By Reg Jones
Paying for survivor annuity
January 25th, 2012 | FERS annuity computation RETIREMENT Survivor annuities
Q. I am not married, and will retire under the Federal Employees Retirement System. After I retire, if I then get married, can I then elect survivor annuity? If so, what is required to make the election?
A. Yes, you can, as long as you do that within two years after the date of your marriage. To pay for the survivor annuity, there will be two reductions in your annuity. The first will be the standard reduction to provide for the survivor benefit. The second will be an actuarial reduction to pay the survivor benefit deposit. That deposit equals the difference between the new annuity rate and the annuity paid to you for each month since you retired, plus 6 percent interest. The first reduction will be eliminated if the marriage ends in the death of your spouse or divorce; the second reduction is permanent.
Spouse’s COLA
December 14th, 2011 | Survivor annuities
Q: Will my spouse receive cost-of-living adjustments on her survivor annuity after my death?
A: Yes.
Tags: COLA, Survivor benefits
Disabled son
October 14th, 2011 | Survivor annuities
Q: My mentally disabled adult son receives minimal Social Security and SSI. I am a CSRS retiree. Upon my death, will he be entitled to both Social Security and the survivor benefit or will there be an offset?
A: He would get both, but he could only receive the CSRS survivor benefit if he was disabled before age 18, is unmarried, is dependent on you, and is incapable of self support.
Tags: CSRS, disability, SOCIAL SECURITY
Minimum survivor benefit
July 5th, 2011 | POST-RETIREMENT RETIREMENT Survivor annuities Survivor benefits
Q: I am a CSRS employee. What is the minimum survivor benefit I need to select if I want my wife covered under health insurance? Can I select $1?
A: Yes, but if you elect something other than a full survivor benefit, your spouse will have to agree to it in writing.
Tags: spouse insurance, survivor, survivor benefit, Survivor benefits
CSRS survivor benefit plan
June 17th, 2011 | Survivor annuities
Q: I am a retired federal employee and I am collecting FERS retirement. My husband retired from the Navy reserves. He took out the survivor benefit plan last year. He will be retired from the federal government in two or three years with 37 years of service in CSRS. Will my military SBP or CSRS annuity be reduced because I have both?
A: No.
Tags: CSRS, FERS, military service, RETIREMENT, Survivor benefits
Understanding survivor benefits
April 12th, 2011 | EMPLOYMENT RETIREMENT Survivor annuities
Q: I have been married to my husband for 28 years. He worked for the post office the entire length of our marriage. He is going to continue working for another five years, even though he is eligible to retire now. What happens if he passes away before he retires? An I still eligible to receive half of his retirement? How do I protect myself to make sure I can depend on receiving half of his retirement?
A: You don’t need to do anything. If he were to die while still employed by the government you would be entitled by law to a full survivor annuity. If he was employed under the Civil Service Retirement System, it would be 55 percent of what he would be entitled to receive had he retired; if he was under the Federal Employees Retirement System, 50 percent.
Tags: CSRS, FERS, retirement eligibility, survivor annuity, Survivor benefits
Widowed spouse and Social Security
March 8th, 2011 | Survivor annuities
Q: My brother died after being approved for, and receiving, a FERS disability. His spouse is 46 and receiving survivor annuity benefits from FERS. Is it fair to assume that if he was granted a FERS disability retirement that he also had applied for disability benefits under Social Security, or OPM would not have approved his FERS disability? Is she also entitled to any Social Security survivors benefits?
A: OPM would not have processed his application for disability retirement unless he had filed for Social Security disability benefits. You’ll have to check with the Social Security Administration to learn what benefits she might be entitled to from them.
Tags: FERS, SOCIAL SECURITY, Survivor benefits
Annuities, health care for dual-fed couples
October 22nd, 2010 | Coverage after retirement Eligibility HEALTH INSURANCE RETIREMENT Survivor annuities Survivor benefits
Q: My husband and I are both federal law enforcement officers. The family health plan is under my husband. We both plan to retire this year. He wants me to waive my survivor annuity and he says I will still be covered under our federal Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan because I was covered for the last five years of my employment under the Federal Employees Health Benefits family plan that he carried. He wants a bigger retirement check. My question is, if I sign the survivor annuity waiver and he dies before me, am I still automatically covered under our FEHB plan because I was also a federal retiree and would have been eligible for coverage? I think he is wrong and will not sign any waiver. I told him there is no “federal spouse rule” laid out in the Office of Personnel Management’s guidelines concerning FEHB.
A: Whether you decide to waive your entitlement to a survivor annuity is entirely up to you. However, your husband’s explanation of why you would be able to continue your FEHB coverage if he were to die before you is wrong. As long as you are covered under his FEHB plan enrollment and either employed or receiving an annuity when he dies, you would be able to continue that coverage. As the one carrying the enrollment, it’s your husband who needs to be enrolled for the five consecutive years before he retires, not you.
Tags: FEHBP, health care, law enforcement, survivor annuity
Survivor benefits under FERS
October 22nd, 2010 | LIFE INSURANCE Survivor annuities
Q: Nobody can seem to give me a straight answer to this question: I’m 59 years old and under the Federal Employees Retirement System, with 18 years of service. I had heart bypass surgery four years ago, and I’m now having complications. Because I have to have 20 years of service to qualify for a pension, it appears that my wife will not get my pension if I die before I hit the 20-year mark, which is 20 months away. However, I have reached the minimum retirement age, so if something happens soon, can my wife get my pension, less 5 percent per year for each year under age 62? I really don’t want to retire under the MRA provisions because I need another year to pay off some debts, but fate may not give me that much time.
A: I’m surprised that no one can give you a straight answer. The law provides that if a FERS employee has at least 10 years of service and dies while still working, his spouse will receive a survivor annuity equal to 50 percent of what his annuity would have been based on his years of service, but without any age penalty. In addition, the spouse would receive a cash payment equal to half his annual base pay on the day he died.
Tags: Federal Employees Retirement System, FERS, minimum retirement age, MRA, pension, Survivor annuities
Post office survivor annuity
October 12th, 2010 | SOCIAL SECURITY Survivor annuities Survivor benefits
Q: My husband passed away Jan. 25, 2009, and I’m receiving his Social Security benefits, as well as benefits from the U.S. Postal Service. If I remarry, will I lose the benefits from the USPS? I know I will still collect his Social Security.
A: Unless you were to remarry before age 55, your survivor annuity wouldn’t be affected. If you did remarry before age 55, that annuity would be suspended. It could only be restarted is the marriage were ended by annulment, divorce or the death of the new spouse.
Tags: Post Office, remarriage, SOCIAL SECURITY, survivor annuity, Survivor benefits, USPS