally does not cover health services you get outside the United States, it depends on whether you will be a permanent resident of another country or will be returning periodically to the U.S. At a minimum, you should enroll in Medicare Part A (hospital) because that coverage is free. You already paid for it through payroll…
Q: I am considering retiring, but need to know whether there is a specific form I must complete in order to continue my Blue Cross and Blue Shield insurance after retirement? I have had BCBS for over 5 years. A: No special form is required. Your coverage will continue seamlessly without your doing anything other than your checking the box confirming your eligibility on the Application for Immediate retirement: Standard Form 2801 (Civil Service Retirement System) or 3107 (Federal Employees Retirement System).
Q: In your Jan. 25 article “New year, same COLA,” you say that the Social Security withholding stays at $106,800, and that “if you are a Federal Employees Retirement System or Civil Service Retirement System Offset employee, any amount you earn above that amount won’t be subject to the 6.2 percent Social Security deduction.” However, I am a GS-810-14, Step 10, Forest Service employee under CSRS Offset and the National Finance Center withholds Social Security from my paycheck for the entire year. Withholding from my paycheck doesn’t cease at the $106,800 limit. This seems contradictory to what the article states.…
Q: I have six years of military service before I entered government service, and I have six years under FERS. I am 6C law enforcement with cover of 1.7 percent a year. Can I retire with 20 years of service, combining all those years, and defer my retirement without reaching my MRA? Can I retire with 20 years of service, combining all those years, and defer my retirement without reaching my MRA? Can I take a deferred retirement after 20 years plus a day and start collecting when I am 60 without been penalized 5 percent for every year that…
Q: I am a federal firefighter who works a 72-hour workweek. This is the required hours that I work. As a GS-8, Step 9, I make $83,658 per year. However, my “High Three” would be based off of the firefighter base pay of $73,906. I know that the difference is overtime. However, the overtime is part of the required hours for a firefighter’s tour of duty. My question is, why is our retirement not based on the higher pay? Seeing that this is what we are really paid and not the so-called base pay of 73,906. If a federal employee…
For employees, 2010 is a mixed year for benefits. For retirees, it’s pretty much a bust. General Schedule employees received a 2 percent pay increase, with 1.5 percent going to all employees and the remainder being distributed through locality pay. If you want to compare how you made out against employees in other areas, go to the Salaries and Wages page on the Office of Personnel Management Web site. The maximum taxable earnings for Social Security withholding stay at the 2009 level — $106,800. So, if you are a Federal Employees Retirement System or Civil Service Retirement System Offset employee,…
Q: I’m under the Civil Service Retirement System plan. I would like to know if the retirement contributions, taken out of our checks every payday, have anything to do with the amount of money we will receive when we retire, or is it based on our high-3 and the number of years we have in, including military time? A: CSRS and Federal Employees Retirement System annuities are defined benefit plans. As such, they are not based on the amount employees and agencies contribute to the retirement fund. Instead, they are based on formulas that include a multiplier (or multipliers), the…