By Reg Jones
Health insurance in retirement
June 18th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. Will the government continue to pay a portion of health care premiums after I retire (as a FERS participant)? Or am I on the hook for the entire premium at that time? I anticipate retiring at age 67 with 36 years of service.
Tags: FEHB, FERS, Postal Service
FERS, military service and disability
June 18th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. I’m 51 with 27 years of technician service in the Army National Guard and may be medically disqualified on the military side of the house. I’m wondering if this falls under the FERS discontinued service retirement formula or if it would be a FERS disability retirement and fall under the formula of 60 percent the first year and 40 percent after that.
Tags: disability, discontinue service retirement, FERS, FERS disability retirement, military service
Military buyback deposit and FERS retirement refund
June 18th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. An employee is resigning with two years of service and has asked for a refund of his military deposit. Can a federal employee get a refund of his military deposit without taking a refund of his FERS retirement?
Tags: FERS, FERS retirement refund, military buyback, military buyback refund, military service
MRA and special retirement supplement
June 18th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. I have a question about MRA+10 retirement. I am a FERS employee, age 58 with 26 years of service. Can I retire now on an unreduced annuity and also collect the special retirement supplement until I reach age 62? Or do I have to deduct 5 percent for each year I am under the age of 62? Or is the 5 percent deducted from age 60 because I have at least 25 years in? In any case, the ability to collect the supplement would be key for me.
Tags: annuity, FERS, minimum retirement age, MRA+10, special retirement supplement
Active duty, reserve and buyback
June 18th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. I am 60 and have 18 years of FERS service. Also, I have been an Army reservist for 25 good years, with two years of active-duty time, and about 2,200 points, of which about 720 are from active duty.
1. Could I buy back military time that would bring me up to 20 years of FERS service so I could retire now, instead of waiting for age 62? 2. If I buy the two years back, I would still have more than 20 years for an Army Reserve pension. Must I waive the whole thing, or just the pay that comes from the active-duty points?
Tags: annuity, FERS, military buyback, military reserve, military reserve retirement, military service
Retiree returning to federal work
June 12th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. I am planning to retire at age 62 with 22 years in the federal government and in FERS as a Title 38 employee. I am aware that there will be a limited amount of money I can make without affecting Social Security benefits.
If I came back to work in my agency as a contract, fee basis or a consultant, would there be a penalty or offset in my federal FERS annuity?
Tags: annuity, FERS, SOCIAL SECURITY
Survivor annuity for widow
June 12th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. I’m trying to help a prospective retiree. She is 77 and is receiving a Social Security survivor annuity from her deceased husband. She is in CSRS Offset. The Social Security office seems to be unfamiliar with CSRS Offset and is answering her questions by telling her she’s FERS, which she is not.
Tags: CSRS offset, FERS, SOCIAL SECURITY, survivor annuity
FERS, CSRS Offset and service
June 12th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. After serving 12 years in the military, I went to work for the federal government Jan. 13, 1982, and left federal service in October 1987, having served five years and nine months. I was in CSRS that entire time. I withdrew my CSRS contributions when I left. I came back to work for the federal government in July 2006 and was placed in CSRS Offset, with the option of going into FERS. I opted to be in CSRS Offset. At that time, I paid the deposit plus interest to get credit for my military time for pension purposes. I read the “Ask the Experts” response of March 30, 2010, where it said that as of Jan 1, 1987, any current employee with fewer than five years of service under CSRS was automatically converted to FERS. On Jan. 1 1987, I was 13 days short of five years, although I had previous military time and more than 13 days of annual leave and sick leave on the books. The “Ask the Experts” answer of Jan. 18, 2012, seems to say that I was correctly placed in CSRS Offset. Other pamphlets I read say you need five years as of Jan 1, 1987. I was 13 days short, excluding military time. I think my military time counted because my service computation date is in 1969.
Now I am concerned that my agency might have placed me incorrectly into CSRS Offset and I might be in for a surprise when I retire. Am I correctly in CSRS Offset? Do I need to take any action?
Tags: annual leave, CSRS, CSRS offset, FERS, military buyback, military service, sick leave
FERS survivor benefits
June 12th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. I am revisiting my life insurance needs and want to ensure I understand FERS survivor benefits. I have more than 20 years of 1811 experience, but I won’t turn 50 until next year. If I die before I turn 50, will the survivor annuity be calculated at 10 percent for my first 20 years of 1811 experience or at 17 percent for those years? If I die after I turn 50 but am still employed by the federal government, will the survivor annuity be calculated at 10 percent for my first 20 years of 1811 experience or at 17 percent for those years? If I die before I retire, will my sick leave be added to my years of service for the survivor annuity calculation; if so, will it be 50 percent of my sick leave balance before Jan. 1, 2014, and 100 percent of it after?
Tags: FERS, lump sum, SOCIAL SECURITY, Special category employee, Survivor benefits
CSRS, survivor annuity and Social Security
June 12th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. I have two questions about the Reg Jones article in the Feb. 18 Federal Times issue, titled “2013 brings changes to Medicare, survivor benefits” (Page 22).
1) Under death benefits, it says, “under CSRS, if you die while still employed, your widow will be entitled to a survivor annuity.” When I retired in 1995, I signed an agreement to take a reduction in my annuity so that when I die, my wife will get a percent of my annuity. Please explain what is wrong with one of these two statements.
2) Under the same topic, he says, “the spouse will get a survivor benefit equal half of my basic Social Security if I had 10 years of payment.” I fully qualified for a full Social Security benefit; however, the government sees fit to steal most of my earned benefit because I receive an annuity. Please clarify the status.
Tags: annuity, CSRS, FERS, lump sum, SOCIAL SECURITY, survivor annuity, windfall elimination provision
Social Security and FICA deductions
June 12th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. I receive FERS benefits but am now applying for Social Security, which will be my main retirement. I got to a question on the application process that asks whether I ever earned money where FICA was not taken out. I worked for two and parts of two other year for Gallaudet College, which was at the time a quasi-government and Civil Service. Those earnings do not appear on my Social Security statement of benefits I assume for that reason. I took the retirement in a lump sum when I left that position.
I was federally employed (FERS and Social Security) from 1984-97. When computing my years of service, I inquired if I could buy back those few Gallaudet years so as to count for years of service, and I did. So the Social Security benefits application asked if I benefited from in terms of pension or annuity by the earnings I didn’t pay FICA for. So do I benefit from years of service though no credit for money earned having bought back those years for greater benefit based on years of service? Will this influence the amount of retirement due me from Social Security?
Tags: annuity, FERS, FICA, lump sum, SOCIAL SECURITY
Retiring at 30 years with FERS
June 11th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. I am a FERS employee with 22 years of service. I will have 30 years of service in eight more years and will also be 50. Can I retire with 30 years of service and collect (i.e., request an early retirement package)? I’ve read the deferred retirement, but my understanding is I would not be able to receive a pension until my MRA, 57.
Tags: 30 years, annuity, Deferred annuity, Deferred retirement, FEGLI, FEHB, FERS, minimum retirement age, pension
FERS, special retirement supplement and reduction in force
June 11th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. I have 29 years of federal service and am 50 and under FERS.
If I am involuntarily separated by a reduction in force at age 50, do I get the FERS Social Security bridge along with my Discontinued Service Retirement, or do I have to wait until I turn 56 to collect the bridge portion of my retirement? Does this start automatically with the DSR, or do I have to apply for the bridge with SSA when I am 56?
Tags: annuity, Deferred retirement, Discontinued Service Retirement, FERS, minimum retirement age, reduction-in-force, SOCIAL SECURITY, special retirement supplement
Multiple sources of retirement money
June 11th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. I am a retired officer with 27 years of active military service and am receiving military retirement pay. I am also getting VA disability pay. I also have been working for the federal government for five years. If I retire, can I collect all three payments: military, VA disability and FERS?
Tags: disability, FERS, military service
Temporary employment and service computation date
June 11th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. I served four years in the military on active duty and seven years in the reserves. I was hired as an Army civilian temp in 1991 and was kept until 1993, then laid off. Then I was called back in 2004 as permanent employee under FERS. I paid back the deposit for four years of military time, and they processed a new SCD Merge and Purge of OPF complete.
Now my SF50 action gives a service computation date of 1998 (leave). The EBIS preliminary retirement report says my SCD is 2000. The left hand isn’t speaking to the right hand.
I worked 2½ years for the federal government. That should count as creditable service. I was even given back my sick leave of more than 500 hours. Shouldn’t I have to pay back the service credit payment? Why is the EBIS retirement estimate wrong?
Example:
Military time: 1976-1980 = four years
Temp time: 1991-1993= 2½ years
Current time: 2004-2013= 10 years
That’s 16½ years of working for the government. Simple math.
Tags: annual leave, FERS, military buyback, military service, temporary employment
Disability retirement
June 11th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. I am a former federal employee (canine enforcement officer) who was injured on the job in 1999. I was placed on COP and then on the periodic rolls of the Department of Labor. After a year of physical rehab, my doctor released me to light duty, for which the US Customs Service had no jobs available to me.
I was terminated in 2000. I am still being paid by the DOL. I was recently sent by DOL to a doctor to evaluate my condition, and the doctor determined that my status is permanent at the sedentary level. I am now working with a vocational rehabilitation counselor assigned by the DOL. Am I eligible to apply for a FERS disability retirement?
Tags: disability, FERS
Military buyback
June 11th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. I am a retired soldier with 21 years of service being paid my retirement. I am also a GS FERS employee with 13 years of service. I am 56 and would like to retire in about two years. I have asked for my calculation to see if I should buy back my service time. I assume that if I buy back my time, my military retirement stops immediately. I used your calculator to check my FERS retirement and believe I got the right number for just the 13 years. If I retire under the MRA+10 provision, will I basically get my current military retirement pay plus the 13 years of civil service calculations together, or do you use a different formula? I also assume even if I buy time back, I will retain my military benefits. Should I immediately buy back the time or wait until I’m closer to retiring?
Tags: annuity, FERS, high-3, military buyback, military retired pay, military service, MRA+10
Reserve service and buyback
June 5th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. I am a retired reservist receiving retirement reservist pay. I am also a FERS employee getting ready to retire. I’ve already paid the FERS deposit for two years of active military service. I also have DD-214s for four months of basic training and nine months of active service for attending the transportation officer in residence school. I need to know 1) can I pay a deposit for these two periods? 2) most importantly, will this reduce my reserve retirement? 3) must I sign a military retirement pay letter, even though I assuredly do not wish to waive my reserve retirement pay?
Tags: FERS, military reserve, military reserve retirement, military service
FERS combined employment time
June 5th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. I left civil service with just shy of 21 years of combined time (bought back 14 years of military) in November 2011 at age 44 (1967).
I did not withdraw any money from FERS, but I moved my TSP to an annuity. My intent was to just apply for a deferred retirement at age 62 to avoid penalties.
However, if I returned to Civil Service before 62, how many years would I have to work to be eligible for full health benefits under FERS? I also assume that if I returned by age 47 and worked until 56, I would have 30 years and could retire with an immediate annuity at my MRA, correct?
Social Security disability and CSRS retirement
June 5th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. I started getting Postal Service and Social Security disability in 1994. I am in CSRS Offset, not FERS.
I started a job, and they stopped my Social Security disability because my earnings were substantial. I am 65.
I applied for Social Security, since I will be 66 in July. My Social Security is 30 percent less than I received under Social Security disability. The clerk at Social Security said they had been paying me too much disability each month, but since it had been more than four years since the error on their part, they would not try to recover the overpayment. My problem is I am not able to do the job; my disability has caused me to get two warnings that I am underperforming. I am close to being fired. Since I have a ticket to work, my Social Security disability can be restarted without my having to reapply. Do you know if they will start me at my old amount without the 30 percent reduction?
Tags: annuity, CSRS offset, disability, FERS, SOCIAL SECURITY