The legislative branch of government may seem like it spends most of its time in tugs of war over major legislation. Well, it does. However, it also finds time to introduce – and sometimes pass – bills that could affect your future, that could either give or take away benefits. In this column I want to highlight a few bills that may be important to you. Access to Insurance for All Americans Act Introduced by Rep. Darrel Issa, R-Calif., H.R, 138 would repeal the Affordable Care Act. In its place a national health program would be established. Administered by…
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Q. I retired under CSRS in 1997. I had a reduced annuity until my wife died in 2009. I restored my annuity to full status. I remarried in October 2014 and applied for reduced annuity for my second wife. I now find that I have my annuity reduced further by some actuarial formula, which says I owe some $59,000 to the government as if I were still under a reduced annuity program after the death of my first wife. That’s under the provisions of Title 11, USC, Section 11002, of Public Law 103-66, which I am unable to find and…
Q. I served in the military on active duty for 14 years. I am in the process of buying back my military service as a credit toward retirement with the federal agency with which I am currently employed. Once my military service is paid, do I still have the option to retire after 20 years of service as I would with the military? How much of my pension could I expect?
Q. I will retire Sept. 30, and I saw an article that you could sell your retirement if you work for the federal side, but what is the advantage of this? I’m wondering if receiving two paychecks is better than one. When you retire from federal work, would your retirement check increase because of selling your military time?
Q. I will be moving from a lower Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) area to a higher COLA area (a difference of 6 percent). The first two years of my high-3 is at the lower COLA and the last year will be at the higher COLA rate. I am 62, in FERS and have a year of unused sick leave. How will the sick leave affect my high-3 year average for retirement purposes? Will it be used to increase my high-3 year average or not?
Q. I voluntarily retired in February 2014 and would like to come back to the federal government. Can I? If so, what do I have to do?
Q. I am 63 years old with 20 years of federal service. I am in FERS and I just got promoted to GS 13. How long to I have to work to get the GS 13 included as part of my high-3?
Q. I know that when you receive your check for unused annual leave (assuming you retire in December), it will generally include any scheduled raise slated for the next year. My understanding is that it is caused by the annual leave check covering the rate of pay for the period of time cashed in. So if the amount of annual leave exceeds the amount of leave you are permitted to carry over without losing that leave, for example in the year before your retirement, you take no annual leave and therefore have accumulated 448 hours of leave as of the date of…
Q. I am a USFS firefighter with 17 years of 6c covered firefighter/law enforcement service. If I take a temporary promotion/detail in a non-6c covered position during my last 3 years of service (my high 3), will this higher salary be included in my high-3 calculations?
Q. I plan to retire on Feb. 28. I will have worked seven days out of the pay period. I know I will only get paid for seven days of work, but will I accrue any sick/annual leave for working those days? A. No, you won’t.