By Reg Jones
VERA
May 15th, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. My agency is offering a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority. I am just a few months shy of meeting the 20-year requirement to qualify for the VERA. If further reductions are still needed and a reduction in force occurs, thereafter, would I be able to retire during the RIF without a reduction in annuity and with the supplement? (I am FERS and will be at my minimum retirement age of 56 with 20 years in July.) Also, is the FERS supplement being taken away by Congress?
A. If you met the age and service requirements when the RIF occurred, you would be able to take early retirement. There wouldn’t be any reduction in your annuity, and you’d be entitled to receive the special retirement supplement.
As for your other question, Congress hasn’t taken away the special retirement supplement. Whether it will pass a bill that does that and the president will agree to sign it remains to be seen.
Tags: FERS, minimum retirement age, reduction-in-force, special retirement supplement, VERA
Disability retirement
May 15th, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. I am 53 years old with 33 years of federal service under CSRS as a military technician. I will lose my military affiliation due to a medical condition. My understanding was that if I retired under normal circumstances at this time, I would lose 2 percent for each year I was under 55. Will that reduction be the same if I am forced to retire due to loss of military affiliation?
A. No, it won’t because you’ll be taking a disability retirement. For more information about that, go to www.opm.gov/retire/pubs/handbook/C046.pdf and scroll down to Part 46A4.
Tags: CSRS, disability, military service, RETIREMENT
Firefighter losing his job
May 15th, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. I am a federal firefighter with 19 years in. I am shy of three months until I am eligible to retire with my 20 years. I have been told that I am not fit for duty because of some health issues and that I will not be able to retire in August as I had planned. I am being told that I will be let go and that I need to apply for disability. I had 13 years active duty as a firefighter (I already paid back my 13 years). I am also a 10-point veteran. I am trying to figure out what the difference is (if any) if I paid back my military time, and what my disability amount might be. I have tried for a reasonable accommodation and was denied.
A. If you qualify for disability retirement, the fact that you haven’t made a deposit for your active-duty service would have no effect on your disability annuity. As a FERS employee, your annuity for the first 12 months would be 60 percent of your high-3 minus 100 percent of any Social Security disability benefit to which you are entitled. (You’d have to apply for Social Security disability benefits at the same time you file for disability retirement under FERS.) After the first 12 months and until age 62, your annuity would be 40 percent of your high-3 minus any Social Security disability benefit. Therefore, making a deposit for your active-duty service would only affect the amount of your annuity at two points in time: if you were determined to be recovered from your disability, or you reached age 62 and had your annuity recomputed. In either case, those years of active-duty service for which you made a deposit would be included in the computation.
Tags: annuity, disability, FERS, firefighter, high-3, military buyback, RETIREMENT, SOCIAL SECURITY
Choosing a health benefit plan
May 15th, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. I am new federal employee. I am trying to choose a Federal Employees Health Benefits plan. Before I had this federal job, I was on the Veterans Affairs Department income contingent plan. I was using VA for health care due to my low income. I am 10 percent disabled, and my disability covered one-ninth of what I use VA for in terms of health. I would still like to use VA for health but have been told that FEHB and VA are not compatible. I have also been told that using VA with outside insurance will change the cost, and that VA cannot bill FEHB insurance. Can you help?
A. To better understand the FEHB program, its plans and the benefits they provide, go to www.opm.gov/insure/health/plans/index.asp. There, you’ll find a rundown on the plans by state, be able to review individual plans, and comparison shop.
Tags: FEHB
Medicare
May 15th, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. I retired on Jan. 2 from CSRS. I am not eligible for Social Security. Am I eligible for Medicare Part A?
A. Yes, you will be eligible for Medicare Part A at age 65 because you had 1.45 percent deducted from your salary every pay period to pay for that benefit.
Tags: CSRS, Medicare, SOCIAL SECURITY
Retiring while on annual leave
May 15th, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. I will be retiring from FERS on July 28. May I be on annual leave my last two pay periods, or must I actually work the last pay period of my federal service?
A. There is no requirement in law of regulation that you be on duty during the pay period in which you retire. At the same time, the federal civilian government doesn’t have a provision for terminal leave. Therefore, you’ll need to have supervisory approval to take any annual leave.
Tags: annual leave, FERS, RETIREMENT, Terminal leave
Title 10 military leave
May 15th, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. I am currently a 6c AIA who is getting ready to start Title 10 contingency orders stateside. I realize that Title 10 orders for a contingency are not a factor for five years of military leave, but how will this affect my retirement? Will I still be able to retire at the minimum 20 years, and will I have to make contributions to the FERS retirement? (I realize I will have to buy back the military years for a higher retirement percentage.)
A. If you are called to active duty and on completion of that assignment return to a covered position, that time will be credited as covered service, allowing you to retire when you have 20 years. However, as you noted, you’ll have to first make a deposit to get credit for that time.
Tags: contributions, creditable service, deposit, FERS, law enforcement, military buyback, Military leave, RETIREMENT
Deductible interest?
May 14th, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. I’m a retired letter carrier, CSRS, and paid the Office of Personnel Management $5,000 to buy back my military time, of which $3,000 were interest paid in 2011. Is this interest deductible?
A. No, it isn’t.
Tags: military deposit interest, Postal Service, RETIREMENT, taxes
Social Security
May 14th, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. I am a CSRS retiree. I need four quarters to be able to collect Social Security when I reach 62. Is it beneficial to me not to get those quarters and apply for my husband’s Social Security when I am eligible? He max outs his contributions every year.
A. If you get the additional credits needed to receive a Social Security benefit, that benefit would be affected by the windfall elimination provision. The WEP reduces but doesn’t eliminate the Social Security benefit of anyone who receives an annuity from a retirement system where he didn’t pay Social Security taxes. On the other hand, any spousal Social Security benefit you’d be entitled to would probably be wiped out by the government pension offset provision. The GPO would reduce that spousal benefit by $2 for every $3 you receive in your CSRS annuity.
Tags: annuity, contributions, CSRS, Government pension offset, RETIREMENT, SOCIAL SECURITY, windfall elimination provision
CSRS service time
May 14th, 2012 | Uncategorized
Q. I retired from the Federal Aviation Administration on Dec. 31, 2011. Human resources told me I was going to retire with 38 years of service. The exact figure with sick leave was 38 years, two months and two days. I was surprised when I saw my retirement plaque for 37 years, since I was told it would be 38 years. The retirement paperwork from the region that arrived at my house after my retirement stated the same time as above. I also received a letter from the Office of Personnel Management confirming that the HR section in my region had the correct years as 38 years, two months and two days.
When I inquired about my plaque, I was told it was correct that I only had 37 years 10 months of federal time. Does this seem correct that your sick leave does not count toward your service time for 38 years?
A. Think about it for a moment. You only worked for your agency for 37 years and 10 months. Since plaques are only issued for full years, you got credit for 37 years on your plaque. However, during those 37-plus years, you accumulated four months and two days of sick leave, which by law were added to your actual service and used in the computation of your annuity. If that unused sick leave had been added at the front end of your actual service and used on your plaque, it would have meant that you began working before you were hired; if at the back end, it would have meant that you were still on duty after you retired.
Tags: CSRS, OPM, RETIREMENT, service time, unused sick leave