Q. When retiring under 30 years/MRA under FERS, can the 30 years’ creditable federal service needed to qualify to receive the FERS special retirement supplement include years employed by the federal government under CSRS and/or military service or do the 30 years need to be FERS employment only? A. The special retirement supplement is based solely on the time that you were a FERS employee.
Browsing: special retirement supplement
Q. If USPS offers a VERA, I have 26 years and am 54. I know I’ll be eligible for retirement, but if I leave before 56, my MRA, will there be a reduction in my annuity? Are there any penalties associated with accepting the VERA? A. The age penalty is waived for anyone retiring under the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority. However, you wouldn’t be entitled to the special retirement supplement until you reach your MRA.
Q. I am a 55-year-old postal worker with 33 years of service, including six years of paid-back military time (27 years without). If I take an early out or VERA under FERS with an MRA of 56, will I receive the special supplement when I turn 56? Is the requirement lowered for the special supplement to 20 years instead of 30 years of FERS time? I realize my special supplement will be based on 27 years. A. No, the minimum retirement age threshold for the special retirement supplement has remained the same since the passage of the act establishing FERS.…
Q. To obtain the 30 years needed to qualify for the FERS Supplement, can I use only actual time employed under FERS, or can I also use time employed under CSRS that was bought back by doing a redeposit, and can I also use military time that was bought back? I am under FERS code 8 retirement system and will retire shortly under FERS with the minimum of 30 years required, but I want to make sure I can use any and all federal employment to make sure I qualify for the FERS Supplement before I retire. I have reached…
Q. I was a FERS employee. I retired Dec. 31. I was a full-time Air Guard reserve technician with a federal position reliant on holding the military position. I lost my military position under selective retention “no fault of mine” and “nondisciplinary.” I am 51 with more than 30 years of federal service. when I was processed through my local agency ABC-C, I was sent a statement that I was eligible for an immediate FERS retirement annuity, to include my supplement based on my Social Security. On May 15, I went from interim to final payments at OPM. Everything looks…
Q. I will be retiring in 2013 at my MRA, 56, with 34 years of service, 28 in the USPS and six in the military (I bought back my time). I am a FERS employee and thus will be eligible for the special retirement supplement. My OPM pension will be $2,000/month. My Social Security benefit estimate is $1,300/month. Will I receive any of those benefits? A. Having a CSRS component in your annuity won’t affect the amount of your special retirement supplement, which is paid by OPM and based on the amount of Social Security benefit you earned while a…
Q. As a postal employee under FERS for USPS for 28 years and eligible for retirement in September 2011 at age 56, am I eligible for the early supplement until age 62 or do I have to wait until age 60 with 30 years of postal service only? I have four years of creditable military service, which would make approximately 32 years for retirement purposes. A. If you are eligible for immediate retirement — your minimum retirement age plus 30 years of service — you’d receive the special retirement supplement along with your annuity. However, unless you made a deposit…
Q. Whenever you talk about the special retirement supplement, you mention starting with a Social Security benefit. Is that based on the full retirement amount one would receive at age 66½, or is it based on the reduced amount you would receive at age 62? In my case, there would be roughly a $600 difference in the amount you are taking a percentage of. Thirty years is 75 percent, but is it 75 percent of the approximately$2,200 in Social Security for full retirement, or 75 percent of the $1,600 I would get at age 62? A. The special retirement supplement…
Q. I am a FERS employee with 27 years of service at 56 years old. Because my spouse is ill, I will have to retire early (sometime this year) to take care of him. Do I get penalized the 5 percent? Do I get to keep health and life insurance? And do I receive the Social Security supplement? A. Because you would be retiring under the MRA+10 provision, your annuity would be reduced by 5 percent for every year you were under age 62 and you wouldn’t be eligible for the special retirement supplement. On the other hand, you would be…
Q. I am a FERS employee who is trying to figure out the best possible time to retire. I have 30 years of service but am only 59. I want to take full advantage of my accrued sick leave of over 2,000 hours. I was considering January 2014, but I’m not sure that is the smart thing to do, when I could also wait until I reach age 62 in April 2015. A. Only you can answer your question. And you have already thought of some of the things to consider that can help you do that. For example, you’ve…