Q: I am an air traffic controller with the DoD. I will reach 20 years of service at age 59 years and 2 months. As an air traffic controller, I will face mandatory retirement. 1) Since I will not be eligible for Social Security, are there benefit programs available to me to bridge the gap from mandatory retirement to Social Security? 2) Will my civil service government pension impact the amount I receive from Social Security? 3) I draw a military retirement pension; will this pension impact my Social Security benefits? A: You will receive the special retirement supplement, which…
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Q: I have been on disability retirement and collecting Supplemental Security Income disability since 2001 at age 44, GS13/7 approximately 105,000 currently. I have 14 years LEO coverage at 1.7 percent per year, under the special formula and four years prior to my LEO position in a non-covered position at 1 percent. If nothing changes, at age 62, I will have 14 years of LEO coverage, four years of non-covered employment and 17 years of disability retirement. Specifically, what percentage will I get computing my retirement annuity at age 62 — 1.7 percent for 14 years and 1 percent for 21…
Q: I retire from the bureau of prisons as a correctional officer in two years. My entire 20 years will be as a guard. When I retire, I will be 54 years old. Under the special law enforcement provision of Social Security, am I entitled to a partial draw from Social Security at age 54? A: Assuming that you are a law enforcement officer and are covered under the special provision that allows you retire at age 50 with 20 years of service, you would immediately be entitled to the special retirement supplement. The SRS approximates the Social Security benefit…
Q: I read your column faithfully in Fed Times and I have some questions concerning the special retirement supplement I am receiving along with my FERS annuity. I retired under the special 6(c) law enforcement retirement (I had reached the age of 57) on Dec 31, 2009. I just received a 2010 Annuity Supplement Earnings Report from OPM today in the mail. Your May 16th column suggests that I may fall under one of the exceptions. I did begin working again in 2010 for the state police, which does not participate or deduct Social Security. Can you provide some guidance…
Q: Based on a medical condition, I am a disabled employee trying a new treatment but if it is not successful, my doctor recommends disability retirement (SSA and CSRS offset). If I do leave in a couple of months, I am planning on using my accrued annual and sick leave from approximately July 29 to approximately September 30. Note: My 36 months of continuous service is from 9/14/2008 (a Sunday) to 9/14/2011 (a Wednesday). I am a reinstated employee who separated in 1987. I understand that there are terminal leave provisions for the last pay period prior to retirement. Do you know if this…
Q: I am 57 with more than 30 years of CSRS service. My husband is 60 and retired from the military in 1997 with 27 years of service. He soon will have 14 years with FERS. We plan on retiring in September. I know I’ll be affected by the “windfall” and “offset” because of Social Security that we’ve both paid, his while in the military and mine prior to my federal service. If my spouse dies before me, will I receive the full military survivor benefit ($500) that he designated from his military retirement or will it be reduced or…
Q: I was in the Marine Corps in the late 1970s for four years. I bought these four years in the 1990s toward my FERS retirement. Do these four years count toward my meeting my mandatory retirement age and qualifying for my Social Security supplement? At MRA, I will have 28 years of FERS and four years of FERS-purchased military time. A: Those four years will count in determining your total length of service and used in your annuity computation. They won’t be used in determining the amount of your special retirement supplement. The SRS is based solely on the…
Q: I am a 63 and ready to retire. I am from Romania where I worked for 15 years and paid for the corresponding Romanian Social Security, so I got a small pension (about $250) from there. I moved to the U.S. in 1985 and became a U.S. citizen. I’ve worked here for 25 years and pay for U.S. Social Security. I never worked again in Romania after I came to the U.S. I applied for Social Security in the U.S. and it seems that my U.S. Social Security benefits will be reduced because I get a pension from Romania.…
Q: I recently read your answer to a federal retiree asking why her Medicare Part B deduction increased while her husband’s, a Social Security retiree, did not. Your response was that since Social Security retireees’ cost-of-living adjustment was zero, that was the reason his Medicare deduction did not increase. As a federal retiree, my cost-of-living adjustment for the last two years was zero also, however my Medicare deduction did increase. Can you tell my why? A: I have to assume that you aren’t receiving a Social Security benefit. Otherwise you wouldn’t have had any increase in your Medicare Part deduction.…
Q: I am considering retiring this year while I am 60. I understand I am entitled to the FERS special supplement, and I have been given an estimate of that amount. I am also a widow and could draw Social Security on my husband at this time. What I would like to do is draw the supplement till I am 62, the normal age a person is eligible for SS, and then start drawing on my benefit at the reduced rate until I am full retirement age of 66. At which time I would like to switch to my husband’s…