Q. I am 44 years old, and I am covered under FERS with a scheduled leave date of November 1985 but did not start working full time until August 1989. I recently enrolled in the Federal Employees Health Benefits plan, as my wife’s insurance coverage was better than FEHB. If offered, would I be eligible for a VERA/VSIP without any penalty? A. Yes. Although you worked part time for several years, your service computation date shows that you were given full-time credit for those years of service. The only effect of having worked part time is that your annuity will…
Browsing: VERA
Q. I am 51 with 28 years in FERS. I have been offered Voluntary Early Retirement Authority. Will I receive the Social Security supplement if I retire under VERA? A. Yes, but only when you reach you minimum retirement age, which in your case would be 56.
Q. If your agency or command does a survey for buyouts, does your immediate command and/or supervisors have a say as to which employees would get the buyouts, or could they have any influence in the matter ? And is there any way to track the possible potential of the buyouts to your command? A. Voluntary separation incentive payments aren’t like voluntary early retirement authority offers. When an agency needs to reduce its staffing level across the board or in specific activities, VERAs are used to shake the tree and see who falls out. Hopefully, it will be enough to avoid…
Q. I’m 57 years old, started with the Postal Service in June 1987, bought back five years and nine months of military time. What would be the difference in benefits between retiring if a VERA is offered and retiring before a VERA is offered? Would I be penalized on my Thrift Savings Plan? Can I get the Social Security supplement? Would I be able to collect Social Security supplement either way? Reg Jones: There wouldn’t be any difference. Since you already have the right combination of age and years of service, you can retire whenever you want to. Voluntary Early…
Q. My agency (Interior/FWS) put out notice that it will be offering a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority to all employees beginning in January 2012 and ending in September 2013. My service computation date is Sept. 19, 1984. I have over 20 years in covered 6c (law enforcement) positions, and over 25 in federal service. I am 46 years old. Interior has told me they conferred with the Office of Personnel Management and I qualify based on the 25 years at any age for the VERA. However, they say I do not qualify for an enhanced annuity for law enforcement officers,…
Q. I am turning 50 in two months, with over 23 years of continuous federal service. I want to resign to pursue other career options. If I elect a reduced pension, e.g. high-3 x .23 x reduction percentage, will I have the option to continue my Federal Employees Health Benefits? How is the reduction percentage calculated? Is it reduced 5 percent for each year under age 60 or age 62? A. Unless your agency offers you an opportunity to retire early via the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority, you wouldn’t meet the age and service requirements to retire. If it did,…
Q. My retirement eligibility service computation date is June 6, 1985. I’m under FERS and am 48 years old. I’d like to take the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority this year if offered. If I retire at 48 under VERA and I postpone my FERS annuity until age 56 (my normal minimum retirement age), will the annuity amount be the same as it would have been if I actually retired at 56 rather than 48, or is it reduced? Is this amount changed if I take the FERS annuity at 56 rather than 48? If I postpone FERS annuity, will the…
Q. I am a FERS employees who retired Dec. 31, 2011, accepting a VERA/VSIP. I had planned to retire at age 62. I am 61 and will be turning 62 in August with 16 years of federal service. How and how much was I penalized for accepting the early-out? A. Your annuity would have been reduced by 5/12 of 1 percent for every month you were under age 62.
Q. My supervisor has informed me that he will deny my request for an early retirement if offered by my agency, even though I have informed him that I will retire anyway when I reach age 56 in September 2013. Is he allowed to do this? A. No, he isn’t. If you are in a position covered by a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority offer, you can accept it.
Q. I’m considering taking the next VERA offer in May. I’m a FERS employee with 17 years of service and am age 61. I also have 11 years of NAF service with no break in service. I never made any sort of selection of credit for my NAF retirement, so I’m assuming I made a FERS selection by default. My servicing agency tells me that I cannot take both my NAF retirement, which I paid into, and my FERS retirement should I decide to take the VERA. That just doesn’t sound right to me. Is my servicing agency correct? A.…