By Reg Jones
Back to work
February 28th, 2012 | Re-employment
Q: I was employed by the federal government between August 1983 and September 1999. At the time I left civil service, I withdrew contributions of $50,000. I have been offered a position with the federal government again. I am now 64. If I accept the position, will I be eligible for a pension? How many years would I have to work? Am I eligible for redeposit of funds?
A: In order to get credit for your prior service, you would have to redeposit that money plus accumulated interest. If you did so, you’d be eligible for an immediate annuity because the requirements for getting that are age 62 with five years of service, both of which you’d meet. If you didn’t redeposit that money, you’d only get credit for the time you work after being re-employed. Therefore you could only retire after you have five years of service.
Tags: re-employment, RETIREMENT
Returning employee
February 20th, 2012 | Re-employment
Q: I worked for the government for three years a long time ago and returned recently. I will be eligible to retire at 62 in about three years. I plan to work until 67, if possible. When should I pay back the withdrawals I took from my CSRS retirement? Is it better to do it sooner or later, assuming that I have the funds available?
A: Making a deposit sooner than later is the better option because interest continues to accumulate on the amount owed.
Tags: re-employment, RETIREMENT
Social Security offset
December 21st, 2011 | POST-RETIREMENT
Q: I am a CSRS Offset employee. I plan to retire in the next couple of years. However, I was told that OPM contacts the Social Security Administration for my benefit information once I turn 62. OPM will then deduct from my retirement all, or a portion of, what I would receive from Social Security. It is more beneficial for me to wait until age 66 to apply for Social Security, but OPM will make the deduction when I turn 62. Is there a certain percentage of the Social Security payment that OPM will use in computing the deduction? Why can’t OPM wait until I apply for Social Security benefits?
A: As you correctly observed, if you are retired and at age 62 entitled to a Social Security benefit, OPM is required by law to offset your CSRS annuity by the amount of that benefit you earned while covered by CSRS Offset. It cannot wait until you decide to apply for a Social Security benefit.
Tags: CSRS offset, SOCIAL SECURITY
Retirement letdown
December 7th, 2011 | POST-RETIREMENT
Q: I retired Dec. 31, 2010. Before I left, a retirement counselor calculated my annuity at around $51,000 per year based on 36 years and 9 months service and 56 years of age. I left the government in 1991 and returned after 6 months. I withdrew money. The break in service was noted and I assumed the money I received was accounted for in the calculation of my annuity. After retiring, I received a notice from OPM that my annuity would be reduced if I didn’t pay back the money, plus interest. I contacted my former employer and they informed me that the withdrawal was not on the computer system they used to give me the estimate. I would not have retired if had known the correct amount of my annuity. Who is responsible for this error? What remedies do I have?
A: While there isn’t any recourse that would allow you to avoid the reduction in your annuity, you could file an appeal with the Merit Systems Protection Board in the hope that they would find in your favor and order your agency to restore you to your former position.
Tags: annuity
LWOP buyback
December 6th, 2011 | POST-RETIREMENT
Q: I had some active-duty time for which I paid the deposit so it would count toward retirement after age 62. I had one period of 5 1/2 months that my local civilian personnel office said I didn’t have to make a deposit since I was on LWOP-US for this period. Even the CSRS Retirement Facts 3 dated October 1997 said the same thing. I received a letter from OPM shortly after I retired stating that since I didn’t make a deposit required under Public Law 97-253 for this time, my annuity will be recomputed to eliminate credit for this at age 62. I tried to pay for it when I paid for all my other active-duty time but I am now retired and have no choice but to take the unjustified reduction at age 62. Do I have any course of action?
A: Unfortunately, no.
Tags: military buyback
Passing away before retirement
November 3rd, 2011 | Survivor benefits
Q: My spouse is 56 and has 17 years in FERS. If she were to die prior to retiring, would I get a monthly annuity benefit or only the lump-sum benefit?
A: Because your spouse has 10 or more years of service, if she were to die while still an employee, you would receive both a lump-sum death benefit and a survivor annuity equal to 50 percent of her basic annuity. That annuity would be based on her high-3 and years of service on the day she died.
Tags: annuity, FERS, Survivor benefits
Retired couple
November 2nd, 2011 | POST-RETIREMENT
Q: My spouse and I are retired federal employees with an annuity.
I retired in 2001 with 12 years of service. We have had continual coverage with FEHB for the past 40 years. We have the Self & Family plan with my spouse as the member and I am the dependent. I would like to know if I am eligible for coverage under my own self only policy? If eligible, when can I request the change, any time or just during open season?
A: You can only change to a self only policy if your spouse changes his/her coverage to self only at the same time. If that’s what you both want, you can do that during any open season.
Going to work for state government
November 1st, 2011 | Re-employment
Q: I am a 55-year old FERS employee eligible to retire as a special category FF/LEO with 27 years federal service. I have been thinking about finding a position teaching or working on the staff of a nearby university that is covered by the state retirement system (Ohio). It is my intention to work until age 65, so when I retire from the university I will be vested in their retirement system, too. The university offers a choice between a defined benefit and defined contribution plan. I have heard about things like the WEP and the Pension Offset Rule but am not certain whether either would apply in my situation. Are there negative impacts to either the federal annuity, annuity supplement or Social Security that would result from post-retirement employment with a state/local government agency?
A: Working for a nonfederal employer would have no effect on your FERS annuity or your eventual Social Security benefit. However, if your earnings from that employment exceed the Social Security annual limit, your special retirement supplement will be reduced or suspended. The limit for 2011 is $14,160. The windfall elimination provision only applies to someone who is receiving an annuity from a retirement system where he didn’t pay Social Security taxes. And the government pension offset only applies to the Social Security spousal benefit of someone who is receiving such an annuity.
Tags: re-employment, SOCIAL SECURITY, WEP
Offset trigger
October 31st, 2011 | POST-RETIREMENT
Q: I retired from civil service at 55. I have been working in the private sector. I just turned 62 and plan on continuing to work and not collect Social Security benefits until I retire altogether. When can I expect a reduction in my CSRS Offset annuity?
A: Since you have just turned 62, the offset should occur in your next annuity payment. The offset will be made regardless of whether apply for a Social Security benefit and will be equal to the amount of benefit you earned while employed under CSRS Offset.
Tags: CSRS offset, re-employment
Re-employment after buyout
October 31st, 2011 | Re-employment
Q: I am 62 and I was a USDA-ARS employee who took a buyout in July and retired. I’m a qualified Wildland Firefighter with a Red Card. If I were to join a crew, paid for by a state entity with pay coming from FEMA, headed to fight fire or work on flooding and hurricane duty for about two weeks, is that against OPM guidelines? I’m finding it hard to get an answer. They are asking for letters explaining payment of work. Hard to explain, since there are no contracts that I know of, only requests for crews who go on an availability list.
A: Here’s what OPM has to say: “An employee who receives a VSIP and later accepts employment for compensation with the Government of the United States within 5 years of the date of the separation on which the VSIP is based, including work under a personal services contract or other direct contract, must repay the entire amount of the VSIP to the agency that paid it – before the individual’s first day of reemployment.” As such, it wouldn’t appear that your short-term employment by a state agency would fall into any of those categories, regardless of where the state money came from.
Tags: buyout, OPM, re-employment