Q. I’m a Postal Service employee under FERS, eligible for the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority. If I take the early-out, I’ll have 26 years and nine months of service and I’ll be 55 years of age at the time of last day of service. I’ll be 56 in June. I understand that if I take the early-out, I don’t have to have 30 years of service to get a percentage of the special retirement supplement, based on 26 years of service (that would put me at about 65 percent of what I would get from Social Security at age 62,…
Browsing: earnings cap
Q. When the calculations are made for annuity payments, are actual earnings or base pay used in calculations? My base pay is higher than the actual pay in each of the high-3. A. I believe you misunderstand the meaning of the words “base pay.” Base pay is the amount of pay from which retirement contributions are taken, not the amount you actually receive, nor the figure that is shown on a pay chart that exceeds the amount payable because of a pay cap.
Q. I’m a FERS retiree under the special law enforcement provision. I understand that after a retiree reaches the minimum retirement age, the FERS supplement is subject to the earnings test. I will hit my MRA in October. Will the cap apply immediately for this year, or does it begin in the first full year after you hit the MRA? A. The earnings test will apply in the year you first become eligible for the special retirement supplement. To see how that is done, go to www.opm.gov/retire/pubs/handbook/C051 and scroll down to Section 51A3.1-1C.
Q: As a federal firefighter covered under the Federal Employees Retirement System, I have to retire at age 57. I have been told that that under FERS, we get a Social Security supplement and as such we are limited in what we can earn after retirement. Is this true? I know that when one retires and draws Social Security, one is limited to $14,160 per year in earnings from other sources. Is this the case when we are forced to retire at 57? A: Yes, it is. In 2010, if you were to earn more than $14,160 from wages or…