By Reg Jones
Deferred retirement
October 7th, 2011 | Deferred retirement
Q: I am 57 with five years of SES federal service under FERS. I am planning to leave federal employment soon and have two questions about deferred retirement. Will I have an opportunity to continue my federal health care insurance after separation from federal employment? I have about 12 weeks accrued sick time and six weeks accrued leave time (18 weeks total). What options do I have with these balances upon separation?
A: If you leave government, you’ll receive a lump-sum payment for your unused annual leave. Your unused sick leave, which has no cash value, will simply disappear. Under the temporary continuation of coverage provision, you’ll be able to continue your health benefits coverage for uo ti 18 months; however, you’ll have to pay 100 percent of the premiums plus 2 percent for administrative costs. Finally, you’ll be able to apply for a deferred annuity at age 62. That annuity will be calculated using the following formula: 0.01 x your high-3 on the day you left government x your years and full months of service.
FERS retirement
September 27th, 2011 | Deferred retirement
Q: I was hired three years ago as a FERS technician for a Georgia National Guard facility. I worked the first two years, then the Guard unit activated and I deployed under Title 10 as active duty for last year. I bought back my active time from prior to being hired as a technician. My total time of creditable service then is 15 years, only the last three after being hired as a FERS employee. Do I qualify for a deferred retirement? I understand it would be a reduced amount. A recap: I have 12 years active time (bought back time this year); two years as a technician; and one year as a deployed technician on active-duty orders.
A: No, you’d have to have a minimum of five years of civilian service under FERS to be eligible for a deferred retirement.
Deferred retirement
September 21st, 2011 | Deferred retirement
Q: I have 20 years and nine months of service as a military technician. I have switched to Active Guard Reserve status, and I have been on leave without pay for five years. If I decide to stay AGR can I draw 20.9 percent of my technician salary at 62, or another age? I don’t want to take a cash buyout now if I can defer it and receive 20.9 percent of my high-3 years sometime later. Could I possibly buy back the five years LWOP also, making it 25 years and nine months?
A: As a FERS employee with at least 20 years of actual service, you could apply for a deferred annuity at age 60. With 20 years and nine moths of service, your annuity would equal 20.75 percent of you high-3 on the day you went on LWOP. While you cannot make a deposit for the time you were in LWOP, a maximum of six months of LWOP in a calendar year is considered to be creditable service. Whether you could get credit for 30 months of LWOP (six months times five years) is something you’ll need to explore with your agency. It, in turn, may need to discuss the matter with OPM. If that time is creditable, your annuity would equal 24 percent of your high-3.
Deferred retirement
August 4th, 2011 | Deferred retirement RETIREMENT
Q. I am a federal employee with 10 years of consecutive service from 2001 to 2011. I would like to resign my position in August. What are my options for a deferred retirement? Please include every available scenario.
A. There’s only one scenario. If you resign from your position and leave your contributions in the retirement fund, you can apply for a deferred annuity at age 62.
Tags: Deferred retirement
Deferred retirement
June 17th, 2011 | Deferred retirement
Q: I have eight years of work under FERS and will be 62 in a few years. I have left the civil service and understand that age 62 is the minimum age I can receive a deferred annuity. Is there any increase in the annuity if I wait a year or more after age 62 before filing?
A: No. Your annuity will be based on your high-3 and years and full months of service on the day you left government.
Tags: annuity, Deferred annuity, FERS, high-3, minimum retirement age
Military buyback deadline?
June 9th, 2011 | Deferred retirement
Q: I am a reservist and had 8 1/2 years of civilian federal service (under FERS) when I was recalled to active duty right after 9/11. I have been a reservist on active duty for the past 10 years and am still on leave without pay status (LWOP) with the agency I was recalled from. How long would I have to return to the agency in order to make a deposit on my 10 years of active duty? I have about 80 hours of leave on the books. Is there a certain time period that I would have to return to the agency to make the deposit or could I come off of LWOP status, go into LV status, make the deposit and then separate? I’d plan to apply for a deferred retirement when I’m eligible. Also, is the deposit 3 percent of military base pay?
A: There isn’t any time limit on the amount of time that you’d have to remain on your agency’s roll if you returned to your civilian position. However, in practical terms, it would have to be long enough to complete the process of making a deposit to the civilian retirement system. First, you’d have to apply to your branch of service to find the amount of basic pay you earned while on active duty. Then you’d need to take that information to your payroll office and arrange to make the deposit. If all your active duty service was performed after December 31, 2000, you’d only need to deposit 3 percent of your basic military pay. If you did that within two years of the day you re-entered your civilian position, no interest would be charged. After you completed the process and resigned from the government, you’d be eligible for a deferred annuity at age 62; however, if you waited to resign until you had a total of 20 years of combined service, you could apply for a deferred annuity at age 60.
Tags: active duty, civilian retirement system, Deferred annuity, deposit, FERS, military service, reservist
Deferred annuity until 2014 and sick leave
May 11th, 2011 | Deferred retirement
Q: When I’m 61.5 years old with 13.5 years of service under FERS, I’d like to resign and defer my annuity until I’m 62, (January 2014). Will that avoid the 5 percent penalty? What happens to my sick leave based on the new system? Would I lose it because I resigned at age 61.5, or get credit toward retirement?
A: Because you would be 62 and have at least five years of service when you applied for a deferred retirement, you would avoid the age penalty. On the other hand, you would get no credit for your unused sick leave. Further, if you are currently enrolled in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program, you wouldn’t be able to re-enroll when your annuity begins.
Tags: FERS, sick leave
Clearing up MRA+10 confusion
April 15th, 2011 | Deferred retirement RETIREMENT
Q: I recently read an article on the minimum retirement age in which the author states, “Here are some reasons that the MRA+10 option is not more popular than it is (other than the fact you’ll not be receiving an annuity for two years).” I’ve been considering the MRA+10 option for quite some time now, and this is the first that I have heard of not receiving and annuity for two years. In all of the literature I’ve read on MRA+10, I cannot find any mention of it. Do MRA+10 retirees have to wait two years to receive their annuity?
A: The statement you quoted makes no sense. If you retire under the MRA+10 provision, you would be entitled to an immediate annuity. However, it would be reduced by 5 percent for every year you were under age 62 unless you had at least 20 years of service and retired at age 60 or later. To reduce or eliminate the age penalty, you could retire and defer the receipt of that annuity to a later date.
Tags: annuity, annuity reduction, Deferred annuity, minimum retirement age, MRA, MRA+10, MRA-plus 10
Deferred retirement
March 7th, 2011 | Deferred retirement
Q: I am 52 and a FERS employee with 30 years of service. I’m thinking about deferring my retirement until I reach the MRA of 56. My questions are: When you defer you lose: the SSI at 56? You need to be in the service for five years to get the health care? What if I come back to the government a year before I reach my MRA of 56, do I then get the SSI when I retire at 56? I know I would lose the health care without the continuous five years. I am more concerned with the SSI.
A: If you left government with at least 30 years of service, you would be eligible for a deferred annuity when you reach your minimum retirement age. As a deferred retiree, you wouldn’t be entitled to the special retirement supplement nor would you be able to re-enroll in either the Federal Employees Health Benefits or Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance programs.
Tags: retire, SOCIAL SECURITY
Time needed to draw retirement
October 26th, 2010 | Creditable service: CSRS Creditable service: FERS Deferred retirement RETIREMENT
Q: I am 70 years old. I was in the military for three years, from 1981 to 1984, then worked 2.5 years for the Army as a civilian. In 2009, I worked for a VA hospital for 16 months. While at the VA hospital, I bought in my military time. Do I have enough time to draw any retirement? Or, how much additional time would I need in the federal system?
A: If you had at least 20 years of service, you would have been eligible for a deferred retirement at age 60; if at least five years of service and fewer than 20, age 62. To apply for a deferred annuity, go to http://www.opm.gov/forms and download a copy of OPM Form 1486A (CSRS) or RI 92-19 (FERS). After filling it out, mail it to OPM, Retirement Services and Management Group, P.O. Box 45, Boyers, PA 16017-0045.