Q. I have more than 17 years of federal service and contributed to both CSRS and FERS. My information:
Sylvia S. Garcia
Age: 56
Federal service:
CSRS — Fort Sam Houston, TX: 2/1981 – 9/1986 (GS-318-05)
CSRS — Kelly Air Force Base, TX: 9/1986 – 9/1996 (GS-318-04)
FERS — Department of Transportation/Federal Aviation Administration (FV-318-D)
I withdrew my retirement contributions when I left Kelly AFB but did not withdraw my contributions when I resigned from Fort Sam Houston (and know they weren’t included in my refund), nor when I left DOT/Federal Aviation Administration. Please let me know what my options are as I am medically disabled at the moment and possibly indefinitely due to my illness.
A. Assuming that you haven’t received a refund of all of your retirement contributions, you can apply for a deferred annuity at age 62. If you are unwilling to wait that long, you can apply for a refund of whatever contributions are left in the retirement fund. Doing so would cancel any future entitlement to an annuity.
