Browsing: SOCIAL SECURITY

Q. I receive FERS benefits but am now applying for Social Security, which will be my main retirement. I got to a question on the application process that asks whether I ever earned money where FICA was not taken out. I worked for two and parts of two other year for Gallaudet College, which was at the time a quasi-government and Civil Service. Those earnings do not appear on my Social Security statement of benefits I assume for that reason. I took the retirement in a lump sum when I left that position. I was federally employed (FERS and Social…

Q. I have 29 years of federal service and am 50 and under FERS. If I am involuntarily separated by a reduction in force at age 50, do I get the FERS Social Security bridge along with my Discontinued Service Retirement, or do I have to wait until I turn 56 to collect the bridge portion of my retirement? Does this start automatically with the DSR, or do I have to apply for the bridge with SSA when I am 56?

Q. I lived and worked in Canada, earning income from 1969 through 1994. I am a U.S. citizen, but my father was transferred to Canada when I was very young, and we became naturalized Canadians. I moved to the U.S. in 1994 and began earning income. I retired Jan. 31, 2013, and went to the local Social Security Office to apply for early benefits (I will be 62 this summer). I understand the reduction because I am taking early benefits; however, I was told that my benefit would be reduced if I was also going to take Canada pension. I…

Q. I started getting Postal Service and Social Security disability in 1994. I am in CSRS Offset, not FERS. I started a job, and they stopped my Social Security disability because my earnings were substantial. I am 65. I applied for Social Security, since I will be 66 in July. My Social Security is 30 percent less than I received under Social Security disability. The clerk at Social Security said they had been paying me too much disability each month, but since it had been more than four years since the error on their part, they would not try to…

Q. A friend has run into some hard times, and I am trying to help him. He says he has worked here as a civil service employee for some time (I can get that info). When he was hired, he was put into CSRS but was supposed to be in FERS. When that was discovered, he was put into CSRS offset. He says while he was looking at a statement of his retirement money, he noticed a difference of some $40,000 from one of his other statements. He is a WG-10 step 5. Whom could we talk with to get…

Q. I understand about my retirement being offset by my Social Security when I retire as a federal employee. I want to know what will happen if I choose instead to draw my deceased spouse’s Social Security benefit, which is based solely on his nonfederal work history. Will my federal retirement still be offset by what I receive from his Social Security benefit?

Q. The Windfall Elimination Provision states: “The only work you did where you did not pay Social Security taxes was before 1957, or you have 30 or more years of substantial earnings under Social Security.” Are these statements separate or combined? What does the year have to do with it? What is the formula for calculating substantial earnings? Take into consideration that at the time, single mothers with three dependents did not earn “substantial earnings.” By the way, how much is substantial? It seems to me that the date I began work eliminates the windfall, along with my almost 30…

Q. I retired from the Department of Veterans Affairs on Nov. 4, 1994, after 38½ years. My husband worked under Social Security for many years. After he passed away April 26, 2010, I was informed that I could not draw on his Social Security, as this would be considered double dipping. I am constantly asked, “Why are you not drawing on Bob’s Social Security?” I will be 75 on Sept. 24. Why can’t I?

Q. I am a retired pure CSRS employee working part time as a rehired annuitant with no annuity offset. I am coming to the end of my third year. When I first began working, HR was not taking out FICA. Two years ago, HR said it had been told at some payroll class that it should be taking out FICA, so it started doing so. About 12 months later, HR sent a demand letter for the FICA it had failed to collect in the beginning. I filled an appeal immediately and have heard nothing. Three of us here are in…

Q. I am a retired CSRS postal worker and have opted for a survivor benefit. I do not qualify for Social Security. My spouse has about 24 years of SS payments from her jobs. If I die, are her benefits, either CSRS survivor benefits or Social Security, affected? If she dies, am I entitled to any of her Social Security benefits?

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