Q. My husband is a CSRS employee who will retire in two years. I am a FERS employee who will retire in three years. My question is this: I have always paid into Social Security, and the projected survivor benefit is $2,298. If my husband is a CSRS retiree, would he see any of that survivor benefit if I were to die before he did? If so, how would I calculate that to get a feel for what he could expect? A. If you were to die before your husband, any Social Security survivor benefit to which he’d be entitled…
Browsing: Survivor benefits
Q. My husband is drawing his pension from the federal government. At what age can I start drawing my portion of his pension? A. You aren’t entitled to anything while he is alive. If he elected a survivor benefit for you, then you’d be entitled to that if he died before you.
Q. I am a retired civil servant receiving an annuity. I also receive survivor benefits from my late husband, also a civil servant. I am 72 and may marry a gentleman who is retired Navy and civil servant. Would either of us lose our benefits? He is the same age as I. A. No.
Q. I recently attended a retirement seminar where the presenter stated that the cost of the survivor benefit does not go up over time. If I opt for a full survivor benefit and it costs $350 a month when I retire in two months, that will be the cost one year, five years, 20 years from now. If it’s true, great. True? A. Either your presenter wasn’t clear or you misunderstood what was being said. There’s a one-time reduction in you annuity to pay for the survivor annuity. For example, if your unreduced FERS annuity was $50,000 and you elected…
Q. I retired from the federal government at age 55 with survivor benefits for my husband, who is eight years younger than I am. I will be eligible for Medicare on Dec. 1. If I opt for the Medicare parts A and B, can I reduce the costs of Blue Cross/Blue Shield by going from family plan, which covers both of us, to the single plan for him only? A. Not unless he is a federal employee or retiree and, as such, eligible to enroll on his own.
Q. I am a CSRS employee with 30 years of service. If I marry a retired federal employee, will this reduce my monthly retirement benefits? Also, in the event of death, are we entitled to each other’s benefits? A. Marrying either a federal employee or retiree would not affect your retirement annuity. Whether you would be eligible for each other’s survivor benefit would depend entirely on whether you elected to provide such a benefit and accepted the reduction in your own annuity to pay for it.
Q. Can a CSRS Offset retiree cash in or buy out his/her monthly annuity being received for a lump-sum payment, health and survivor benefits notwithstanding? A. No.
Q. My wife retired from the USPS in 2003 under CSRS. Upon my death, will she receive the full Social Security survivor amount, or will that amount potentially reduce her USPS pension? Also will any retirement benefits from my private company plan affect her retirement pension? A. Because she is receiving an annuity from a retirement system where she didn’t pay Social Security taxes, any Social Security survivor benefit to which she is entitled would be affected by the government pension offset provision of law. The GPO would reduce that Social Security survivor benefit by $2 for every $3 she…
Q. My husband retired from the federal government in 2004 at age 55 with 33 years of service under CSRS. He passed away in 2007 and I started receiving his pension survivor benefits. He did not pay into Social Security long enough to receive those benefits. I am now 62 and applied for Social Security on my earnings since I do have enough quarters. Since I am receiving his federal government pension survivor benefits under CSRS, am I entitled to receive my own Social Security benefits since I had enough credits? My Social Security benefit amount is $277 per month.…
Q. Is it possible to retain my Defense Department Survivor Benefit Plan and use it as the basis for continued Federal Employees Health Benefits coverage for my wife and dependent child if I were to pass away. I plan on retiring under FERS this year. I’d rather not take the FERS SBP as it is more expensive. I am retired military with 20 years and bought back the time? A. No, it isn’t.