Q: I was involuntarily retired from the Air Force because of an injury received while at work. It was a gradual process. I was injured (torn ACL in my left leg) in 1998. I was then returned to work. The ACL repair wasn’t successful, so I underwent a second surgery in 2001. I started rehabilitation but did not complete it. I was then moved into a supply position. I underwent a third surgery in 2003. I started rehabilitation and I completed it according to the rehabilitation specialist’s instruction. However, he (DOL) insisted that I pay for everything and assured me…
Browsing: SOCIAL SECURITY
Q. I will be fully eligible to retire in 2012. I am under CSRS. I also receive Social Security notices about how much SSN I will receive at Social Security age. Will I be able to receive both? A. You will receive your full CSRS annuity. However, the amount of Social Security benefit you’ll get will be affected by the windfall elimination provision of law. The WEP reduces the Social Security benefit of anyone who receives an annuity from a retirement system where he or she didn’t pay Social Security taxes, such as CSRS, and has fewer than 30 years…
Q. Thank you so much for your article entitled “Making sense of 2 types of annuities.” It was very informative to the fifty-something people in my office. Assuming FERS, two questions. When you refer to annuity, are you referring to 1) the person’s pension or 2) the person getting the equivalent of some of type of early Social Security benefits? And if the answer to the above is the person’s pension, is it possible for one to start collecting Social Security benefits (or the equivalent of) once they do early retirement (for example, age 57)? Obviously, if this was so,…
Q. I will be 62 years old in November 2010. I plan on retiring Dec 31, 2010. I will draw a FERS annuity from the government; I also will be drawing Social Security. My question is, will my FERS annuity be considered taxable income to Social Security and will my Social Security benefit be taxed for it ? A. Your FERS annuity will be taxable as regular income; however, a portion of it will be tax-exempt because it represents a return of the contributions you made to the retirement system, which have already been taxed. When determining if you have…
Q. I am retired under a combination of CSRS (14 years) and FERS (12 years). My CSRS annuity is $3,000 a month and my Social Security is $600 a month. If my spouse dies, can I get any part of his $1,600 monthly Social Security? A. If you are a federal retiree who elected to switch from the Civil Service Retirement System to the Federal Employees’ Retirement System (FERS) on or before June 30, 1988 or you if you switched after that date, including during the open season from July 1, 1998, through December 31, 1998, the fact that you had at least…
Q. I am a FERS employee and I plan to retire in the near future. As I have a CSRS component, I will be impacted by the Windfall Elimination Provision when I begin to draw Social Security. As my spouse is also a FERS employee, it is possible that my spouse benefit for Social Security may exceed my own benefits. I will turn 62 eight years before my spouse. And we both plan to draw Social Security when we each turn 62, respectively. I understand that I will not be eligible for a spouse Social Security benefit until my wife…
Q. I am a government DoD CSRS employee of 38 years and plan on working for another couple of years –- I want that 40 years with 80 percent of my salary as retirement. I turn 62 this September and have been told I can draw my ex’s Social Security starting Oct 1. We were married for 28 years. Is this true? Is there a limit on the amount of money I can draw while I am still employed? I know when I retire, it will offset my retirement (which I feel is unfair). A. Because your marriage lasted at…
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: 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: I took the VER that was offered for postal clerks on Oct. 31, 2009. I have received three very small interim annuity checks since then. Processing is taking forever. I assume it will all come out in the wash. I am 60 with 25+ years in FERS. Will I receive the SRS? Do I have to make a special request either to OPM or to Social Security for that? Can I use the 26/40x the figure on my SSA statement to figure the amount? The statement I have is dated July 2009. In addition, I’ve had a part-time job…