By Reg Jones
Retirement and spouse Social Security
February 14th, 2012 | Coverage
Q: I plan to retire this year. I am under CSRS. I understand the WEP for me but have some doubts about the Social Security benefits of my wife. She has been paying Social Security all her life and never worked for a government with another type of pension. Is her Social Security retirement affected because of me? If I choose a survivor benefit, how is that going to affect her Social Security?
A: The fact that you will receive a benefit from a retirement system where you didn’t pay Social Security taxes will have no affect on her own earned Social Security benefit or on the survivor benefit you elect for her.
Tags: retire, SOCIAL SECURITY, taxes
Spousal Social Security
February 13th, 2012 | Coverage
Q: My wife, age 66, has retired and is collecting Social Security. When I, age 67, retire under CSRS, will I be able to collect any amount of the normal half of the spousal Social Security?
A: Probably not. Because you’ll receive an annuity from a retirement system in which you didn’t pay Social Security taxes, you’ll be subject to the government pension offset. The GPO will reduce your spousal benefit by $2 for every $3 you receive in your annuity.
Tags: CSRS, SOCIAL SECURITY
To keep, or not to keep, Part A
January 24th, 2012 | Benefits Coverage Medicare RETIREMENT SOCIAL SECURITY
Q. I am 68 and still working. I am fully covered by my employer’s insurance. My employer is switching our health insurance to a health savings account in 2012. You cannot contribute to a HSA if you have Medicare Part A. I have Medicare Part A. Should I drop Part A, to enroll in the HSA, or will I be penalized later when I retire and re-enroll in Part A?
A. I don’t know if it makes sense for you to disenroll from Medicare Part A. Before you decide, you need to understand a few things. First, if your employer contribution to your company HSA isn’t more than you would earn from Social Security, you may want to keep your Medicare Part A coverage. Second, because you have already turned 65, if you disenroll from Medicare Part A, you would have to pay back all of the money you received from Social Security, as well as any Medicare benefits that were paid on your behalf. To disenroll, fill out Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) form 1763 (Request for Termination of Premium Hospital and Medical Insurance) and mail to your local Social Security Administration office. You can re-enroll at any time by calling Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 or visiting your local SSA office.
OPM-SSA integration
July 8th, 2011 | Coverage Creditable service: CSRS CSRS annuity computation RETIREMENT SOCIAL SECURITY
Q: I am an employee under the Civil Service Retirement System Offset program, and I plan on retiring at age 64. I know my annuity will be reduced for the period of time I was an offset employee. I have dealt with the local Social Security Administration office and I am concerned; they had no idea what the offset is. Does the Office of Personnel Management deal with SSA experts for the offset?
A: OPM and the Social Security Administration have a file-matching system that allows OPM to accurately reduce a CSRS Offset annuity by the amount of Social Security benefit earned while covered by CSRS Offset, and for Social Security to provide a benefit based on an employee’s total Social Security-covered employment.
Tags: Civil Service Retirement System, CSRS, CSRS offset, Office of Personnel Management, OPM, SOCIAL SECURITY, Social Security Administration, SSA
Can paid leave count toward Social Security?
July 8th, 2011 | Annual leave Benefits Coverage LEAVE RETIREMENT SOCIAL SECURITY
Q: I will be 59 years and 8 months old with 37 years, 7 months of federal service on my target retirement date of Dec. 31. I only earned 33 quarters of Social Security; to earn more credit on Social Security, can paid annual leave be considered as Social Security income for the year 2012, because the paid annual leave is not included as Civil Service Retirement System income for the year 2011? If so, what is the procedure to report it as Social Security income? And will this only be applied at the end of the year of retirement, or it can be considered in any month of the year?
A: Your paid annual leave cannot be used to get Social Security credits. Only earnings from wages or self-employment that are subject to Social Security taxes can secure those credits.
Tags: annual leave, Civil Service Retirement System, CSRS, LEAVE, paid leave, SOCIAL SECURITY, Social Security earnings, Social Security quarters
CSRS Offset, redeposits and the WEP
April 14th, 2011 | Benefits Coverage Creditable service: CSRS CSRS annuity computation RETIREMENT SOCIAL SECURITY Windfall elimination provision
Q: I just received notice from Social Security that my benefits check may be reduced because of the windfall elimination provision. I retired under the Civil Service Retirement System Offset program Oct. 31, 2010. My time in service under CSRS was approximately five years, nine months. I withdrew the money that I put in after each job because at the time I did not expect to retire from civil service. My last withdrawal from CSRS was from the period of May 1981 to December 1982. I returned to government work in May 1984 and was placed in the CSRS Offset category. Because I did not pay back the redeposits I withdrew, my government annuity is reduced each month.
Will Social Security reduce my benefits under the WEP even though my government annuity is already reduced because I did not pay back the redeposits?
A: Because you took those refunds before March 1, 1991, your annuity was actuarially reduced based on the amount you owed and your age when you retired. Because a portion of your CSRS Offset annuity is based on pure CSRS service where you weren’t covered by Social Security, you are subject to the windfall elimination provision. If you had fewer than 30 years of substantial earnings under Social Security, your Social Security benefit will be reduced.
Tags: CSRS, CSRS offset, redeposit, WEP, windfall elimination provision
Social Security survivor benefit and the GPO
April 14th, 2011 | Benefits Coverage Government pension offset RETIREMENT SOCIAL SECURITY
Q: My wife passed away five years ago at age 54. She had many years of working and adding to Social Security. I am recently retired under the Civil Service Retirement System. I was told that I will not be able to receive any of my wife’s contributions to Social Security. Is that true? If so, will that law ever be changed?
A: Any Social Security survivor benefit you are entitled to based on your late wife’s work record will be impacted by the government pension offset. The GPO will reduce that benefit by $2 for every $3 you receive in your CSRS annuity. While bills have been introduced in Congress to modify or eliminate the GPO, they have never gotten off the ground.
Tags: CSRS, Government pension offset, GPO, SOCIAL SECURITY, spouse benefits, Survivor benefits
Social Security benefits alongside CSRS
April 12th, 2011 | Benefits Coverage Creditable service: CSRS CSRS annuity computation Government pension offset RETIREMENT SOCIAL SECURITY Windfall elimination provision
Q: I requested retirement calculations for mid-2014 and recently learned that after I left the government in September 1984, the retirement money I withdrew would have to be repaid in order to receive the benefits for that money. I withdrew $3,700; repayment with accumulated interest would be more than $22,000. I returned to the government in March 1987 under the Civil Service Retirement System Offset program. I thought I read that if a person who receives money under CSRS can also receive full Social Security benefits (no windfall) if that person has enough credits with Social Security (approximately 30 years). Is this true?
A: Yes, if you have at least 30 years of substantial earnings under Social Security. For more information about the Windfall Elimination Provision and what constitutes “substantial earnings,” visit the Social Security Administration’s WEP page here and click on “How does it work?”
Tags: CSRS, CSRS offset, SOCIAL SECURITY, WEP, windfall elimination provision
Retirement basics: CSRS Offset
April 12th, 2011 | Coverage Creditable service: CSRS CSRS annuity computation Government pension offset RETIREMENT SOCIAL SECURITY
Q: Please explain what CSRS Offset is.
A: Civil Service Retirement System Offset employees are those who are covered by both CSRS and Social Security. In general, there are two categories of employees who are covered by CSRS Offset. First, those who had a break in service that exceeded one year and ended after 1983 and had at least five years of creditable service as of January 1, 1987. Second, employees who were hired before Jan. 1, 1984, acquired CSRS interim coverage between 1984 and 1987, and had at least five years of creditable civilian service by Jan. 1, 1987.
If a CSRS Offset employee retires before reaching age 62, at age 62 his annuity is reduced by the amount of Social Security benefit he earned while employed under CSRS Offset. If he retires at or after age 62, the offset occurs on the day he retires. Note: The reduction is automatic and occurs whether or not he applies for a Social Security benefit.
Tags: CSRS, CSRS offset, Government pension offset, SOCIAL SECURITY, Social Security benefits, Social Security offset
CSRS Offset and Social Security
April 12th, 2011 | Benefits Coverage Creditable service: CSRS CSRS annuity computation RETIREMENT SOCIAL SECURITY
Q: I retired under the Civil Service Retirement System Offset pension plan in 2001 (early buyout retirement at age 51 with 23 years of service). My husband passed away in August 2006. I started receiving a survivor benefit based on his Social Security earnings when I turned 60. My question is, should my CSRS Offset pension have been reduced by the amount of the Social Security that I am receiving based on his earnings, or does that reduction not take effect until I turn 62 and then is based on my Social Security benefit? The amount I am receiving as a survivor is more then I will receive at age 62 under my benefit.
A: Your CSRS annuity won’t be offset until age 62, when you become eligible for a Social Security benefit based on your CSRS Offset employment. According to the Social Security Administration, you were able to receive a survivor Social Security benefit based on your husband’s work record and avoid the government pension offset because you: Are a federal (including Civil Service Offset), state or local government employee whose government pension is based on a job where you were paying Social Security taxes and you filed an application for benefits before April 1, 2004; or your last day of employment (that your pension is based on) is before July 1, 2004; or you paid Social Security taxes on your earnings during the last five years of government service.
Under certain conditions, fewer than five years may be required for people whose last day of employment falls after June 30, 2004, and before March 2, 2009.
Tags: CSRS, CSRS offset, SOCIAL SECURITY, Social Security spouse benefits, Social Security survivor benefits