Q. I will be eligible to retire at age 60 with 20 years and five months in January 2012 as a FERS employee, because of Parkinson’s Disease that is slowly progressing and under my neurologist advice will prevent me from working any further. I would like to know how the Social Security Special Retirement Supplement (SRS) is calculated and if my military pension and purchasing a TSP annuity with a small partial withdrawal will have any effect on that supplement. Also, by doing so will it decrease the amount of Social Security when I reach age 62?
A. You can estimate the amount of your special retirement supplement by multiplying your most recent Social Security benefit amount provided by the Social Security Administration by the total years during which you were employed under FERS and divide the product by 40. Or you can use the handy software located at www.FEDbens.us. Neither your military pension nor your TSP activities will have any affect on your SRS. Your actual Social Security benefit, for which you’ll be eligible at age 62, will reflect your total years of coverage under Social Security, not just the years during which you were employed under FERS.
