Q. If a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority/Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay is offered, how can a Defense Department employee find this info if the agency does not announce the news? A. You can’t. You’ll learn about it when the offer is made.
Browsing: VERA
Q. I have 26 years of uninterrupted federal service, am 58 years old, in FERS, no military service. 1. Is Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay ever offered without Voluntary Early Retirement Authority, or VERA without VSIP? 2. Can I, at less than 60 years old, accept the VERA/VSIP and retire if one or the other is offered? 3. If I take VERA and am not 60 years old but have over 25 years of service, will I be eligible to receive the special retirement supplement immediately or have to wait until age 60? How about under VSIP only? 4. If I…
Q. I am 50 years old with 26 years of government service and I am in FERS. My agency is offering Voluntary Early Retirement Authority. If I were to accept, I would need to seek private-sector employment. Are there any post-VERA employment restrictions? A. No.
Q. I am eligible for and have quickly submitted the interest form for Voluntary Early Retirement Authority three times now. I am a GS-11 with 25 years and seven months of service at 56 years of age. I have been turned down twice and fear being turned down again. I have been told that it won’t save someone else’s job or variably because they can’t hire behind me. How are successful VERA applicants chosen? My job is not so specialized that someone couldn’t backfill. There are plenty of other people at my level with the same job series. I understand…
Q. I’m pretty certain if I retire with 30 years of service and at my minimum retirement age (which for me is almost 60 to have both), I will get the special retirement supplement until age 62. Is that correct? If I have reached my MRA (age 56) with 26 years of service and retire (I believe there is a 5 percent-per-year under-62 penalty; i.e., a lot). Under official early-out offers (Voluntary Early Retirement Authority; no penalty if at MRA, I believe), if at that time I were 57 (MRA is 56) and 27 years of service, might I get…
Q. I am getting ready to retire should we be offered early retirement. I am working for the Defense Department and planning on retiring under a disability. Would this affect the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority/Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay? I would, of course, wait to get accepted with that and then retire under disability. A. Because you have a disability such that you are or would be eligible for disability retirement, you aren’t eligible for a VSIP. On the other hand, if you were offered an opportunity to retire early and met the age and service requirements to do so, you…
Q. I took the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority, and my retirement date is Feb. 28. I’m due a lump-sum payment for my unused annual leave. I was told in a letter I would get this in my last salary check. I just got paid on the 15th. So what date is considered my last salary check since my first annuity check is March 1? A. Since salary checks are payments for the preceding two weeks of work, the one you just received would be for that final pay period. While lump-sum payments for unused annual leave are often included in…
Q. Under FERS, I can retire at 20 years and age 50+ only if early retirement is offered. But because I am now “mission critical,” I am not eligible for Voluntary Early Retirement Authority even if it is offered, which means I have to wait until I am 65 with 30 years before I can retire. Is this correct? A. No. Depending on your age and years of service, you can retire on an immediate unreduced annuity at age 60 with 20 or at your minimum retirement age with 30. MRAs range between 55 and 57 depending on your year…
Q. I took a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority in 2009 at age 52. If I turn 56 (my minimum retirement age) on April 19, will I receive the special retirement supplement starting on my May 1 check, or do I have to wait a full 30 days after I turn 56 to receive the supplement beginning with my June 1 check? A. If you reach your MRA on April 19, you wouldn’t receive the annuity supplement payment until the June 1 check (for May 1-30). That June 1 check would also include the annuity supplement due for the partial month…
Q. I have retired from the Postal Service in Jan. 31 on a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority with an incentive payment. I recently was awarded Social Security disability. I am 54 years old. Am I required to apply for federal disability? I understand the offset. Will I lose my voluntary separation incentive payments in May? A. You don’t have to apply for disability retirement. However, the fact that you are or would be eligible for disabiltiy retirement would bar you from receiving the VSIP.