By Reg Jones
Substantial earnings
May 16th, 2013 | SOCIAL SECURITY Windfall elimination provision
Q. Please define “30 years of substantial earnings.”
Term employees and step increases
May 16th, 2013 | EMPLOYMENT PAY Step increases term employee
Q. Do term employees get step increases automatically, or is it up to their supervisors to put them in for it?
Medicare Part B
May 16th, 2013 | Coverage after retirement FEHBP HEALTH INSURANCE Medicare
Q. I am a retiree from Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., with health insurance. Turning 65. What happens about Medicare, and which insurance is primary? Does the health insurance turn to a supplement policy? Do you need Medicare A & B? I have only signed up for Medicare A.
Special retirement supplement
May 16th, 2013 | SOCIAL SECURITY Special retirement supplement
Q. From what I understand, the special retirement supplement is calculated as your Social Security estimated payment at age 62 divided by 40 times your number of years of service. Do you receive the full amount of Social Security when you reach age 62?
Marriage after conversion from disability to retirement
May 15th, 2013 | annuity reduction Disability retirement HEALTH INSURANCE PAY RETIREMENT spouse benefits SURVIVOR BENEFITS
Q. I have been receiving disability under FERS (as well as Social Security) for 17 years. I am 61. I understand that, at age 62, my FERS disability benefits will be converted to a retirement annuity as though I had been working the entire time. I have never been married, but I intend to get married in the near future. Will I be able to elect survivor benefits for my spouse? What about coverage under my health insurance (Blue Cross/Blue Shield)? Does it matter whether I get married before my 62nd birthday or not?
VERA, special retirement supplement and COLA
May 15th, 2013 | COLA DOWNSIZING Earnings test Minimum retirement age PAY SOCIAL SECURITY Special retirement supplement VERA
Q. I am 47 years old with 25 years and one month of service under FERS. If I accept Voluntary Early Retirement Authority, my understanding is that my monthly annuity will not be eligible for cost-of-living adjustments. Is that correct?
Also, once I reach 56 years and four months of age, the special retirement supplement would then be added until I’m age 62. Is that correct?
After age 56 years and four months, would COLAs then be applied to the annuity?
Finally, if I’m working in the private sector earning a salary above the current $14,000 Social Security limit for earnings, would the supplement be reduced $1 for every $2 I earn over the limit?
VSIP eligibility
May 15th, 2013 | Eligibility RETIREMENT VSIP
Q. I am a 51-year-old federal employee covered by FERS. I have 31+ years of service, and my agency is offering the Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay/Voluntary Early Retirement Authority option. However, my direct management has flat-out denied my request for early retirement under the premise that it will take them more than six months to backfill my position under the current government conditions. Moreover, I am one of about 50 budget analysts, any of which should be able to do what I am doing. Do I have any recourse? Am I just plain out of luck and have no option but to suck it up? Or is there a way I can force management to approve my request as in other parts of my agency?
Annual leave limit overseas
May 15th, 2013 | Annual leave LEAVE
Q. I am a Department of the Army civilian employee. I was hired as a contractor from the U.S. to work in Italy for the Defense Department. I was then hired as a civilian employee here (actually in the same office) and have been here for 2½ years. I have asked, but my human resources office is saying I receive an annual leave ceiling of 240 hours instead of the normal 360 for overseas employees because I was hired locally. In addition, I do not receive home leave or renewal agreement travel. I believe the home leave and RAT are only if hired from the continental U.S., so it makes sense. Is this all correct?
Early retirement and pension
May 15th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. In 2004, I resigned as a GS-0132 with 17 years of federal service. In 2009, I started drawing Social Security disability.
I am 57. I did not withdraw my retirement when I separated. Can I draw my FERS retirement early based on my Social Security disability, or will I have to wait until I am 62 to begin drawing it?
Tags: annuity, disability, Early retirement, FERS, SOCIAL SECURITY
Foreign citizen and FERS, Social Security
May 15th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. A little over three years ago, I retired under FERS.
I was a widower at the time, so no survivor benefit was being withheld from my pay.
I now intend to remarry a French citizen and will reside here in the states for a time, then move to France. I would like her covered by my FEHB, at least while we are in the U.S.
Can I sign up now for a full survivor benefit for her? How much will it cost me? I read somewhere that it costs 10 percent of my current annuity plus the difference between the new annuity and old annuities paid to me for the number of months retired, plus 6 percent interest on that money.
Since she is at least not yet an American citizen, when I die, can she still receive the survivor annuity, whether continuing to reside here or if she returns to France? Would she receive COLAs on her portion of the annuity? If she returned to France, would she be obligated to pay taxes in both countries? Of course, as part of FERS, I also receive a Social Security benefit, based on my length of service and work record. Would a new spouse be entitled as a beneficiary to any or all of my Social Security when I die? She, of course, has never worked here in the states and so has not contributed to Social Security.
Tags: annuity, FEHB, FERS, foreign citizen, SOCIAL SECURITY, Survivor benefits
National Guard service and military time
May 15th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. I joined the Illinois National Guard on Dec. 23, 1981. I served boot camp time only from May 10, 1982, to June 25, 1982. I started getting blisters under my feet due to the boots and received a medical honorable discharge July 23, 1982. I have seven months of time.
Can the seven months be applied as military time for retirement?
Military service and buyback
May 15th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. I am a traditional guardsman and am considering federal employment.
Does any of my inactive duty or mobilized time count toward retirement or leave accrual? I’m 43. What is the minimum number of years I would need to work to qualify for a pension, even deferred? Whom can I contact for more information?
Tags: annual leave, annuity, Deferred annuity, military buyback, military service, minimum retirement age, MRA+10
Military buyback and disability
May 15th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. I am a 67-year-old military retiree. I retired in 1988 with 21 years of active-duty service. I draw a 40 percent VA disability, although I have three more claims, which may increase my percentage. I am also employed by the FAA as an FG-13, step 2 with five years of service. I am considering buying back my 21 years of active-duty service using a payment plan.
Because of using a payment plan, I won’t have the 21 years bought back until approximately one year before my planned retirement from the FAA.
1) Will I continue to draw my military retirement pay while making payments until I retire from the FAA, at which time I would forfeit my military retirement pay and draw my FERS retirement?
2) Once I’ve bought back my military time and I retire from the FAA under FERS, will my VA disability be affected?
Tags: disability, FERS, military buyback, military retired pay, military service
Military buyback and service computation date
May 15th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. I am a former civil servant with six years’ civil service who bought back military service. My service computation date for leave is September 1993. Is there a different SCD for retirement? Also: If I return to civil service, can I buy back military service completed since my previous civil service and military buyback? If so, would this also adjust my SCD further? (I am an Air Force reservist who has had several activated tours, including a recent six-month deployment.)
Tags: military buyback, military service, service computation date
Disability
May 14th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. The requirements for Social Security disability are much higher than for FERS disability retirement, so what happens to FERS if you are approved by OPM but denied by the Social Security Administration? Can you still receive your FERS disability retirement? Must you continue to reapply with SSA regularly? I have 15 years in FERS and am only 42.
Tags: disability, FERS, OPM, SOCIAL SECURITY
CSRS, Social Security and retirement
May 14th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. I plan to begin collecting Social Security at age 66 in CSRS. I have met my 40 quarters and 30 substantial salary requirements. Additionally, I took a two-year break to work in the public sector. When I retire at age 69 with 40 years’ service and begin collecting my CSRS annuity, will I be able to collect Social Security?
Tags: annuity, CSRS, SOCIAL SECURITY, windfall elimination provision
New job and allowances/raise
May 14th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. I’ve been offered a position with the Defense Intelligence Agency as a GG-13, step 6. I’m a GS-13, step 6, and have been for nearly a year. I accepted my position last year, going from my previous salary as a GS-13, step 4. Can I ask for a raise in the new position? Or, since I’ve been a step 6 for only around a year, am I ineligible? Also, with DIA, will my leave award of six hours per pay period apply? Should it? My new position with DIA will be outside the contiguous United States, so the allowances and leave days are different. And DIA is offering all applicable OCONUS allowances.
Tags: annual leave, step increase
Leave of absence, retirement and high-3
May 14th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. I’m going to be doing charity work for several months in 2014. I’m considering requesting a leave of absence for it (I understand such leaves are at the discretion of management). If I’m not granted the LOA and I resign, how will a few months (seven to eight total) affect my retirement? I plan to rejoin federal service after the charity event. I’ve consulted my local HR department and OPM, but I’ve received conflicting information. My questions: If I’m granted the LOA, is my high-3 affected by such an absence? Then, assuming I’m not granted the LOA and I resign, can I rejoin federal service with the high-3 intact? Lastly, do I lose my high-3 if I withdraw funds from TSP just before the LOA or resignation? That is the big one for me — some people tell me if I touch my TSP, I lose my high-3.
Tags: federal re-employment, high-3, leave of absence, OPM, TSP
Leave without pay, retirement and buyback
May 14th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. How does having slightly more than 600 hours of leave without pay for medical problems affect the calculation for qualified years for retirement? Is that time subtracted? Can any of it be paid back?
Tags: Leave without pay, LWOP buyback
CSRS employment and Social Security
May 14th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. I retired under full CSRS (none offset) in January 2010 with 35 years’ federal service as a GS 14/10. I am 59 and don’t have the 40 credits required to receive Social Security benefits when I turn 62.
Is it worth it to take a part-time job just to get my 40 credits in, or will there be a reduction to my federal retirement that will hurt more than it will help? I haven’t earned very much in the private sector — just a few years before I became a CSRS employee in 1977, including the time I served in the Army, which I bought back to add to my CSRS time (included in the 35 years), but still paid a very small amount to Social Security while serving in the Army.
I have an opportunity to start a small business (~$10,000 per year).
Would it be better to have the business in my wife’s name to add to her Social Security rather than affect my CSRS? Or will I expect to see a small Social Security check when I hit age 62 if I get my 40 quarters in with Social Security?
Tags: annuity, CSRS, SOCIAL SECURITY, windfall elimination provision