By Reg Jones
Part-time service and maximum government pension contribution
May 1st, 2013 | Creditable service: CSRS CSRS annuity computation High-3 LIFE INSURANCE part-time SURVIVOR BENEFITS
Q. My entrance on-duty date is May 1971, and I was reading that employees stop getting the government contribution to their retirement at 41 years one month. Would this apply for part-time employees? If not (being optimistic), would they factor in the part-time years of service and add on the years to equate to this timeline? For example, for someone who worked 10 years at 20 hours a week, deduct five years and continue contribution till the total 41 years one month are completed. Also, is there a ratio of how many retirees elect to take out an insurance policy on their spouse versus opting to pay for the survivor benefit? I find many elect to do the insurance option due to cost savings.
Tags: 80 percent limit, annuity, CSRS, insurance, part-time employment, Survivor benefits
Law enforcement service and retirement
May 1st, 2013 | FERS annuity computation law enforcement Minimum retirement age RETIREMENT
Q. I am 37 and have seven years of FERS service in a non-law enforcement officer position. I am considering changing to a federal law enforcement 1811 position. This will mean I will have 20 years of law enforcement service at 57. Can I choose to retire at 50 (minimum law enforcement officer retirement age)? I will then have 20 years of FERS service, seven as non- law enforcement and 13 as law enforcement. Or will my minimum retirement age be 57, the age I will be when I have 20 years’ strictly law enforcement service? If the latter is the case, do my seven non- law enforcement service years count for anything toward retirement?
Tags: FERS, law enforcement officer, law enforcement retirement, non-law enforcement
Retiring early on sick leave
April 30th, 2013 | Early retirement Postal Service Sick leave
Q. I work for USPS under FERS. On Feb. 4, 2015, I will be 57 and have 30 years of service. I will also have approximately six months of sick leave. Can I use my sick leave as days worked and retire six months earlier?
Tags: FERS, Postal Service, RETIREMENT, sick leave
Annuity computation
April 30th, 2013 | High-3 law enforcement
Q. I am a legacy U.S. Customs officer. When we switched over to law enforcement officer status, we were told we would be grandfathered in and therefore our retirement computation would go like this: high-3 x 10 years x 1 percent plus high-3 x 6 years x 1.7 percent. Is that true? Someone said I would have to work 20 years in a law enforcement position to get the enhanced 1.7 percent computation. I thought that was for those hired under the 1.7 percent enhanced retirement.
Tags: annuity, high-3, law enforcement
Temporary promotion and high-3
April 30th, 2013 | Creditable service: FERS FERS annuity computation High-3 PAY term employee
Q. I’m a 46-year-old FERS employee. I’m accepting a temporary reassignment to an “acting” role at a higher grade (15). Will this count toward my high-3?
Tags: FERS, high-3, pay periods
Ramifications of switch from covered to noncovered LEO
April 29th, 2013 | CSRS annuity computation EMPLOYMENT FERS annuity computation law enforcement Re-employment RETIREMENT
Q. I am a federal law enforcement retiree after serving 22 years (GS-13) and reaching the maximum age limit. I may have an opportunity to work for a federal agency in a permanent position GS-12. What will the ramifications be on my retirement?
Regretting VSIP
April 29th, 2013 | DOWNSIZING Re-employment VSIP
Q. I accepted a Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay of $25,000. My first day of retirement was March 1. The early retirement was a very rushed process. I now regret retiring and would like to go back to my original position. Is there any way this can be done?
FERS-RAE
April 29th, 2013 | FERS annuity computation Postal Service RETIREMENT
Q. I have been appointed as a full-time postal carrier this year. However, I have been carrying mail as a rural carrier associate (sub) for over 13 years and haven’t had to or had a chance to contribute to retirement.
I recently found out that I am in the FERS-Revised Annuity Employee grouping at the higher 3.1 percent retirement contribution rate and not the FERS 0.8 percent grouping. It doesn’t seem fair that with all those years of service and commitment, that I would not be under the FERS group and under the FERS-RAE instead, even though I was hired by the Postal Service in 2000. I am penalized by this plan by not being excluded from the FERS-RAE grouping and charged a higher retirement rate without a higher rate of return when I retire. Is there anything to help solve this? I’ve gone years without any benefits and now find out that just because I missed the Dec. 31, 2012, cutoff date (and not by choice), that I will again be punished for nothing?
Sick leave credit and special retirement supplement
April 27th, 2013 | EMPLOYMENT FERS annuity computation LEAVE Minimum retirement age Postal Service RETIREMENT Sick leave Special retirement supplement
Q. I am a postal employee covered under FERS. I will have 33 years of service at my minimum retirement age in January 2016. I have a year’s worth of sick leave and hopefully this will continue to grow. In computing the special retirement supplement, will my service time include the year’s sick leave credit?
Windfall elimination provision
April 27th, 2013 | CSRS annuity computation Military service deposits Postal Service RETIREMENT SOCIAL SECURITY Windfall elimination provision
Q. I came to the Postal Service under CSRS in 1983. I paid back my four years of active duty into my retirement, which made my annuity date 1979. While continuing my postal career, I served 18 years in the reserve for a total of 22 military years. Those 18 years in the reserve put me over my 40 quarters for Social Security, but I did not pay them into my CSRS retirement. I’m now 60 with over 33 years CSRS and my military retirement just kicked in. I have a target of age 62 for retirement from CSRS.
My most recent Social Security benefits statement shows me receiving a fairly decent benefit. But I believe the windfall elimination provision will wipe out most if not all of it. How much of a reduction can I expect? Does the WEP version of the online calculator provide a fairly decent estimate?
Special retirement supplement eligibility
April 26th, 2013 | Creditable service: FERS Eligibility Military service deposits Minimum retirement age Postal Service RETIREMENT Special retirement supplement
Q. I am FERS began with the Postal Service in January 1985. I bought back 3½ years of Army service (honorable). I am past my minimum retirement age but confused about the 30 years of service. To qualify for the special retirement supplement, do my military years count?
Retirement benefits eligibility
April 26th, 2013 | Eligibility Postal Service RETIREMENT
Q. I worked as a letter carrier for eight years in the 1980s out of Monrovia, Calif. How do I determine if I am eligible for retirement benefits now that I am 55 years of age?
Special retirement supplement eligibility
April 25th, 2013 | Minimum retirement age Postal Service RETIREMENT Special category employee retirement
Q. I’m a Postal Service employee with 25 years at age 45. If an early-out is offered and I accept, do I get the special retirement supplement at my minimum retirement age, 57?
Re-employment and terminal leave
April 25th, 2013 | LEAVE Re-employment terminal leave
Q. I am retiring from the Air Force on Sept. 1. How many days out can I accept a civil service job and when can I start working? My terminal leave starts July 15.
Deferred annuity
April 25th, 2013 | Deferred retirement Postal Service Resignation RETIREMENT
Q. I resigned from the Postal Service in August 2005. My start date was Jan. 15, 1975. My pension was placed into a deferred annuity. I understand this annuity is maintained somewhere in Pennsylvania. Can you tell me the address of this place? Will I be able to draw my pension at the age of 60 or 62?
USPS survivor annuity and Social Security
April 24th, 2013 | Benefits FEHBP HEALTH INSURANCE part-time Postal Service SOCIAL SECURITY spouse benefits SURVIVOR BENEFITS
Q. My husband died at age 51 in 2000. He worked 28 years for USPS, plus four years in the military, for 32 years (he paid no Social Security taxes for the 28 years in USPS). I have received widow’s death benefit annuity payments since his death, in addition to purchasing the USPS medical insurance plan. I worked full time in the medical profession until his death and have worked part time since 2000. I would like to take my Social Security at age 62 (in 3 years). Am I still eligible to receive the USPS death benefit annuity (and insurance option) once I start collecting my Social Security?
Tags: FEHB, military service, Postal Service, SOCIAL SECURITY, survivor annuity
CSRS versus FERS retirement
April 24th, 2013 | annuity reduction Creditable service: CSRS Creditable service: FERS CSRS annuity computation EMPLOYMENT FERS annuity computation Minimum retirement age Re-employment RETIREMENT term employee
Q. I was allowed to go back into CSRS after an 18-year break in service even though I cashed out of it in 1991, with eight years of service. I can pay the redeposit back and have 12 years of service, if that is the wise thing, but I am waiting to see if I get a permanent job when this temporary job expires in 2014. Since I am only 54, I am beginning to wonder if I should have gone back into CSRS, because if I can’t find another federal job, and it is looking difficult with the budget questions, I still have to wait till age 62 to retire in CSRS, whereas if I were in FERS, I could retire at 55. Am I missing something?
Credit for part-time service deposit
April 24th, 2013 | annuity reduction Creditable service: FERS EMPLOYMENT FERS annuity computation part-time RETIREMENT
Q. From 1983 to 1985, I worked part time for the USDA. I was a student at the time, so when I graduated, I left for a job in the private sector, and my retirement deductions were paid back to me. I was later hired by the Department of the Army, where I have been ever since.
I recently made a service deposit for my USDA time. I served with USDA for 25 months, but the part-time hours add up to 15 months full-time equivalent. Will this add 15 months or 25 months to my FERS pension?
Tags: FERS, part-time federal service, pension, service deposit
Early postal retirement and supplemental income
April 24th, 2013 | Early retirement Postal Service RETIREMENT Special retirement supplement
Q. I took early retirement from the post office Feb. 28, 2009, with 26 years of service at age 48. Will I be eligible for supplemental income at age 56?
Military service, buyback and retirement money
April 24th, 2013 | law enforcement Military service deposits RETIREMENT SOCIAL SECURITY Special retirement supplement
Q. I served five years and six months active duty in the Air Force from January 1989 to July 1994. In 1996, I joined the Air National Guard. I am in the Air Guard and have 24 years of service with eight years’ active-duty time. In 1999, I became a full-time federal law enforcement officer. In seven years, I will be 50 and have 21 years’ covered federal law enforcement. If I buy back my military time to get additional federal retirement, will I still be able to receive my military retirement at 60? Or am I better off not buying back my active-duty time? Also, how does the supplemental Social Security payment factor in until I am eligible to receive full Social Security?
Tags: military buyback, military retirement, military service, special retirement supplement