Q. I was 56 years old with 33 years total government service and retired regular FERS then applied for Social Security Disability Insurance and was approved with back pay after the first 6 months of my retirement date. I only got $685 of my special retirement supplement because several of those years was active duty, which I repaid within the first 36 months of my career at the U.S. Postal Service. Now I am wondering what will happen to my annuity when I turn 62 and my SRS is eliminated.
A. At age 62, your special retirement supplement will end; however, you will then begin receiving a Social Security benefit based on all your Social Security covered employment, including your time on active duty. That benefit will be calculated as if you had worked to age 62 and increased by any FERS cost-of-living adjustments payable from the date on which you retired to age 62.
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I’m 53 years old and retired regular FERS last year. If I apply for SS Disability (and get approved), will my retirement pension be touched or amended at all? My income was always taxed and SS was withdrawn. Thanks!
Because you took regular retirement instead of disability retirement, you will be able to receive both your annuity and SSDI payments without a reduction.
My husband retired (early regular retirement at age 53) in March, 2019 and he is receiving the FERS annuity supplement. He just received approval for social security disability benefits, effective November, 2019 with payments beginning May, 2020. Will he lose his FERS annuity supplement since he is now receiving disability from social security?
Receiving Social Security disability benefits will have no affect on either his FERS annuity or the special retirement supplement.
Which one has a larger reduction, SSA’s WEP or OPM’s CSRS Offset annuity?
Both WEP and CSRS Offset reductions are based on variables. A reduction under the WEP depends on the number of years an employee was covered under Social Security. If he or she was covered by it for at least 30 years, the first multiplier in the Social Security formula would be the same as for anyone else eligible for a Social Security benefit – 90 percent. For every year of covered service less than 30, there’s a 5 percent reduction until it reaches 40 percent at 20 years of service or less.
The formula used for CSRS Offset employees requires that at age 62 (if retired or when retired if after age 62), the CSRS annuity benefit will be reduced by the amount of Social Security benefit earned while a CSRS Offset employee. If a CSRS Offset retiree is eligible for a Social Security benefit and applies for it at age 62, the combination of reduced CSRS benefit and new Social Security benefit will equal what the retiree would have received if he or she had been under CSRS alone. Note: Since many employees have earned Social Security credits before, during or after working under CSRS, the Social Security benefit they receive will be even greater than that earned as a CSRS Offset employee.