Q. I am 52 with 28 years’ service in the Postal Service. I have been offered a VERA. If I don’t take the VERA, I can stay for two more years before I am part of a reduction in force. I have been told I will be eligible for discontinued service retirement after I receive my RIF notice. If events required me to defer retirement, would I be able to pick up health insurance when I am 56? Would I even be able to start the annuity at 56 or have to wait till I am 62? A. Whether you…
Browsing: VERA
Q. I am a 50-year-old postal worker, with 27 years’ service, covered under FERS. If there is a VERA, can I collect the supplemental Social Security benefit? As soon as I retire or at my MRA? A. When you reach your MRA.
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 civilian employee and have been continuously employed by the Department of Justice and then the Environmental Protection Agency since September 1994. I also had one year of federal service from 1986 to 1987, as a judicial law clerk for the Ninth Circuit. My pay stub says my service computation date is September 1993; however, my HR office says it is September 1994 and that the earlier year doesn’t count. First, which SCD is accurate? Or what further facts would you need to determine that? Second, when would I be eligible for a VERA, if my agency…
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. I have been under CSRS since 1983 with the USPS. I was sent home from the National Reassessment Program claiming no work available and have been in the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs since April 2010. I’ve been through vocational rehab training and still cannot find work. I am struggling financially, and I need to know which one will benefit me more: the VERA/$15,000 incentive or disability retirement. A. I can narrow the field for you. First, because you have a disability such that you are or would be eligible for disability retirement, you are barred from receiving a…
Q. I am an Air Force civilian under FERS deployed overseas as an Army civilian detail. I have 20 years of service as of July and am 56. Am I eligible for VERA? I have been offered a position by a non-DoD federal agency and I would like to accept it. A. While you meet the age and service requirements to retire under the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority, you can only do that if you are in an organization, geographic area or category of positions to which your agency is making such offers.
Q. I have been under Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs for the last 10 months. If voluntary early retirement is offered to the clerk craft, am I eligible to take it? I am 48 and have worked for the Post Office for 27 years. A. Yes. With 25 years of service, you can retire at any age.
Q. I am a FERS/frozen CSRS Postal Service clerk who will be 56 years old with 34 years service. I’m eligible for retirement in November. If the Postal Service offers a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority with monetary incentive after I submit my retirement forms but before I actually retire, will I be eligible for the VERA with monetary incentive? A. It’s possible but unlikely. The purpose of the Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment is to encourage employees to retire who would be less likely to do so without a cash incentive.
Q. I am 58 and will be retiring soon under a VERA with the Postal Service. I have back, foot and knee ailments that have been diagnosed and that give me constant pain. If I take a VERA with the special retirement supplement before age 62 but am unable to find or perform work after retirement, could I apply for Social Security Disability Insurance instead of regular Social Security? I have 27-plus years of service. A. You could apply for SSDI. However, whether you would be approved for it would be up to the Social Security Administration. You can learn…