Creditable service

Q. I am retired with 20 years of military service and retired as a CWO-2 in 1988. In 1991, I started a new career with the U.S. Postal Service. Presently I have 23 years with the postal service. I plan on retiring in April 2016 with 24 years of service. Will I be entitled to collect both retirements and when I draw my SSI, will I pay a penalty? Also I am 70 percent disabled from the military.A. Assuming that you’ll be at least 60 years old when you retire, you will be able to collect your FERS annuity without any age penalty. Since you haven’t combined your military service with your civilian service, you’ll be able to collect your military retired pay without any reduction in it. Your Social Security benefit will be based on all your years of Social Security-covered employment. Your 70 percent disability rating would have no affect on your FERS annuity or Social Security benefit. Whether it would have an affect on your military benefit is something you’ll have to find out from your former branch of service.