Q. I am a Veterans Affairs Department employee. I am almost 61. I plan to retire when I am 62. I worked for six months at another VA location in 1996 and 1997, then quit. I worked outside VA for 1½ years) I took out my Thrift Savings Plan (bad move — it was only $150). And I paid taxes out of it.
I have tried without success over the past year to find out from human resources if I get credit for service at the other location. I will have 17 years of service. Six more months would be nice.
A. If you didn’t ask for a refund of your retirement contributions when you left, you’ll get credit for that time. If you got a refund, you’d have to redeposit that amount plus accrued interest to get credit for it. Note: Retirement contributions are the amount that is automatically deducted from your salary each pay period, not the amount you contribute to the TSP.
