Q. My husband is a retired CSRS annuitant. If he is admitted to a nursing home on Medicaid and his monthly check is given to Medicaid, will I still be eligible to receive my share of his annuity upon his death, and will I be able to continue to receive health insurance from FEHB? A. Yes, as long as he elected a survivor benefit for you and you are covered under the self and family option of his Federal Employees Health Benefits plan.
Browsing: survivor annuity
Q. I will retire in six months and have joint physical custody of my 8-year-old child. I am not married, nor was I previously married. My retirement counselor said that if I wanted my child to receive my annuity should I die post-retirement (and she is under a certain age and a full-time student), it would be very costly, and not only would my annuity be reduced greatly but she would only get small amount. I recently read somewhere that I could elect a survivor annuity benefit for my child at no cost. So: 1. When retiring, can I elect my…
Q. I am under CSRS. If my wife were to begin receiving survivor benefits under my federal retirement, would her own Social Security Benefits (based on her own employment) be affected? A. No. She’ll be entitled to both the survivor annuity and her earned Social Security benefit.
Q. I am a retired Postal Service employee under CSRS. I am 66 and have been collecting Social Security since turning 62. My Social Security benefit was reduced by taking benefits at 62 and by the windfall elimination provision. My CSRS annuity was also reduced because I opted for the CSRS survivor benefit. However, I am nine years older than my wife, who is 57 and intends to work until she can begin her early retirement at 62. 1. If my wife and I continue to file our taxes as “Married – jointly” and I suspend my Social Security benefits…
Q. I have a question regarding how my CSF and Social Security benefits affect each other. I am the widow of a civil service employee who was a police officer and died employed in the Canal Zone in the Republic of Panama in 1970. I have worked under Social Security for many years since and will receive SS benefits upon retirement. Will my Social Security or CSF widow’s annuity be reduced when I begin receiving my Social Security? And does it make any difference if I collect Social Security at age 62 or full retirement age at 66? Is there…
Q. I will be retiring in June and am trying to compute the number of federal tax exemptions, etc., that I take. I looked through my notes from my last federal retirement planning class and saw that I jotted down that the amount withheld for survivor annuity from one’s monthly pension is a pretax item. I thought it would be smart to obtain verification or validation rather than assume I heard and recorded this correctly. If the survivor annuity withheld is subject to federal income tax at the time of withholding, then the portion withheld should be nontaxable when the…
Q. I am retired under CSRS with survivor benefits for my spouse. I have Medicare Part A and Federal Employees Health Benefits Blue Cross/Blue Shield family plan. My spouse has just become Medicare eligible. Since there is a penalty (140 percent) for me to pick up Part B, we are contemplating continuing with the Medicare Part A and FEHB. The adviser at Social Security questioned our health insurance coverage after I die, noting the penalty in picking up Part B later. I assume that FEHB coverage will continue with the survivor benefits. Also, will the cost of the FEHB become…
Q. I am considering getting married before I retire. Is there a time frame you have to be married for your spouse to receive survivor benefits? A. Not if you marry before you retire. However, if you marry after retiring, there is a nine-month waiting period before the election of a survivor annuity is effective.
Q. I am a CSRS employee. If I elect survivor benefits and my nongovernment spouse dies before I do, will my annuity return to the full amount? If I should die before him, will he receive my full amount or the survivor amount? Does it matter if I elect a lower survivor benefit annuity — that is, not 55 percent? A. If you elect a survivor benefit for your spouse and he dies before you, your annuity will be restored to what it would have been if you hadn’t made that election. If you die before he does, he’ll receive…
Q. My husband is a retired federal employee and has Blue Cross Standard through the federal government. If he dies before I do, can I keep the medical coverage? And should we consider going to the basic Blue Cross Blue Shield plan if we have Medicare Part B? A. As long as he is enrolled in the self and family option and you are receiving a survivor annuity, you will be able to continue that coverage. Whether you should change your FEHB coverage level if you have Medicare Part B is something you’ll have to figure out for yourselves. You…