Q. I retired as a federal employee in 2007. I took an early-out and am receiving my pension. I was CSRS Offset. I am working full time at a local school district and am 58 years old. The way I understand what I’ve read so far is that when I turn 62, using the formula that has been in your other responses, Social Security will be paying about $550 of my annuity payment. I will have 28 years of Social Security payments when I reach 62. My Social Security benefit at that point, should I retire, will be 20 percent…
Browsing: windfall elimination provision
Q. I have been reading your responses regarding the windfall elimination provision and you continually say 30 years of “substantial” earnings under Social Security. What are considered “substantial earnings”? I am 60 years old, with 26 years of government service and more than 16 years in private industry. I have almost 30 years that I paid into Social Security between the two. However, the earlier years were at a much lesser salary that I now make. (My earnings were $10,000 a year in the earlier years.) Does that qualify for “substantial earnings” under Social Security? Or will I have to…
Q. My wife retired from a civil service job with 31 years of service and gets a retirement check each month. She continued to work elsewhere under Social Security and now has enough quarters to get a Social Security retirement. Will she continue to get her complete civil service check and one from Social Security? A. Assuming she was a CSRS employee, she’ll continue to receive her unreduced CSRS annuity; however, her Social Security benefit will be subject to the windfall elimination provision. The WEP reduces the Social Security benefit of anyone who receives an annuity from a retirement system,…
Q. I retired from the military in 1980 after 20 years and receive my Navy retirement. I started working as a CSRS employee with a service computation date of November 1979. I have been receiving my full Social Security since attaining full retirement age. I plan on retiring from CSRS in January 2014 with 35 years of CSRS service with no military buyback. Will I have any offset since my Social Security was based on my military and private employment and not CSRS? A. Because you will be receiving an annuity from a retirement system where you didn’t pay Social…
Q. I am a 56-year-old CSRS employee with 29 years of federal service. I am a noncompetitive federal employee as a full-time National Guard technician. I pay into Social Security on the guard side and into CSRS on the technician side. When the windfall elimination provision is applied, how is the SS annuity calculated? A. Your Social Security benefit will be based on all your years of Social Security covered employment. However, because you’ll be receiving an annuity from CSRS — a retirement system where you didn’t pay Social Security taxes — you’ll be subject to the windfall elimination provision…
Q. I’m 59 years old and have 38 years government service under CSRS. I have 39 quarters Social Security paid in. Do I only have to work one more quarter to qualify for Social Security by the time I’m 62? Someone told me I had to work so many quarters in the last 10 years. A. You only have to have 40 credits under Social Security to qualify for a Social Security benefit at age 62. Just be aware that if you are still working when you apply for that benefit, it will be affected by the annual earnings limit,…
Q. I am a CSRS employee with 33 years of federal service and I am 54 years old. My agency (the Postal Service) is offering a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority at the end of January. I am a disabled vet with 80 percent rating. Should I take the VERA or apply for medical retirement? I have paid all required quarters for Social Security, and have a daughter still in school. Which method is more beneficial? I plan to apply for 100 percent Veterans Affairs compensation as service-connected injuries are more disabling. A. Based on your years of service, the only…
Q. I worked for an independent federal agency from 1977 to 1989 that had its own retirement system. I had a break in service for one year, then returned to work for the Transportation Department, where I was erroneously placed in FERS by HR. In 2006, following a FERCCA ruling that took more than 2½ years, I chose to be placed in the CSRS Offset program rather than FERS. I paid Social Security as a federal employee (plus through part-time jobs dating back to 1970) until I retired in 2010 with 32 years of service. I was told that I…
Q. I worked for the federal government from 1975 to 1983. I was under CSRS. I worked in private industry from 1984 to 2008. I returned to federal government in 2008 until present. I was placed in CSRS Offset upon my return to the federal government, and I am still under CSRS Offset. I read somewhere that if you have 30 years of substantial earnings where you paid into Social Security, the windfall elimination provision would not apply. My understanding is that since I have paid into Social Security from 1984 and will continue to pay into it until 2019,…
Q. I am a married ex-federal employee who transferred from CSRS to FERS in 1998 and retired early under FERS with 18 years’ CSRS and eight years’ FERS in 2005. My spouse worked for the federal government for 16 years under CSRS but did not retire and is not eligible for a pension because she took her retirement contributions out in 1987 and did not return. Both of us have enough qualified work subject to Social Security to be eligible for a Social Security benefit, but just barely. 1. Is either of our Social Security benefits, or are both, subject…