Q. My wife retired from a civil service job with 31 years of service and gets a retirement check each month. She continued to work elsewhere under Social Security and now has enough quarters to get a Social Security retirement. Will she continue to get her complete civil service check and one from Social Security? A. Assuming she was a CSRS employee, she’ll continue to receive her unreduced CSRS annuity; however, her Social Security benefit will be subject to the windfall elimination provision. The WEP reduces the Social Security benefit of anyone who receives an annuity from a retirement system,…
Browsing: Civil Service Retirement System
Q. I am a retired Air Force veteran with 26 years of active-duty service. I receive a pension/retirement each month. I am now employed with the state of California, but it is an uncertain situation, given the economic difficulties the state is facing. I was looking at applying for a federal job, but I’ve been told that if I do, I would be reinstated as a federal employee and would no longer receive my pension. Is this true? I was hoping I could keep my pension and work in a federal job, but I believe this is called double-dipping. A.…
Q. I am a retired CSRS postal worker who does not have enough quarters to be eligible for Social Security when I’m 62. Can I collect benefits from my former or current wife who both have worked and paid into Social Security for years? I was married to my former spouse for more than 10 years and her benefits would be a better financial option for me. A. Because you are receiving an annuity from a retirement system where you didn’t pay Social Security taxes, any spousal Social Security benefit to which you might be entitled would likely be eliminated…
Q. I am eligible for both CSRS Disability Retirement and Workers’ Compensation; therefore, I have the right to choose benefits from either. I am receiving workers’ compensation. I am 64. Although medical evidence and evaluations, including second opinion examinations, show that I will never be able to work in any capacity (this has been the case for many years), OWCP does not consider me to be totally disabled according to its definition. If I return to CSRS disability annuity, will my retirement still be considered “disability retirement”? I know that I no longer have to provide annual medical reports; but I…
Q. Next year I will be eligible for CSRS retirement (30 years of service at 60). Would my election of partial or full survivor annuity for my wife affect her earned Social Security benefits after I die? A. No, it wouldn’t.
Q. I am covered by CSRS and I’ve worked under the legislative branch for 16 years and the executive branch for 12 years. How will my retirement annuity be affected by working under the different branches? I am being offered an early out. I see mentioned the enhanced formula will be used for the legislative branch service but do not know what that is. A. Your service as an employee of the legislative branch will be calculated as follows: 2.5 percent x your high-3 x your years and full months of legislative branch service. Your executive branch service will be…
Q. I am eligible for federal employment reinstatement with military preference. I was a GS-12 Step 3 with six years of seniority. I left federal employment in 1986. If I am reinstated as a GS-12, will I re-enter at Step 3 or Step 1? Will I retain my six years of seniority plus four years for my military service? A. The fact that you are reinstatement eligible doesn’t mean that you have automatic entitlement to a particular grade or step. You’ll have to find a position for which you are qualified and apply for it. Depending on your qualifications, you…
Q: I am an employee under the Civil Service Retirement System Offset program, and I plan on retiring at age 64. I know my annuity will be reduced for the period of time I was an offset employee. I have dealt with the local Social Security Administration office and I am concerned; they had no idea what the offset is. Does the Office of Personnel Management deal with SSA experts for the offset? A: OPM and the Social Security Administration have a file-matching system that allows OPM to accurately reduce a CSRS Offset annuity by the amount of Social Security…
Q: I will be 59 years and 8 months old with 37 years, 7 months of federal service on my target retirement date of Dec. 31. I only earned 33 quarters of Social Security; to earn more credit on Social Security, can paid annual leave be considered as Social Security income for the year 2012, because the paid annual leave is not included as Civil Service Retirement System income for the year 2011? If so, what is the procedure to report it as Social Security income? And will this only be applied at the end of the year of retirement,…
Q: I read that the best day to retire under the Civil Service Retirement System at the end of leave year 2013 is Dec. 28, which confuses me because we’re always told to retire the end of the month or within the first three days of the month. I know the Dec. 28 is the end of a pay period, but wouldn’t it work out just as well if I retired on Jan. 2 or 3 since I’d get paid for the holiday of Jan. 1? A: You can retire on any day that suits you. However, keep these facts…