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
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
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
Buyout options
October 11th, 2011 | Re-employment
Q: If offered a buyout, can an employee quit or resign from federal employment even though the employee is eligible for an immediate annuity? Can the buyout payment be extended into the next calendar year, or can the employee choose to retire early in a new calendar year and accept the buyout? How long after accepting a buyout can an employee who left federal employment, under conditions other then retirement, be rehired into federal service?
A: If you are offered a Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment, the fact that you are eligible to retire would have no affect of your accepting it during the period in which it is offered and resigning. The payment would be made under the schedule set by your agency for all buyouts. It’s unlikely that it would vary its rules for one individual. As for returning to work, 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.” While there are exceptions to this rule, they are extremely rare.
Tags: buyout
Work after retirement
October 4th, 2011 | Re-employment
Q: When you retire from a federal agency and become part of the Office of Personnel Management, does the former agency have any input about your current retirement after you have left? In other words, can it make changes to your retirement annuity or benefits?
A: Only if your former agency forwards information to OPM that would affect your annuity or benefits; for example, a debt that had not been repaid to the agency which would need to be deducted from your annuity. However, since your agency would have certified your retirement application when it sent the file to OPM, and your Official Personnel Folder would have been sent to the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, there would have to be something significant that surfaced after your departure to cause your agency to take such an action.
Tags: annuity, re-employment
Government re-employment
September 23rd, 2011 | Re-employment
Q: I am in CSRS Offset, retiring in November at age 58 with 30 years at the time of retirement. If I choose to re-employ, how will my annuity be affected by my new Social Security earnings?
A: Since you won’t be eligible for a Social Security benefit until you reach age 62, you won’t be affected by the Social Security earnings limit. You can earn as much as you want until then without it affecting your CSRS annuity. However, if you are re-employed by the federal government, as a rule the salary of your new position would be offset by the amount of your annuity.
Tags: CSRS offset, SOCIAL SECURITY
Credit for previous work
September 20th, 2011 | Re-employment
Q: I worked for IHS for five years under FERS. I left federal employment for four years and rolled by FERS pension into my new employer pension plan. I used my TSP funds to purchase those years of service. I have recently started back to work at IHS in the same position I left. Can I re-purchse those five years of federal service that I had rolled into the last employer pension? I took that pension and rolled it back into the TSP account already. So I no longer have retirement benefits with the previous employer.
A: Yes, you can redeposit the retirement contributions that were refunded to you, plus accrued interest, and get credit for that time in determining your years of service for retirement purposes and in your annuity computation when you retire.
Retirement and rehiring
September 20th, 2011 | Re-employment
Q: I plan to retire in 2011 under CSRS. There is a new part-time job in my postal facility which is 12 to 16 hours. Can I apply for this job after I retire? This is a permanent part-time position with benefits. Will this affect my CSRS retirement? Will I be covered under FERS?
A: Your salary would be offset by the amount of your annuity. Therefore, in all likelihood, your annuity would be greater than the salary of a part-time position, which would mean that your salary would be zero. If you were rehired, you’d be a CSRS Offset employee (CSRS and Social Security) with the option to transfer to FERS.
Tags: CSRS, Postal Service, re-employment
Paying back
July 27th, 2011 | Re-employment
Q: I am a formal Federal employee and was under the CSRS program, I had 27 years service and cashed out my funds in my CSRS account and I did not retire. I was a re-instatement status. I am now re-employed with the federal government again under the CSRS offset plan. Can I pay back the funds I cashed out?
A: Assuming that you took a refund of your retirement contributions after February 28, 1991, you can redeposit that amount plus accrued interest and get full credit for that time in you annuity computation. Even if you didn’t you’d still get credit for that time in determining your total years of creditable service. If the refund occurred before that date and you didn’t make a redeposit, your annuity would be actuarially reduced based on the amount you owe and your age at retirement.
Tags: CSRS offset