By Reg Jones
Early retirement denial
May 25th, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. My supervisor has informed me that he will deny my request for an early retirement if offered by my agency, even though I have informed him that I will retire anyway when I reach age 56 in September 2013. Is he allowed to do this?
A. No, he isn’t. If you are in a position covered by a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority offer, you can accept it.
Tags: VERA
Change in positions
May 25th, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. I am a Customs and Border Protection officer, series 1895, with an enhanced (6c) FERS pension and am moving into another position with the same agency as an investigative program specialist, series 1801. I was grandfathered in with CBP prior to the enhanced coverage changes a couple of years ago resulting in age requirements concerning coming on the job and retirement. I have been with Customs and CBP for almost almost nine years, joining the agency in my 40s. Will this change in positions result in my losing the enhanced coverage and law enforcement officer status? If so, how will the change affect me? Is there a maximum retirement age with the 1801 position?
A. 1801 is a catchall series. Whether a particular 1801 position would be covered by the enhanced retirement provision (and, therefore, have a mandatory retirement age) would depend on what’s written in the position description. You’ll have to check that out before you transfer.
Tags: FERS, law enforcement, mandatory retirement age, pension
Deferred annuity
May 25th, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. I am a 44-year-old FERS employee with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. I am a GL employee with a 20-year retirement. I just went over 16 years of service and I have already bought back my military time of 7½ years. I realize the military time would be added to the “back end” of the retirement.
I am considering leaving my federal job before the minimum retirement age of 50 to pursue other career opportunities in the private sector. At what age would I be eligible to receive my FERS retirement?
A. Because your combined service adds up to at least 20 years, you would be eligible for a deferred annuity at age 60.
Tags: Deferred annuity, eligible, FERS, military buyback, minimum retirement age, RETIREMENT
CSRS recalculation
May 25th, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. After 30 years of federal service, I retired in 2002. I was re-employed by the Department of Health and Human Services in April 2010, full-time permanent under the same CSRS plan from which I originally retired. At that time, my salary was offset by the amount of my annuity. How long will I need to work without a break in federal service to qualify for a recalculation of my original CSRS annuity? I contribute to CSRS retirement, and I participate in the Thrift Savings Program. I expect to work for six additional years, when I will have reached my 71st birthday.
A. If you work full time for a least one year, you will be entitled to a supplemental annuity based solely on that period of service. If you work for at least five years, your annuity will be recalculated as though you were retiring for the first time. The same formula that was used to calculate your original annuity will be used to calculate your re-determined annuity.
Tags: annuity recalculation, CSRS, Offset, RETIREMENT, salary, TSP
Medicare vs. Blue Cross
May 25th, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. I am a 71-year-old single female, and I chose Blue Cross/Blue Shield as my primary and Medicare Part A as my secondary when I turned 65. I retired from federal service in January 2005, but since then, my Blue Cross premium has risen to $185 a month.
My research tells me that even though I have to pay a 10 percent penalty per year (seven years) on the monthly premium, it is still less expensive monthly to change to Medicare as my primary and my federal medical insurance as secondary.
What is the difference in coverage as I have it presently with Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and what it would be if I made Medicare my primary? I haven’t found any sources that can compare the two.
A. You’ll have to compare the benefits in the two systems. I can’t do that for you. One thing that may influence your decision is this: If you drop your Federal Employees Health Benefits coverage, you won’t be able to re-enroll if, in the future, you’re unhappy with your Medicare coverage.
Tags: Blue Cross/Blue Shield, FEHB, Medicare, RETIREMENT
LWOP before voluntary retirement
May 25th, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. I am under FERS and have 30 years of service as of February. I will not be eligible for voluntary retirement until July 2013, when I will be 56. After completing 30 years of service and prior to my 56th birthday, I may be required to take extended leave, including leave without pay, to care for my elderly mother, who is in poor health. How will leave without pay affect my retirement?
A. First things first. You’ll have to get you supervisor’s approval to take extended leave without pay. If your request is granted, taking up to six months of LWOP in a calendar year won’t have any effect on your annuity. That period of time will be treated as though you were still on the payroll, and you won’t have to make a deposit to get credit for that time. On the other hand, you won’t receive any credit for LWOP that exceeds six months in a calendar year, nor will you be able to make a deposit to get credit for that time.
Tags: credit, FERS, Leave without pay, payroll, RETIREMENT, voluntary
Military buyback
May 25th, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. I served four years on Air Force active duty. I was hired for a federal civilian position and have been working for four years. I’m not sure if I’m going to stick it out for another 20 or 30. During my civilian employment, I bought back my military time. However, now I’m considering joining the reserve.
Will my active-duty service time buyback affect my reserve retirement down the road? Will those four years of active-duty service count toward a reserve retirement?
A. Making a deposit to get credit civilian for your active-duty service won’t have any effect on your reserve retirement. You will still get full credit for that time when you retire from the reserve.
Tags: credit, deposit, military buyback, RETIREMENT
Retroactive survivor benefits
May 25th, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. My mother is 62 and just filed for her survivor benefit. My father passed away when she was 60. We did not know that she could have filed for survivor benefits at that time. Is there any way that we can obtain the money lost during those two years as it is from my father’s earnings?
A. She will receive all the survivor annuity payments that were due her from the first month in which she was eligible.
Tags: Survivor benefits
FERS supplement for rehired annuitant
May 25th, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. I will retire under FERS and will be rehired by an agency as a rehired annuitant. Will I still receive my full supplement?
A. If your earning from wages or self-employment exceed the annual Social Security earnings limit, your special retirement supplement will be reduced or eliminated. In 2012, the earnings limit is $14,640. If you exceed that limit, $1 in benefits will be deducted for every $2 in earnings.
Tags: earnings limit, FERS, rehired annuitant, self-employed, SOCIAL SECURITY, special retirement supplement
Workers’ compensation and creditable service
May 25th, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. Does time spent on workers’ compensation count as creditable service when a FERS disability is recalculated at age 62 when one never returns to work?
A. No, it isn’t.
Tags: annuity recalculation, creditable service, disability, FERS, Workers' compensation
Early-out?
May 23rd, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. I turned 54 in December. I will have 14 years of service by June. Our Postal Service facility is rumored to give an early-out by September. Will I qualify to take an early-out via the deferred MRA+10?
A. You wouldn’t qualify for an early-out because your minimum retirement age is 56. However, you could resign and apply for a deferred annuity when you reach age 62.
Tags: Deferred annuity, Early retirement, minimum retirement age, MRA+10, Postal Service
FERS annuity computation
May 23rd, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. I currently work at a congressional commission that is considered part of the legislative branch. I have been here about 10 years and am 42. If I voluntarily leave this job for another, what are the retirement implications under the following scenarios:
1. Work in the private sector until 62
2. Work for the executive branch until 62
3. Work in the private sector for several years, then return to the legislative branch until 62
4. Work for the executive branch for several years, then return to the legislative branch until 62
5. What if, under all of the above, I only worked until 55?
A. I’ll give you the facts about FERS annuity computations. You can have the fun of applying them to as many scenarios as you like. If you are a congressional staffer and have at least five but no more than 20 years of service in such a position, that service will be computed using this formula: 0.17 x your high-3 x your years and full months of service. Any years above 20, no matter where that FERS service occurred, will be computed using this formula: 0.01 x your high-3 x all years and full months of service other than those used in the congressional staff computation. If you retire at age 62 with at least 20 total years of service, the first multiplier will increase to 0.011 percent. When you retire, you’ll receive the special retirement supplement, which approximates the amount of Social Security benefit you earned while covered by FERS.
P.S. You can forget about retiring at age 55. Because you were born in 1969, your minimum retirement age is 59 and 10 months.
Tags: annuity computation, FERS, minimum retirement age, SOCIAL SECURITY, special retirement supplement
Retirement date
May 23rd, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. I work compressed schedules, 12-hour shifts. If I have already completed my 80-hour requirement by mid-pay period, can I out-process early and still make my retirement effective at the end of the pay period, which is Saturday at midnight for shift workers?
A. Your retirement date is the last day you are on the employment rolls. It’s the day you separate from the service. If you want, you can retire when you have completed your final 80 hours of duty or you can wait until the end of the pay period. Whether you can complete the process before the end of the pay period and have the effective date be at the end of the pay period is up to your agency.
Tags: pay period, retirement date
Discontinued service retiree
May 23rd, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. I retired (not by choice) with 31 years under CSRS as a discontinued service retiree from Aug. 2, 2011, through Dec. 17, 2011.
I was placed on priority placement program since I declined my transfer of work to Fort Lee, Va., and subsequently was rehired into the federal workforce Dec. 19, 2011, as a GS-09 (I was a GS-11 at retirement). Therefore, I am losing about $500 per month. I am beginning to think I would have been better off staying a DSR.
How does my CSRS annuity work now? I want to know how long it will be before I can fully retire if I decide to do so. I am age 48 with 31 years of service.
I assume I am starting over again or just have the four-month break in service with the annuity recalculated.
A. As a discontinued service retiree who was involuntarily separated from the government, when you were rehired, your annuity should have stopped. From that point forward, you would be treated no differently than any other employee. As a result, you wouldn’t be able to retire again until you met the age and service requirements. On the other hand, if you were hired into a position that allowed you to keep both your annuity and the salary of your new position, you would continue to receive your annuity; however, when you left, you would get no retirement credit for that period of employment. As such, you wouldn’t be entitled to a supplemental or re-determined annuity.
Tags: annuity recalculation, CSRS, Discontinued Service Retirement, rehire, salary
Re-enrolling in FEHB
May 23rd, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. If I were to resign from my current position at age 59 with 17 years of service and accept a position with a parish/county government, will I be able to re-enroll in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program when I apply for my retirement benefits at age 62?
A. No. Deferred retirees cannot re-enroll in FEHB.
Tags: benefits, Deferred retirement, FEHB, re-enrollment
Sick leave
May 23rd, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. I am 75 with 28 years of federal government service under FERS. I am retiring at the end of 2012.
1. How is sick leave accounted regarding retirement (I have 1,400 hours)? Is this converted into time or money?
2. When is the best time to begin the retirement process (inform human resources, supervisor, etc.)?
3. If I’ve carried 240 hours of annual leave into the new year and continue to earn eight hours per pay period during the entire year, will I be able to cash in the 240 hours plus whatever I earned during the year?
A. Sick leave has no cash value. Instead, it is added to actual service time and used in the computation of an annuity. However, because you are a FERS employee, you will only get credit for half of it if you retire before Jan. 1, 2014.
There is no set time for notifying your supervisor that you are going to retire. However, if you do that at least two months in advance, it will help him to begin reassigning work and do some replacement planning. Letting the folks in personnel know that will allow you and them time to complete the paperwork and assure that there won’t be any last-minute hitches.
Finally, if you retire before the end of the leave year, you’ll receive a lump-sum payment for the annual leave you carried over from the previous year and any additional leave you earned before you retire.
Tags: annual leave, annuity, carryover, FERS, RETIREMENT, sick leave
Air traffic controller and creditable service
May 23rd, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. I am an air traffic controller under FERS who will retire with 25 years of service at age 49. I also have five years of military service that I’ve bought back, bringing my total to 30 years. I’m unclear on the manner in which my military service will be calculated in my retirement annuity. One possibility would be to declare military service time as part of the 30-year requirement to convert all the years values to 1.7 percent, instead of 1.7 percent for the first 20, then 1 percent after that. The legal language has historically read “30 years of creditable service,” and service time has been allowed. However, Section 226 of PL 108-176, Aviation Reauthorization Act, now reads as “30 years of service.” That would lead me to believe that military time will only count after the 30-year requirement has been satisfied. The wording seems ambiguous and I cannot find any clear guidance towards solving this issue. Do I need 30 years of Federal Aviation Administration service, then add my five military years, or can I go at 25 years and add the military time to complete the requirement?
A. I can find nothing in the law that would alter the standard way of calculating an annuity for an air traffic controller covered by FERS: 0.017 x high-3 x 20 years of covered service + 0.01 x high-3 x all remaining years and full months of service (whether covered, noncovered or acquired through deposit for active-duty service). As far as I know, nothing has changed the parallel annuity computation provisions for law enforcement officers, firefighter and air traffic controllers.
Tags: air traffic controller, annuity calculation, creditable, FERS, military service, RETIREMENT
Spousal benefits twice
May 23rd, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. Can my wife and I use spousal benefits twice? I am a much higher earner and 3½ years older than my wife. My wife starts collecting benefits on her earnings at age 62. I simultaneously start collecting spouse benefits at age 65½. I start collecting benefits on my earnings at age 70 and my wife switches to spouse benefits at that time. Does this work? Will the earlier benefits based on wife’s earnings reduce the benefits based on my earnings at age 70?
A. You’ll need to ask the Social Security Administration. Call them at 1-800-772-1213 and talk to one of their benefits specialists.
Tags: earnings, SOCIAL SECURITY, spousal benefits
Retirement at 56
May 23rd, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. At the age of 56 (born 1958), I will have 27 years of service, but the agency is moving to another location and I would like to retire at that time. Would I be eligible to receive FERS with 27 years at a reduced rate? If eligible, would I also receive the supplemental until Social Security starts at 62?
A. If you receive an official notice of separation and aren’t offered an equivalent position within your commuting area, you’d be eligible for early retirement. As such, you’d receive an immediate annuity based on the standard formula (0.01 x high-3 x years and full months of service) and, since you’ve already reached your minimum retirement age, the special retirement supplement.
Tags: annuity reduction, Early retirement, Eligibility, FERS, minimum retirement age, relocation, SOCIAL SECURITY, special retirement supplement
Unemployment and Social Security earnings limit
May 23rd, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. Does income from state unemployment compensation count toward the Social Security earnings limit?
A. No, it doesn’t.
Tags: earnings limit, SOCIAL SECURITY, unemployment benefits