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: VSIP
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 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 agency was planning to conduct a reduction in force in November 2011. Prior to that, there was a mock RIF in which we pretty much determined where employees would bump/retreat to. Based on that information, I elected to apply for a Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment and was approved in September 2011, under optional retirement (30 years FERS with minimum retirement age). Retirement would be by March 31, 2012, for the VSIP. Two months later, in November, the RIF was canceled, and a second VSIP date established, where we could leave Aug. 31. Since the RIF was canceled, I…
Q. I was an employee under CSRS for 15 years and nine months. I took a Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment and withdrew my retirement pay. I am recently rehired and will go under the CSRS Offset. How can I determine what the repayment would be with interest? A. There’s only one way to find out how much you owe. Download a copy of Standard Form 2803, Application to Make Deposit or Redeposit, fill it out and send it to the Office of Personnel Management, Retirement Services and Management Group, P.O. Box 45, Boyers, PA 16017-0045. When they’ve told you how…
Q. I am a 53-year-old FERS employee who requested to buy back my military service time through payroll deductions. The intent was to retire at 62 from federal service, at which time the years of military service would have been completely bought back. Now, my agency is offering Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments. I am tempted to accept one and opt for a delayed retirement. I don’t believe the VSIP would affect my projected future retirement benefits (please verify that). However, must I continue to make monthly payments to the Office of Personnel Management to complete the buyback prior to age…
Q. I am a FERS employee working at an Air Force base with the Defense Department. I have about 31½ years service and am 62 years old. During the last year, my base has offered two VSIP/VERA opportunities to reduce the manning levels to what they were in 2010 and accommodate some reorganizing, and I hear they will be making a third offer in May. I applied for the last two and was denied for both. I was told by my management that our wing organization had vacant slots they could give up so a person could be offered a…
Q. I would like to know if taking a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority/Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment under a round of base closure and realignment changes any of the issues with the minimum age requirement for receiving the FERS supplement. I thought I would receive the supplement, although I had not reached age 56 when I retired June 30, 2010. Information posted on the Navy’s Human Resources website reads: “The annuity supplement is a benefit paid, until age 62, to certain FERS employees who retire before age 62 and are entitled to an immediate annuity. The supplement approximates the value of…
Q. I was just wondering if there is a list of people in civil service who are being offered a buyout but for some reason can’t take it. I have 40 years in service, and if they could qualify for my job, can we exchange their buyout for my job? I work for FISC out of Norfolk, Va., and I haven’t heard of any buyouts being offered through them yet. I was just wondering if someone needed another 6-10 years in service and was being offered a buyout because of downsizing or whatever, then maybe we could swap. If so,…
Q. I retired on a Voluntary Separation Incentive Program after 27½ years of service. I worked 19 years under CSRS Offset. I’m working in the private sector now and continue paying into Social Security. When I turn 62, even if I’m still working, will an adjustment be made to my annuity for the amount of my Social Security benefit at that point? And what can I expect if I continue to work to my full retirement age for Social Security, which is 66? By then, I’ll have 28 years that I’ve paid into Social Security. I don’t necessarily want to retire at 62. A.…