Q. When I retire from the Postal Service (under FERS), can I continue paying for life insurance for my husband and me when we are over the age of 80 or 90? Or does the Office of Personnel Management not allow me to continue paying for life insurance when I reach a certain age?
Browsing: LIFE INSURANCE
Q. I am a letter carrier, age 52, started in 1985 and have 28 years of creditable service. If I understand what I’ve gleaned from the posts here and the Postal Service were to offer me a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority this year, 1. Would I begin my annuity immediately? 2. Would I have no reductions in calculations of my annuity? (average high-3 x 1 percent x 28) 3. Would I receive credit for half of my sick leave and all of my annual leave? (How are these applied?) 4. Would I receive the special retirement supplement beginning at age…
Q. While the human resources department was preparing my CSRS retirement notice, it discovered an error in my life insurance. Twenty years ago, I elected an amount equal to “five times my salary.” However, my agency has only been deducting premiums from my salary for “one times my salary.” They now want me to repay almost $30,000 in back premiums covering the past 20 years. Is there not a statute of limitations on premium recovery or other reasonable remedy? A. No, there isn’t.
Q. My friend, a co-worker, was diagnosed with cancer about a year ago. She is at the point where she may have to go into hospice. She is looking into applying for disability retirement, but is there another option if an individual may not live long enough to receive all of her retirement pension? Can she withdraw her total retirement and not be penalized for federal taxes? Will her creditors take her life insurance? A. If she were to resign from the government, she could request a refund of her retirement contributions. Because she already paid taxes on those contributions…
Q. The person who processes retirements at my agency told me that I could not retire with 32 years at 51 years. I am an offset employee under CSRS. I thought the Office of Personnel Management indicated that if you retire before 55 years of age, you are penalized 1/6 (no more than 2 percent for the first year and 2 percent for every after for being under 55. So, I resigned. It’s only been a few days. The agency person said I could only retire at this age if they were offering a buyout. That seems right because I was offered…
Q. I’m receiving FERS Retirement Annuity payments (with survivor/spouse payments). I paid the deposit to have my military years (four years) added to my FERS annuity calculations. I may start receiving VA disability payments due to a service-related injury. Can I collect my FERS annuity payments and my VA disability payments concurrently? Will my benefits (health insurance, survivor payments, etc.) continue after the VA disability payments are received? If I receive both FERS and VA disability, are there any changes in FERS annuity payments, federal health coverage, etc., that would affect my wife’s medical coverage, survivor payments or FERS life…
Q. I am 67 and have six years of FERS service. My term appointment will expire in two weeks. I want to collect unemployment for the rest of this year following my separation. Do I have to take a FERS retirement right away, or can I wait until unemployment runs out? I am willing to lose my health and life insurance coverage when I separate from this appointment. A. Possibly; however, you’ll have to check with your state employment office to get a definitive answer.
Q. I am a FERS employee with 27 years of service at 56 years old. Because my spouse is ill, I will have to retire early (sometime this year) to take care of him. Do I get penalized the 5 percent? Do I get to keep health and life insurance? And do I receive the Social Security supplement? A. Because you would be retiring under the MRA+10 provision, your annuity would be reduced by 5 percent for every year you were under age 62 and you wouldn’t be eligible for the special retirement supplement. On the other hand, you would be…
Q. I am a postal worker under CSRS. I am 47 years old with 28 years in the Postal Service. I was told it would be wise not to take the survivor annuity for my wife and instead take out a life insurance policy on myself. In order to keep her covered under health insurance in the event of my death, I was told I must elect some kind of reduced annuity for her. What is the minimum annuity I can elect for her that will keep her health-insured if I die before she does? Is it a good idea…
Q. I worked for the federal government from January 1981 to November 1990. I pulled my money from CSRS retirement and worked in the private sector until September 2010. Upon returning to federal service in September 2010, I paid Social Security and put money into my 401(k), which I have rolled into my Thrift Savings Plan. I am in CSRS Offset, I declined the FERS option and stayed with CSRS. I am trying to find out whether to pay back the CSRS money I pulled in 1990? I also recently got married, so how will my benefits be paid once I…